Apples, Oranges and Bulls

Follow the Blackhawks and no one quite knows what’s up with goalie Corey Crawford because: A) the team prohibits the use of phones to stay in contact with players; B) Crawford is undergoing treatment too unconventional to bear scrutiny; or C) the NHL allows teams to treat the public with contempt.   Start with C, and you can’t go wrong.

Now compare Crawford’s situation with that of Bulls’ guard Kris Dunn, who crashed to the floor mouth-first after dunking in last Wednesday’s game against Golden State.  Dunn was evaluated; two of his front teeth were stabilized (from the looks of it, Dunn literally bit the floor on landing); was put in the league’s concussion protocol; and kept at home during the current road trip.  How do I know all this?  Because the Bulls issue regular updates on their injured player.  Unlike their hockey counterparts, the Bulls think their fans deserve to know what’s what.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t extend to the state of the team’s rebuild.  After starting the season a woeful 3-20, the Bulls have gone 15-8, with the somewhat older players meshing well with the young core.  Folks in the media who want more tearing down want to trade the likes of Robin Lopez and/or Nikola Mirotic; a high draft choice would be nice, but, hey, it’s the losing that counts in the race to the top via the bottom.  Count me out after watching the Bulls’ latest win against Atlanta.

The final score was 113-97, with the final margin whatever the visitors wanted.  Atlanta looked bad to stinking bad.  If the team has a core, how will it shake off the bad habits of 2017-18?  And, if it doesn’t have a core, why should fans bother to show up?

The problem with tanking is that teams always find themselves behind the eight-ball.  They trade away the veteran talent for draft choices and/or to enable losing that leads to improved draft position, then wait for the core to develop.  But the core gets old as the latest round of draft choices learns the rope.  Only the most adept organizations don’t fall into this trap.

Right now, it’s “Look out below!” for Atlanta.  (And if losing can rub off on players, what about coaches?)  The Bulls need to be extra careful they don’t trade themselves into a similar fall.