Another Game, Another Bad Second Half: Bulls Lose to Pistons

This is becoming a disturbing trend.  The Bulls have a fine first half, but implode in the second.  Such was the case last week against Denver, Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers and  in Monday's 109-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons during their final game at The Palace of Auburn Hills.  It tied the teams at 31-32, though they still hold onto the final two playoff spots in the East.

Even without Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo due to injuries, the Bulls initially appeared not to need them, outpacing Detroit on the break, 10-0, in the first quarter and leading by as much as 14 during that frame.  But the Pistons cut that lead to four by halftime and the contest was knotted after three quarters.  The final frame was all Detroit, which opened it with a 12-3 run and ultimately outscored the Bulls, 30-16.  That happens when your offense lasts longer and you take away easy chances on defense, though it helps when your opponent lets you score at will and can't respond.

Reggie Jackson was the Pistons' big player, scoring 24 of his 26 points in the second half and shooting a perfect 10 for 10 from the field during that time.  Jon Leuer scored 16 and 13 points apiece came from Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris.  Andre Drummond, whom the Bulls hacked for a bit in the third quarter (a strategy Will Perdue said changed the course of the game), had 12 points and eight rebounds.  Aron Baynes, whom Australian Olympic coach Luc Longley was in the building to check out, put on a decent showing of 12 and seven.

Jimmy Butler regrouped from his bad game against the Clippers to lead all scorers with 27 points and grab nine boards.  Robin Lopez was his usual reliable self in the pain, scoring 18.  Cameron Payne showed a glimpse of why Gar Forman acquired him, hitting a game-high four 3-pointers during a 14-point game.  Bobby Portis scored 10 and Jerian Grant dished a season-high eight assists.

It came down to who had more energy down the stretch and in this case, Detroit's 54-20 advantage on points in the paint over the final three quarters played a huge part.  Little resistance from the Bulls on one end and employing shooters who aren't consistent enough on the other can only mean disaster.  And too many turnovers, five of their 10 coming from Butler, gave Detroit more chances they were mostly happy to take advantage of.  Worst of all, they looked defeated in the face of adversity during the second half and you cannot do that in the NBA.

Every game is becoming more pivotal as the season approaches its final month.  The next one will be on the road Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.  The Bulls' win there on Jan. 24 was the last time I blogged right after a victory.  I'll be working this time however, so my next chance to feel good while writing after a game will have to wait a little longer, which just goes to show how elusive wins are becoming for a team that's still hovering around .500.

Nuggets' Hot Shooting Dooms Bulls

Like it's not enough the Bulls can't shoot 3-pointers?  They have to die on certain nights by that method posed by their opponent too?  That was the case in Tuesday's 125-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

The contest was even throughout the first half and the Bulls even led by three at the break.  It remained close until the final three minutes of the third quarter when the Nuggets closed the frame on a 13-4 run.  Things got exponentially worse in the fourth, which saw the Nuggets hit six 3-pointers and the Bulls apply very little defensive pressure.  By the end, the United Center faithful was showering the home team with some boos.

All five Denver starters scored in double figures, but none did more damage than Nikola Jokic, who achieved both his third triple-double of the year and the third triple-double against the Bulls this season:  19 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.  Danilo Gallinari was the game's leading scorer with 22 points, followed closely by DePaul product Wilson Chandler's 20.  Gary Harris, one of the two picks the Bulls traded for the now-departed Doug McDermott during the 2014 draft, tied with Will Barton for 15.  Jamal Murray scored 14 and Jameer Nelson added 12.

Dwyane Wade was the Bulls' most productive player with team highs of 19 points and six assists.  Rajon Rondo also scored 19 and generally provided one of the few bright spots on the team, a rare feat for him.  New regular starter Bobby Portis had 12 and Robin Lopez finished just behind him with 10.  Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler was nowhere to be found, scoring just eight on 3 of 13 shooting.

Granted, there's not much the Bulls can do when the team they're facing is shooting 56.3 percent, but it exposes them as a team that doesn't match up well when an offensive explosion takes place on the other end.  It shows how poorly Gar Forman constructed this team before the season and so far, didn't do much better by acquiring Cameron Payne (2 for 10 from the field Tuesday).  Games like this expose holes in the team which could have been avoided with better planning.  If you're consistently coming up short on offense and can't prevent anything on defense, you deserve every boo that comes down upon you from your fans.

It doesn't get any easier with Thursday's nationally-televised tilt with the Golden State Warriors.  Maybe it gets a bit easier with Kevin Durant's injury on Tuesday, but the Splash Brothers are alive and well.  That TNT streak faces its biggest threat yet.  And my sister is going to the game, so a lot of nerve-wracking and unusual activity will be taking place on the West Side.

Gibson, McDermott Traded to Thunder

I have to go to work soon, so I'll keep this brief.  The Bulls made a deal at the trade deadline that sent Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.  In return, they received Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow.

Trading Gibson and his expiring contract is no surprise.  McDermott probably needed a change of scenery after underachieving from the time he was drafted in 2014.  I'll miss the longest tenured Bull and a player I thought could have done so much more in Chicago.

