Hey, Bulls fans, this
joke’s for you if for no other reason than it’s already on you: Team owner Jerry Reinsdorf walks into a room,
where he finds son and team president Michael; executive vice-president John
Paxson;general manager Gar Forman; anc coach Fred Hoiberg.
Yes, Reinsdorf is in fact the smartest one in the room. How can you tell? He immediately walks out.
Which is what Bulls
fans should start doing post haste after last night’s 143-94 loss to Golden State. The 3-14 Bulls were outscored 81-34 in the
second and third quarters; outscored by five in what should have been a
garbage-time fourth quarter; and yielded 26 points to Warriors’ guard Stephen
Curry in the second quarter. But no
doubt they played hard.
The free flow of
basketball differs from the stop-and-go action of baseball and football; bad
players and coaches are exposed a lot quicker in the NBA, the Bears’ John Fox
notwithstanding. You can make an average
baseball and football player better by breaking down what they do—hitting,
pitching, receiving, running. In
contrast, a basketball court is bedlam in four quarters, and plays break down
all the time. Players have to be able to
go to Plans B, C and whatever on almost every possession. Maybe you can make an average player better
in the NBA, but it helps to start off with good players. That counts the Bulls out.
If Jerry Reinsdorf is
as smart as Rick Hahn says he is, Reinsdorf will focus on where the problem
starts, the front office. Paxson-Forman
drafted or acquired these guys and hired an invisible man as head coach. This is the “brain trust” you want to decide
on a top draft choice?
I guess we’ll find out
just how smart Mr. Reinsdorf is.
No comments:
Post a Comment