Bulls must act now to compete against Miami Heat in the East

http://www.suntimes.com/6098182-417...o-compete-against-miami-heat-in-the-east.html

Bulls general manager Gar Forman has South Beach on his mind. Maybe not to the extent he needs to, but Forman is at least willing to acknowledge that the road to the Eastern Conference title goes through Miami.

Now, can he and the Bulls front office figure out a way to close the gap on the Heat?

With some of the remarks Forman made Tuesday, it unfortunately sounded like a no — a deflated, Carlos Boozer-missed-layup-type no.

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Standing pat and counting on the young Bulls to simply mature and jell enough to overcome the Heat would be a big mistake — one Forman seems willing to make.

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The Bulls tried to out-defend, out-athlete a Heat team that was better in both areas. The Mavericks’ long-range gunners and perimeter ball movement were the blueprint for keeping James and Bosh ringless.

The Bulls don’t have enough long-range gunners. Is there a sense of urgency in adding a shooting guard?

‘‘If the right opportunity presents itself, we’re certainly going to look at it, and there’s always the possibility we’ll make a move,’’ Forman said. ‘‘I don’t know if I would call it a sense of urgency.’’

 

Fire Gar, hire Fat Jerry.

 

‘‘We want to give this team, for the most part, a chance to grow together,’’ Forman said. ‘‘We had seven or eight new players, we had a new coaching staff, and I think it was really positive on how our team came together."

In other words (translation), "We have guys on cheap contracts that expire in a couple years anyway."

 

Not exactly a lot of dynamic Gar quotes there and Cowley certainly did a strong job of standing up for the championship-starved fan base.

Sounded a bit like Forman was trying to take the edge off Reinsdorf's "we need a SG who can score" quote.

 

I feel bad for Thibs when he looks at his bench in need of some scoring pop.