As for the haul the Bulls got, none will really change the fortunes of the team, at least not in the short term.  Payne becomes the latest in a bunch of point guards auditioning for the long-term starting job.  If Nikola Mirotic or Bobby Portis don't get the regular start at power forward, figure Lauvergne will have a chance to earn some minutes.  Morrow, 31, gives Rajon Rondo a fellow veteran presence off the bench.

Payne has the most promise of the three given his age and the Bulls' need for a point guard, but the other two deserve a chance to shine as well.  At this point, every player who puts on a Bulls uniform is auditioning to be part of the next core to make a run at a championship, especially if they're young.  While that can be true of any new player at any time, the Bulls are at a crossroads right now.  They need to see who's worth their money both now and in the long run.

The question going forward for this season is will this knock the Bulls out of the playoff picture?  It might have been easier to say yes if the Eastern Conference wasn't as putrid as it's been this century.  But it's tough to succeed without a post player with the caliber of Gibson.  Then again, a time when you're trying to develop the future of your franchise should be more about just that and not necessarily the playoffs, extra revenue be damned (though that's something the Reinsdorfs probably don't want to hear).

Year of Frustration Keeps Going for Bulls: Midseason Report

People have become fed up with the Bulls.  A season filled with turmoil, inconsistency and no willingness to change is causing fans to tune out.  A Crain's Chicago Business report says TV ratings for games on Comcast SportsNet are down 28 percent compared to the final season average and the team is on pace for its lowest average viewership on the network in nearly a decade.  But everything is fine in Jerry Reinsdorf's world as long as he has Gar Forman and John Paxson back next year, which he will, even when players are calling each other out.

What was hyped to be the season of the 3 Alphas has turned into what many feared would when Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade were signed as sidekicks to Jimmy Butler.  Mediocrity is the name of the game and in January, the younger players felt the wrath of Butler and Wade, who were bashed by Rondo on Instagram in return.  For the second straight season, Fred Hoiberg has a roster that simply isn't built for his system.  And with Sacramento trading DeMarcus Cousins right after Sunday's All-Star Game, the Bulls will likely have to settle for the Kings' second-round pick in the next draft instead of their first-rounder.

Despite so many things going wrong, the Bulls find themselves in the seventh playoff spot in the East at 28-29, one game behind Indiana and one ahead of Detroit.  Amazing is that the East's ninth-place team, Milwaukee, is a half-game better than Denver, the eighth seed in the West.  So unless the Bulls decide to trade Jimmy Butler before Thursday's trade deadline, it would take a monumental amount of losing for them to miss the playoffs.

That's not what many people want to hear.  They see this as a team with no direction stuck in basketball hell and the only option is to tear it down and start over.  If GarPax goes that route, it's hard to imagine they'll consider it until the end of the season at the earliest.  As long as the team is connected to Jahlil Okafor trade rumors, it's wise to assume they won't be burning anything to the ground soon.

That's good news if you want to keep watching Butler in Chicago.  Once again, he's improved from a year ago, posting career highs in almost every relevant category.  The new All-Star voting system allowed him to make his first start in three selections.  He's proven he belongs among the NBA's elite and he won't slow down until he's stretched his ceiling as high as it can go, which is scary for opponents since it appears the sky's the limit for him.

While his string of 12 consecutive All-Star selections ended this year, the 35-year-old Wade has shown he has plenty left to contribute.  When he's not sitting out games to conserve whatever gas is left in his tank, he's creating his own plays and acting clutch in situations where Butler is unavailable.  Fortunately, he's been out there enough to wow fans and create memories befitting of a future Hall of Famer near the end of the years in which he can make a real difference.  As long as the team doesn't have to go through him all the time, his value will be maximized and the Bulls will gain from that.

The same can't be said for Rondo, who hasn't started since my girlfriend and I saw him begin a 5 1/2-game benching on Dec. 30 in Indiana.  His scoring average is at its lowest since his rookie year and he's well on his way to a career-low field goal percentage.  Although he still gets his assists each game, that average hasn't been so low since his second season.  The one good thing he's done is give the bench a veteran presence it didn't have before, which is beneficial to any team.

For the first time in his career, Taj Gibson has started every game he's played, missing only two all year.  His scoring and free-throw percentage are up significantly from last year and he still plays with the same intensity he has since coming in the league.  Hard work and not a lot of flash won't get you the accolades of your more talented colleagues, but it gives you respect and admiration from everybody.  Gibson has earned all of it and with his contract about to expire, it's sad to know this player who embodies what a Chicago Bull is might soon be out the door.

Robin Lopez, who took over Joakim Noah's starting spot at center, is the only Bull to play and start every game this season.  While he's had a bit of a down year, it's been easier to take thanks to lower expectations in the paint without Noah or Pau Gasol.  He's another example of doing all the right things with the game he has and there isn't as much pressure on him to create.  He won't ever achieve the results of his twin brother Brook, but he's a respectable NBA player the Bulls were lucky to acquire as the centerpiece of their haul in the Derrick Rose trade.

