http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketball/bulls/2161002,CST-SPT-morrissey15.article Bulls' real crime? Zzzzzzz After 5 years of lukewarm ball and a 205-205 record, franchise stuck in NBA hell April 15, 2010 BY RICK MORRISSEY Sun-Times Columnist I'm not bothered by the reports that Bulls president John Paxson grabbed the tie of his head coach and shoved him. Nor am I bothered by reports that Vinny Del Negro, having been on the business end of the yanking and shoving, gathered witness statements as if he were working a crime scene. What bothers me is that the Paxson-Del Negro dust-up is, by far, the most exciting thing about this year's team to date. The true crime is that, even with superstar-in-training Derrick Rose, the product is about as captivating as mortgage-refinancing paperwork. Worse, barring the possibility of Dwyane Wade losing his mind and taking a substantially smaller offer to leave Miami for Chicago after this season, it doesn't look as if the situation will get significantly better any time soon. One of the suckers who continue to fill the United Center night after night ought to grab Paxson by the tie for that. Think about it: For the second season in a row, the story line has been whether the Bulls can sneak into the playoffs. This year, the suspense centered on whether they could grab the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Woo-hoo! After Del Negro finished his investigation, he wanted to announce that Paxson was ''a person of interest'' but knew no one would buy it. There is nothing interesting about this organization. So a fight between Paxson and Del Negro passes for drama, as opposed to whatever it is we've been watching the last five years. The scintillating first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics last season was an exception, but remember, it took place in a Kevin Garnett-less vacuum. Del Negro looked like a short-timer from the moment the Bulls hired him two years ago, so there has been steady talk throughout his tenure that this would be his last season. The reported scuffle after a March 30 game against Phoenix would seem to dot the I's and cross the T's on the press release announcing Del Negro's departure from the organization. Paxson reportedly was upset that Del Negro, for a second time, had exceeded the playing-time limit for Joakim Noah, who had been fighting plantar fasciitis. After the first incident, Noah missed the next 10 games because of the foot problem. The second time Del Negro allowed Noah to go over the limit, Paxson allegedly went off. Some people go right for the jugular; Paxson went for the paisley. Paxson can't claim high road Assuming the reports of the altercation are true, Paxson has lost the high road whenever one of his players gets into trouble. Sort of hard to tsk-tsk someone else's behavior when yours hasn't been what anyone would consider professional. But that pales in importance when placed next to the porridge-like product the Bulls have become. If the idea is to win a championship -- that's the idea, right? Right? -- this isn't working. After their 98-89 victory at Charlotte on Wednesday night, the Bulls are 41-41 and their combined record for the last five seasons is 205-205. The Bulls aren't aiming for the mountaintop. They appear intent on pitching a tent on the prairie. It was easy to look at their victory over the Celtics on Tuesday night and see hope. Rose scored 39 points and Kirk Hinrich added 30. But it was one game in a five-year history of lukewarm basketball. You'd be foolish to believe in it. No, the Bulls find themselves in NBA hell, where there's little hope of getting better in the draft and the likelihood of landing one of the top free agents seems slim, thanks to league rules that reward players for staying with their teams. So here the Bulls are, spooning out gruel to the peasants, who, for some reason, continue to eat it up. Lack of confidence factor Del Negro was upset earlier in the season when the Bulls brass declined to give him a vote of confidence after a terrible stretch in December, which included blowing a 35-point lead in a loss to Sacramento. Somebody forgot to tell Vinny that a public vote of confidence from management is the kiss of death. But it was the first real indication things weren't right between the coach and the powers that be. The reality is that Del Negro was in la-la land if he thought he had a chance to carry on as coach after this season. The other reality is that the Bulls, so big on making their games a fan-friendly experience, are failing at the only thing that matters for a pro sports franchise. If Blackhawks president John McDonough had a physical altercation with coach Joel Quenneville, he'd ask Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita to reminisce in front of a sold-out United Center about fights they saw in the good, old days. We can laugh at McDonough's market-everything-that-moves approach, but there's one thing that separates him from his Bulls counterpart: He's overseeing a winner.
I love the Bulls dearly. Lukewarm basketball is correct. We were so bad for many years, then lukewarm. What is the odds that we will be good next year? Dont know! Depends on the idea that the Bulls cleared cap space for a top 3 FA! And with the higher salary cap it gives hope to the fans such as myself that finally we will be good! Or is JR simply clearing cap space for the hard 2011 cap that is coming? I suppose the jaded side of me wonders why JR should spend near cap money this summer for a quality team when he is making a ton of money each and every year off of lukewarm basketball! I positive side of me hopes I am wrong. It hopes we will indeed sign some good players this summer!
This team is only going to be as good as Rose makes it. But that's better than what it could have been for any of the last 10 years. There's only four or five guys in the league who are going to get their teams to the championship level consistently. LBJ is the only one who seems to be able to do it primarily by himself. So once again, we should thank Morrissey for his astute grasp of the obvious, but since Rose has only been here for two years, and he's only 21 years old, pointing out the record over the last 5 years is silly. Who could they have gotten to make them championship contenders?
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1N1-11EFA34E7AA59C60.html Memphis owner blames Bulls for Gasol Deal SEATTLE - Faced with growing opposition in Memphis to last week's trading sending Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley tried to blame the Bulls indirectly for getting so little for a 7-foot former all-star. In an interview with the Memphis Commercial Appeal in Tuesday's edition, Heisley said the Bulls were unwilling to give up quality players or offer financial relief, so the Grizzlies looked elsewhere. Gasol was traded for Kwame Brown (expiring $9.5 million expiring contract), rookie Javaris Crittenton and …
Don't ask who the Bulls could have gotten to make them contenders. They chose to get nobody, but guys like PJ Brown, Antonio Davis, Ben Wallace, Viktor, Songaila, et al.
