I could go on
complaining about the Bears’ near-total control of the local media, but why
bother? If fans want to get excited
about free-agent signings that include a second-string tight end and a wide
receiver recovering from a torn ACL, so be it.
Just don’t cry come the postseason.
Since Chicago is the
unacknowledged home of the rebuild (Cubs, White Sox, Bears and, in the
not-too-distant future, the Blackhawks), let’s take a quick look at those
rebuilding Bulls, rookie forward Lauri Markkanen in particular. Markkanen missed his fourth game of the year
last night on account of back spasms.
Hmm.
You have to wonder if
this would be a problem had the 20-year old stayed in college. Say what you will about March Madness, but
you don’t have to play an NBA-like 82 games to get there; a far kinder regular-season
schedule of 35 games will do. For kids
in a rush to play in the pros, that disparity gets ignored, that is, until
their rookie year in the NBA.
Chicago’s own Jahlil
Okafor was even younger than Markkanen when he started in the NBA three seasons
ago; the pride of Whitney Young High School didn’t turn 20 until the second
month of the 2015-2016 season. Despite
injuries (and immaturity), Okafor averaged 17.5 points a game. Next year, it was 11.8 and this season, six
points a game. The 76ers lost big so
they could draft the young center, only to trade him to the Nets this
year. Such are the pitfalls of a
rebuild.
But, hey, Okafor had
knee problems and Markkanen doesn’t.
That has to count for something, maybe
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