Since Rondo's benching, starting point guard duties have been split between Michael Carter-Williams and Jerian Grant.  Carter-Williams might be productive enough to be considered a viable NBA player in the long run, though the Bulls are his third team in four seasons.  Plus, he's averaging just 2.7 assists a game this year, by far the fewest in his career.  A restricted free agent after the season, he could stand to improve if he wants his next paycheck to be a good one.

Grant, in his second NBA season, has shown flashes of a player belonging in the rotation, particularly by shooting 34.8 percent from 3-point range, but he isn't proving himself enough in other areas.  If he wants to stick around the league, he needs to create more plays for himself and others.  He has room to grow at 24 though, so look for more out of him.

If you wanna talk disappointments, look no further than Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic.  While McDermott has gotten more playing time, increased his scoring and is the best 3-point shooter on the team, he hasn't lived up to the expectations of the lottery pick the Bulls drafted two first-round picks to get.  He's not the go-to player they expected, but he has one year left on his contract to figure it out, which can't be said for Mirotic, who's becoming a restricted free agent after a season in which he's regressed across the board.  He should be fortunate to collect an NBA paycheck right now because at this rate, he's going to find trouble landing elsewhere next season.


As for the rest of the team, Cristiano Felicio does enough with his minutes that he can get it done on both ends during that allotted time.  Bobby Portis is still finding his footing, though slowly making strides.  Paul Zipser has improved his post play by doing the little things, allowing him to get more minutes than fellow rookie Denzel Valentine, who needs to prove his production matches his basketball smarts at the NBA level and not just with the Windy City Bulls.  Isaiah Canaan barely sees action these days, which should tell you all Hoiberg thinks about his potential to thrive here.

Hoiberg could thrive with a roster suited to his demands, but he hasn't gotten one yet.  If he did, we might be talking about a more successful Bulls.  He's not blameless however.  Though he deserves a longer leash than GarPax, nothing about these Bulls indicates he can get the most out of his players like Tom Thibodeau did.

There's talent on this roster, but it's not enough to be considered a consistent winner.  The question GarPax has to consider so close to the deadline and beyond is whether the core players can be built around without triggering a total teardown, which Reinsdorf undoubtedly wants to avoid completely.  The chairman is 80 and might not have be happy if he knows he must wait for another championship for too long.  Then again, he wants to do it his way with GarPax, so he needs to pick a lane and choose it for the greater good of the franchise.

The second half begins Friday with a home meeting against the Phoenix Suns.  After the Bulls laid an egg against them on the Disney on Ice trip, one would think the universe would balance itself out.  Then again, that's another young and athletic team, the type the Bulls said they would be, but didn't and have ironically struggled against.  Funny how saying one thing and doing another works against you.

Timberwolves Take Full Advantage of Shorthanded Bulls

It's never a good sign when you go to a Bulls game knowing your team's chances are pretty much shot.  Even before my first trip to the Target Center, my spirits were dampened by the news that Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade would miss Sunday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a bruised right heel and swollen right wrist respectively.  Nikola Mirotic had back spasms and Paul Zipser was dealing with both food poisoning and a sore ankle.  It should come as no surprise that the Bulls lost, 117-89.

Except for the first few possessions, the Bulls had no chance against a young, athletic team without their two playmakers.  The defense constantly broke down, especially in the paint, and the offense gave itself no chance with poor decision-making and inability to take care of the ball.  Tom Thibodeau had no sympathy for his former team.  His team played well from start to finish per his trademark style to sweep the season series.

Andrew Wiggins led all scorers with 27 points, driving on every opportunity he had and finishing more often than not.  Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 and Gorgui Dieng had a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds, as did Ricky Rubio with 17 points and 11 assists.  Just for good measure, Nemanja Bjelica chipped in 16 points and Shabazz Muhammad added 12.

Bobby Portis and Doug McDermott tied for the Bulls lead with 16 points, and everything about that statement should depress you.  Michael Carter-Williams wasn't far behind with 12.  Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo chipped in 10 apiece.  Obviously, there was nothing too exciting to come of that.

All you need to know about this game is the Bulls had a 4-on-1 break and completely screwed it up with a bad pass.  Only these Bulls could find a way to mess up such an easy opportunity.  Never mind that they were missing key personnel.  The fact that two points could be thrown away just like that is absolutely mind-boggling.

This game really exposed the Bulls as to how thin they are.  Take Butler and Wade out and you're left with a bunch of role players that have no clear direction.  Granted, they don't do well against young, athletic teams anyway, but when nobody's playing well enough to hide your collective flaws, everyone can see you for what you truly are.  It's further evidence on why a new direction not only needs to be considered, but is overdue.

Having finished the Disney on Ice trip at 2-4, the Bulls will return to the United Center on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors.  They've won 10 straight in the series, though the Raptors dropping to the fourth seed in the East makes it a little less surprising.  Still, any series with a streak that long suggests the team on the losing end has a mental block that grows larger for each passing game.  Anything to get this team back on track would be much appreciated, even if it has to come at the expense of an opponent you've beat up on recently.

