Tryptophan Aftermath

Bluelou — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:08:51 -0000

After a day of over-indulging, sleeping on the couch through football snooze-fests and thinking of things that we all have to be very thankful for (the Bulls being 2-8 not being one of them)...
I find myself thinking the same thing(s) over and over about the Bulls' dysfunctionality and anemic performance in virtually every catagory...

Say and think what you want about player's abilities and needing to find it within themselves to play well regardless of their surrounding situation(s) (coaching, player chemestry, etc..)...
And that they are "professionals" and get PAID to do just that and dig it out no matter what...

But that is idealistic thinking - for modern times.
In the good ol' days, perhaps....Players like Bird, Magic and Jordan would dig deep and bring it from within....pushing themselves above and beyond in the most difficult adversities....when players got paid according to their talents and accomplishments AFTER they accomplished them.

But one must remember that the NBA is not the bold and brash league that it once was. And players with true class and polished talent are far and few between these days.
The NBA is merely a SHELL of what it used to be....riddled with spoiled rotten gang-bangers that tatoo themselves into oblivion, punch their own team mates, choke their coaches, and turn the used-to-be revered court into brawl-fest wrestling rings.

And THAT is why coaching is even MORE critical, now more than ever.
Heck, even the dynasty BULLS didn't get to the next level until Jackson took over, and then he did it again in LA.
A true SUPERSTAR leader AND coaching have to be together....at the same time....and it almost seems like over the years, the NBA has groomed itself to be this way, for marketing, money, to fill seats, to sell merchandise, and whatever else.

Scott Skiles has revealed his coaching ability cards and his hand is weak.
And he doesn't have any wild card (superstar/leader player) on the team to help his hand....and even if he DID - he'd probably run his mouth and piss that player off and end up benching him too.
So it is (or should be) obvious that while Skiles HAS turned the Bulls around and gotten them back into the playoffs....he does NOT have the ability to take this team any further. And the players are turning their backs and tuning him out.

So in the end - only two things will fix this and get the Bulls back to the finals, although not necessarily in this order:

Fire and replace Skiles - with the RIGHT coach for THIS team.
Trade whatever players are required to get a genuine go-to, take-over-the-game LEADER on the team, whoever that may be.

Otherwise, we will be exiled to repeated, year after year stabs at the big prize, only to come up short and go through repeated agony in the end.

CC Sportsnet Reflections

Bluelou — Mon, 14 May 2007 00:00:51 -0000

In watching CCSN a half hour after the craziness of today's win being in the books, I find myself a little giddish to realize that we are still playing in the playoffs and that I can use that thought to help carry me through at least a couple more days.

DA Bulls shooting 49% from the field along with some crushing defense, was what we had expected from our beloved all along...

Well...okay...maybe only after the man-crushing-snuffing of the flameless Heat.

But the bottom line is that DA Bulls have shown us (once again) that they ARE indeed capable of playing with the elite in the NBA - and I don't mean the Detwah Pissed-ons.
Although scary at times, they are riddled with an over-bearing, overly smug coach in Flipped-out Saunders who has never won anything, and a crew of overly-confident, thuggish players that remind me - if only a bit - of the old "bad boys" team that MJ sent home embarrassed in the end.
But I say only a bit because they don't even deserve THAT much credit.

They showed today that they do indeed have their weeknesses too...and reminded us why we were able to beat them 3 out of 4 games during the season. They are simply posers...and have showed the level at which they are capable of playing.
And DA Bulls can overcome that level by playing solid defense (which they have done) and shooting 45-50% (which they had not done in this series until today).

The big question we Bulls faithful will be pondering the next couple days is:
Can they now STAY on the horse that they have climbed back onto and ride off into some serious history?

One down - three to go -
One game at a time.

Poll

Who wins game 5 in Detroit?

a. DA Bulls

19 votes

b. Detroit

10 votes

29 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation User Blog: Bluelou

Tryptophan Aftermath

CC Sportsnet Reflections

Who wins game 5 in Detroit?

a. DA Bulls

b. Detroit