Forman, Paxson Have Safe Jobs and That's Not Good

If a Tuesday night report is to be believed, Gar Forman and John Paxson will remain as Bulls general manager and executive vice president respectively, even if the team misses the playoffs this year.  Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf trust the two in how they build the roster. The brass reportedly believes this is the first year to reopen a championship window without Derrick Rose and also that the strategy of rebuilding while competing is working.

They can spin this all they want, but the fact remains that this is the latest example of a longstanding tradition of Reinsdorf loyalty to its front office regardless of team performance.  While it's fine to be on good terms with your employees, it isn't worth anything if your product is mediocre.  People don't go to the store to buy mediocre groceries.  They want high quality at a reasonable price and the Bulls expect fans to pay one of the most expensive tickets in the NBA for inconsistency.

While regular sellouts and the United Center's large capacity allows the Bulls to lead the league in home attendance, the eye test at these games indicates people aren't showing up, and that's embarrassing.  The fans have never been as loud as say, Warriors and Thunder fans, but with fewer people wanting to see a shoddy product, folks being fed up gets harder to ignore.  At least it should for fans watching on TV.

But as long as the bottom line is good enough, the Reinsdorfs will see no reason to make drastic changes.  Never mind that every draft pick since Jimmy Butler in 2011 has failed to live up to expectations.  Forget about going back on the vow to get younger and more athletic by signing Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade.  GarPax can do no wrong, even with the third head coach since the duo came together, so it's here to stay.

How is anyone supposed to believe in a future for this team?  Players and coaches keep changing and yet, those in charge of basketball operations never suffer the consequences of their failure to produce winning results.  Just getting to the playoffs isn't enough.  You have to contend for championships to keep fans interested and yet, the organization has no interest in trying a different path.

Perhaps most annoying of all is that we still haven't reached the All-Star break on this season, meaning there's still two months before the playoffs.  That's at least 14 months before we can even consider the possibility that one or both of these guys will be replaced.  Tell me how we're supposed to expect the Bulls to blow people away when most of their fans are ranging from pissed to apathetic.  Without changes to enter the next winning era of Bulls basketball, it ain't happening.

They say you should value people over anything else, but pro sports is a business with millions of outside followers, something no other industry can boast to the extent it does.  That's why when the majority of those people are calling for you to do something, loyalties have to put aside.  Paxson in particular has contributed a lot to the Bulls for over 30 years, but eventually, patience and chances have to run out.  And besides one great year, Forman has not earned the benefit of the doubt because he and his scouts and failed to properly identify quality talent to build with.

You don't have to follow the Bulls to see how the opinions of one or two can affect the entire operation.  We're seeing that with America itself as we speak and how upset people are.  Maybe it's a stretch to draw that parallel, but how poorly people can take certain actions or inaction is on full display.  Reinsdorf is running a professional sports organization as opposed to the most powerful country in the free world, so when put that way, making changes should be a lot easier.

Until anything happens, we as the fans have to deal with an organization stuck in its ways until it indicates otherwise.  While we may not like it, we just have to endure it because we can't call ourselves true fans without putting up with the crap that comes with following one team your whole life.  Someday, we'll look back on this and laugh.  Maybe.

Younger Bulls Take Issue With Wade's Practicing or Lack Thereof

One day after Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo were all fined for their recent comments and the former two were benched at the start of a 100-88 loss to the Miami Heat, Taj Gibson let it be known that the younger players on the team want Wade to practice more.  Both the 35-year-old Wade and Fred Hoiberg agreed to watch his practice schedule carefully at the start of the season.  No doubt sitting out some practices has allowed him to play on both ends of back-to-backs.  But those still learning the NBA said during Friday's team meeting that they don't care for this arrangement.

Wade did practice on Saturday, but the issue remained.  His sitting out of many practices was enough of an issue for Rondo to bring it up in his Instagram post.  He and Hoiberg have defended it several times.  Whether or not they continue to do so remains to be seen.

While it's completely understandable for Wade to take steps that will max out whatever he has left, leadership is also about setting examples for those who have come after you.  It would be in the best interest of the team for him to sacrifice a little playing time to help develop these guys outside of games.  On the other hand, he signed with the Bulls to play meaningful basketball, not pickup games.  He's truly caught between a rock and a hard place with his body and being in the good graces of his teammates coming to blows, something he probably didn't expect or at least wasn't hoping would happen.

Wade will need to do some soul searching and maybe even have a long conversation with Hoiberg on how to best move forward.  With a little less than half the season to go, that's a lot of time left to spend with these players.  Heck, the Disney on Ice Trip starts after Sunday's home game against the Philadelphia 76ers.  He can consider this his own little retreat in which he can reflect on this issue.

As Wade gets closer to the end of his Hall of Fame career, it's time for him to decide what legacy he wants to leave those who will still be playing when he hangs it up.  Does he want to be known as a great player who was also easy to be around?  Or will he be one who thought of himself first more as his body started to break down?  The choice is his.

Rajon Rondo Instagram Rant Points Blame at Wade, Butler

I gotta hand it to the Bulls.  When controversy comes their way, they don't shy away from it.  In fact, they seem to love adding one layer after another.  And as we found out Thursday, they can even cause a ruckus on social media.

In the immediate aftermath of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade calling out their young teammates following Wednesday's blown game against Atlanta, the most vocal response came from Jerian Grant on Twitter.  But Rajon Rondo's grating Instagram post on Thursday made Grant's tweets look like high praise.  For those who can't be bothered to follow the link, Rondo posted a picture of himself with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett during his Boston days.  Here's the full message that accompanied it in all its glory:


My vets would never go to the media. They would come to the team. My vets didn't pick and choose when they wanted to bring it. They brought it every time they stepped in the gym whether it was practice or a game. They didn't take days off. My vets didn't care about their numbers. My vets played for the team. When we lost, they wouldn't blame us. They took responsibility and got in the gym. They showed the young guys what it meant to work. Even in Boston when we had the best record in the league, if we lost a game, you could hear a pin drop on the bus. They showed us the seriousness of the game. My vets didn't have an influence on the coaching staff. They couldn't change the plan because it didn't work for them. I played under one of the greatest coaches, and he held everyone accountable. It takes 1-15 to win. When you isolate everyone, you can't win consistently. I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a bad teammate. My goal is to pass what I learned along. The young guys work. They show up. They don't deserve blame. If anything is questionable, it's the leadership.

Well.  That sure resolved everything going on with this team.  In fact, Bulls management appreciated it so much, Rondo's contract might be bought out.  It's as if to say "We love how you spoke your mind, so why don't you do it someplace besides here?"

The scary thing about Rondo's post is he's not completely wrong.  Go back to any non-game story involving Wade or Butler this season and you'll find things that match what Rondo is saying.  So it's not a huge shock that he doesn't like how they've conducted themselves as team leaders or simply as players either.  Their postgame comments were clearly the last straw for him, but even with all that time between then and when he made the post, he still felt strongly enough that he had to tell the world what he perceived to be the wrong way to guide a team.

The biggest irony of this whole thing is that it was Rondo who coined the term "The Three Alphas" and in less than 24 hours, they all added fuel to the fire that is this dysfunctional season.  Worse yet, it's turned into two alphas against one and unsurprisingly, the player by himself has by far contributed the least this year.  What is anyone hoping to gain from all this?  Unless some magic potion that brings unity is somewhere in the locker room, it's hard to imagine much.

But perhaps some good will come of this.  Maybe this is what Gar Forman and John Paxson needed to finally stop turning the other cheek and do something about this mess they created.  Years from now, we might look back on these past couple days as the moment when the Bulls finally decided to get serious about building the franchise's next great era.  And to think, all it might have taken was an online rant from a player who many felt was a poor teammate and bad for Fred Hoiberg's system to begin with.

All we know for sure is we're all sick and tired of season after season turning into a soap opera for one reason or another.  Two years ago, it was GarPax against Tom Thibodeau.  Last year, Butler seized leadership from Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, much to the chagrin of the now-Knicks.  The latest one is Rondo vs. Butler and Wade vs. everybody.

Why do we as fans have to put up with this?  Even the Tim Floyd era didn't see so much drama for so long.  If Michael Reinsdorf doesn't realize now is the time to get his father Jerry to sign off on something new, this organization is a lost cause.  This all could have been avoided if they took the proper steps to assemble a winning, united basketball team, but here we are.

The longer the higher-ups remain silent about this, the more fans are going to tune out.  It's a shame to see the same franchise Michael Jordan became famous with reduced to something no one should want to be a part of.  A real culture change is needed.  No one should care about how it happens as long as there's a light at the end of this God-forsaken tunnel, which there currently is not.

Maybe Jerry will see how happy SoxFest attendees are this weekend to know his other team is finally taking proper steps to get back to winning.  If that's the epiphany he needs to realize Bulls fans would be just as happy to endure lean years for a better future, so be it.  Maybe it starts with dumping Rondo and admitting he never should have been signed to begin with.  Let's see somebody take to social media about that.

Postgame Comments From Wade, Butler Remove Any Doubt of Discord

If any people were still wondering about the unity of this year's Bulls, there's no longer any question regarding it  after Wednesday's late collapse against the Atlanta Hawks.  Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, the only two players to make any meaningful contributions in the game, really let their teammates have it.  Wade, already in the spotlight this week for threatening to walk after this season, said he doesn't "know that they care enough."  I won't reprint the expletive Butler dropped, but his sentiment echoed Wade's, saying his teammates "just got to care if we win or lose."

The teammates in question surely took the comments in their own ways.  Jerian Grant had the most public reaction so far, sending out four tweets about it.  It's understandable because none of us like to be talked down to at our jobs.  Still, it's disheartening to see this young player, the latest in a revolving door of starting point guards at a time when the Bulls sometimes have no one on the court at that position, respond to the on-court leaders in this fashion.

For the second straight season, Fred Hoiberg has lost control of his locker room.  Not being able to get the best out of every player is one thing.  So is not knowing which player should be doing what in clutch situations.  It's quite another to see words flying to the point where your players aren't getting along.

Okay, Rajon Rondo brought his baggage with him as everyone expected, but at least when he's the story, it ultimately goes squarely back to him.  Now, you've got the best players on the team throwing the young players who are supposed to be developing under the bus.  That's multiple parties on both sides of the aisle involved.  How are we expected to believe this will all get resolved before the season ends?

We can't blame Hoiberg for this entire mess though.  What will really be intriguing is if we hear from Gar Forman or John Paxson, the architects of this dumpster fire, about these latest developments.  While we probably won't, it's hard not to want to be a fly on the wall during their private meetings.  Do they feel they need to take action or do they just not care?

I'm not holding my breath on whether GarPax has learned what could happen when you're indecisive on the direction of your franchise.  Collectively, they've made one poor decision after another without consequence.  Even when Forman says they're going to put together a younger and more athletic roster, he finds players to fill that description who aren't that good and also abandons that plan halfway through it.  And he's getting paid a lot of money for it all.

If there's any good to come out of this latest episode, maybe this will finally convince management to pick a lane and follow it through to the end.  As seemingly everyone but them suspected, you can't just sign high-profile players to put butts in seats.  Sure, the Bulls are still selling out games, but turnout has not been very good and tickets are being cheaply resold everywhere.  So much for taking the marketing route this year.

The best we can hope for now besides wins is Butler and Wade making sure there are no hard feelings and they just want everyone to play to the best of their abilities.  They might have to do it quickly though in case GarPax wants to sell at the trade deadline.  Even if the season that never was is officially lost, at least the interpersonal relationships can be healed, right?  Of course, that's not what season-ticket holders pay a lot of money to see, and we have to wonder how long they're willing to do that.

Bulls Stretched Out, Unable to Finish Wizards

No Jimmy Butler or Dwyane Wade for Tuesday's game against the Washington Wizards should have spelled disaster for the Bulls.  A team they have struggled with a lot these past few years would surely have their way with them.  Surprisingly, that trend was reversed for awhile.  But the Bulls couldn't keep it that way and lost, 101-99.

An even first quarter turned into a 10-point Bulls lead late and that ballooned to as much as 18 in the second.  But the sloppy Wizards were replaced by the cold and sloppy Bulls in the second half and it turned into a nail-biter down the stretch.  The Bulls held a two-point lead in the final minute, only to see John Wall tie it up and then, make the winning basket with five seconds left.  Doug McDermott went for the winning 3-pointer on the final possession and you can guess what happened on a night he shot 0 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Wall led all scorers with 26 points and all passers with 14 assists, which isn't a surprise given he was the only pure star playing in this game.  Bradley Beal and Markieff Morris each poured in 19, though Morris fouled out before he could play a key role in the waning minutes.  Rounding out the starting lineup were Otto Porter's 11 points and Marcin Gortat's 10.  You're probably sick of reading these names as a Bulls fan, but they'll continue to come up until the Bulls can figure them out.

Denzel Valentine came off the bench and had the game of his short NBA career, leading the Bulls with 19 points, including five 3-pointers.  Michael Carter-Willliams and Robin Lopez each hustled to score 14, Bobby Portis hit a trio of treys in a 13-point effort and Taj Gibson completed a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.  Rajon Rondo, earning some of the minutes normally allotted to Wade and Butler, scored 12 and gave out six assists, which might be enough to come back into the rotation after missing the last five-and-a-half games.

While it was a better game than expected under the circumstances, the Bulls still couldn't close the deal.  It happens way too often:  they build a nice lead in the first half only to completely squander it in the second.  They earned a little bit of slack here with their two best players out, but as we've learned many times over the years, no NBA team is ever really out of a game.  That lesson showed itself yet again here.

The other cruel reminder this game served is that the Bulls have very streaky shooters.  They can get hot at just about any time, but when they really need to put an opponent away, the shots simply stop falling.  This is especially true from downtown, where they were 10 for 27.  The number of treys is impressive, but to paraphrase a certain White Sox announcer, tell me when you make those shots, not how many.

The Bulls will meet the newly found Derrick Rose and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden for a nationally-televised tilt on Thursday.  Wade should return to the lineup and hopefully, Butler will too.  They'll hope to avenge the loss at the United Center when these teams first met.  They almost always play well on TNT though, so don't rule out a game in which they run the Knicks right out of the World's Most Famous Arena.

Bulls Largely Ineffective Against Thunder

Talk about a day in which Jimmy Butler experienced both the highs and lows of NBA life.  Monday started well for him when he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for last week.  But it wasn't known until shortly before tipoff whether an illness would keep him out against the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Though he tried to play through his condition, he was unsuccessful, making just one free throw and none of his six field-goal attempts before leaving prior to the fourth quarter of a 109-94 loss.

With Butler's condition a prevailing storyline, more drama was added when Dwyane Wade ran into Nikola Mirotic and lay flat on the court, but he walked off on his own and returned to action shortly thereafter.  Though the Thunder led for most of the contest, the Bulls kept it competitive until midway through the third quarter.  That's when the bottom fell out and Fred Hoiberg eventually emptied his bench save for Rajon Rondo, who sat during his entire bobblehead night.  By the end, many Bulls fans had turned their attention to Derrick Rose's bizarre absence from Monday's New York Knicks game.

Russell Westbrook finished one rebound shy of his latest triple-double, though 21 points and 14 assists were just as impressive.  It's become standard to talk of Westbrook in that regard.  The story for the Thunder involved centers Steven Adams and Enes Kanter.  Both lay claim to the paint with many close layups and dunks, combining to score 42 points and shoot 20-of-25 from the field.

With Butler hampered, Wade took the bulk of the on-floor responsibilities and led the Bulls with 22 points.  Michael Carter-Williams scored 15 in the latest proof that his hustle and play earned him the job of starting point guard.  Cristiano Felicio has been an asset with his athleticism and Jerian Grant is developing nicely as a shooter.  Both used those qualities and more to score 11 apiece.

This game did more expose how bad it can get for the Bulls against quality teams, especially when they're not totally healthy.  After Butler and Wade, the drop in talent on this roster is steep.  So if anyone still wants Butler traded now, just know what you'd be watching more regularly without him.  And don't say it would be beneficial in the long run because rebuilding is not as simple as the Cubs have made it out to be, especially in the NBA.

The daunting task of playing the second of a back-to-back  on the road Tuesday against the Washington Wizards became more challenging after Monday's loss.  Butler will not travel with the team, at least not to our nation's capital.  Wade won't play either so he can rest.  As optimistic as I love to be as a Bulls fan, a victory in this game couldn't be called anything except a miracle.

Bulls Get By Ailing Cavs

Sometimes in sports, it's all about catching a great team at the right time.  In Wednesday's case, the Bulls benefited from a pandemic that's hit the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers.  Kyrie Irving missed his third straight game with a hamstring injury, Kevin Love is dealing with food poisoning and even LeBron James was a question mark until 20 minutes before tipoff thanks to a cold.  None of that mattered to the Bulls, who took it to their hosts and won, 106-94.

It initially looked like a blowout the other way might happen when the Cavaliers opened the game on a 15-2 run.  But the Bulls cut the deficit to seven at the end of the first quarter and from there, commanded most of the contest.  A hot offense outscored Cleveland by 13 in the second quarter and got the lead up to 17 in the third.  The Cavs, led by James' game-high 31 points, made a final push in the fourth and got to within one, but that came during a stretch in which Jimmy Butler scored 10 consecutive points for the Bulls to put the game away.

Butler, fresh off his 52-point performance against Charlotte on Monday, was considerably colder at first, missing nine of his first 11 shots from the field.  Luckily, it doesn't matter so much how you perform as when you do it.  He scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the final frame.  It was just in time to be one of four Bulls with three treys in the game.

Taj Gibson shot 9-of-10 from the field to end up not far Butler with 18 points.  Doug McDermott made all six of his field-goal attempts in the second quarter en route to a 17-point game.  The good version of Nikola Mirotic showed up and scored 16.  Michael Carter-Williams started again while scoring 13 and Dwyane Wade added 10.

Once again, Rajon Rondo was left on the bench.  The longer this goes on, the more it's worth questioning what exactly his role will be from here on out.  Not even Rondo himself knows as a meeting with Gar Forman and John Paxson answered no questions.  For now, all he can do is support his team from the sidelines while perhaps realizing he's becoming more expendable.

People won't look at this as a defining win for the Bulls because of the fewer Cavs superstars they had to face.  But at a time when they desperately need wins to make up for a bad December, they'll take them even if it means kicking a top dog when it's down.  They almost always show up against great teams on national TV anyway, so as far as they were concerned, this was no different.  And if you're going to stay mediocre, you might as well do it while beating championship contenders.

The Bulls welcome the second-best team in the East to the United Center, the Toronto Raptors, on Saturday.  It will be the first time these teams meet this season after the Bulls swept all four games a year ago.  Will the team that represents our northern neighbors have better luck this time around?  Or are the Bulls in their heads, as is often the case when you just can't top a team you should be all accounts?

Tumultuous 2016 Draws to Close

Like with much of the world, 2016 wasn't a very kind year to the Bulls.  When it seemed like necessary changes were finally going to be made, they didn't really happen.  So the end of the year doesn't feel much differently from the beginning.  Yet this is still the day to reflect on everything significant that happened and that's why we're here today.

With Fred Hoiberg inheriting virtually the same roster Tom Thibodeau had the year before, the Bulls struggled to meet the demands of Hoiball, yet remained in contention for the final playoff spot in the East until the season was nearly over.  But it wasn't fun to watch and even the good things that happened had strings attached.  Jimmy Butler was named to his second All-Star Game, but an injury kept him from playing, so Pau Gasol took his place.  Though Derrick Rose appeared in 66 games, his most since his MVP campaign, he still didn't play like the superstar he was pre-ACL tear except for a few flashes here and there.

All this, along with Butler attempting to seize leadership from Rose and Joakim Noah, whose season ended early with a shoulder injury, led to a 42-40 finish and no playoffs for the first time since 2008.  Calls to get rid of everyone came from everywhere.  When Rose was traded to New York and it became heavily rumored that Butler would be dealt on draft night, it looked like the Bulls would indeed go in that direction.  With Noah and Gasol leaving as free agents and Gar Forman saying the team needed "to get younger and more athletic", the fuel to the rebuilding fire continued to be poured on.

But everything was doused quickly when the Bulls signed Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade, which would have been perfect if this was 2010.  But it's six years later and both have aged considerably since then.  Young players were added up until the regular season started, but none generated much excitement.  A veteran starting lineup to go with a young bench baffled many people as it seems like the makeup of a team stuck in the middle, which is exactly where the Bulls were when the previous season ended.

With over 40 percent of the new campaign in the books, the new Bulls are as mired in mediocrity as ever, the worst place to be in professional sports.  Butler and Wade are reliable game in and game out, but the rest of the Bulls are hit and miss game in and game out.  Since starting at 11-7, they've fallen to one game below .500 and suddenly, there are reports that Hoiberg's job might be in jeopardy.  But don't let that distract you from the fact that this is ultimately a team constructed by Forman and John Paxson, though there's no indication that Jerry Reinsdorf is fed up with either of them.

Perhaps it's only fitting that a year filled with divided politics and lots of celebrity deaths among other things includes a Bulls team that hasn't moved in one direction or the other since we last rang in a New Year.  You're sick of everything else in the world bringing you down and this is only adding to the frustration.  Unless you're a Cubs fan, a Trump supporter or both, this likely won't be a year you remember fondly, and maybe not even then.  Shouldn't we at least have a basketball team that knows what the heck it's doing?

Maybe Reinsdorf will take how positively folks are reacting to his White Sox going the rebuilding route and decide the Bulls will pick a solid direction during their next offseason as well.  Had Forman truly backed up his "younger and more athletic" comment, this talk about the franchise being stagnant might not even be happening.  For now, he's stuck with young players on the bench whom you don't really want to build your team around.  If you can't replace players quickly, get some better talent evaluation in your front office and begin the proper process.

Before wrapping this up, I want to thank everybody who came back to this blog after I temporarily jumped ship to Chicago Bulls Confidential.  Yes, it's not as big a brand as ChicagoNow, but I find this setting more intimate.  It's something we can share together and if you like what I write, it would be nice of you to share my work with others.  I highly value my audience.

I've had enough of this drama of this calendar year.  2017 can hopefully only be an improvement.  But first, they can end 2016 on a high note by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks tonight.  See you all on the other side of this big day.

Pacers Outpace Bulls

While my girlfriend and I were driving to Friday's game against the Indiana Pacers, Marc Stein of ESPN reported that Fred Hoiberg is on the hot seat and only the guaranteed money on his five-year, $25 million contract is keeping the Bulls from making a change.  After the game, Hoiberg downplayed the talk, though that's not going to keep it from subsiding.  It will just continue after the Bulls lost, 111-101.

The Pacers threatened to blow it open early after making their first seven field-goal attempts.  But Indiana missed a bunch of layups and had trouble handling the ball, allowing the Bulls to keep pace and even chip away at the lead.  This continued until the game was tied at 95 midway through the fourth quarter and again at 97 two minutes later.  But the Bulls couldn't find that one basket to give them the lead and went cold, allowing the Pacers to end the game on a 14-4 run.

Paul George showed off his value with a game-high 32 points, 11 during the aforementioned game-ending run, on 10-of-20 shooting from the field and making all nine of his free throws.  Jeff Teague, who gave the Bulls plenty of fits in Atlanta before he was traded this summer, did it again by recording a career-high 17 assists.  The rest of the Pacers' starting frontcourt benefited as Thaddeus Young scored 17 and Myles Turner had 15.  Glen Robinson III also reached double figures with 12 points and completed the double-double with 10 rebounds.

Not surprising for the Bulls was Jimmy Butler leading them with 25 points and Dwyane Wade not far behind with 20.  Surprising was Crisitano Felicio's first career double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds), which will only make his strongest supporters scream even louder for him to play more meaningful minutes, though foul trouble in the first half kept him from playing longer during that time.  Michael Carter-Williams earned the right to start the second half over Rajon Rondo, who was benched the final 24 minutes, and made the most of his increased playing time with 12 points and eight boards.  Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson each scored 10.

You gotta give the Bulls credit for not rolling over when they got down in a hurry.  That desire not to be out of games has kept this frustrating season more entertaining than it has any right to be.  But their sloppy play out of the gate and running numerous offensive sets in crunch time that just didn't work did them in.  This was a prime example of how streaky, both good and bad, these Bulls can be.

The Bulls are 16-17 and deserve every bit to be under .500.  The offense isn't that great and the defense tends to get beaten at the worst times.  They give themselves plenty of chances and are often successful at them, but other than the two wins earlier this week, it doesn't happen much in the clutch.  It's up to Hoiberg and his staff to get the players from being on the precipice of needed wins to getting over that hump required to win.

The focus now shifts to Saturday's New Year's Eve date with the Milwaukee Bucks.  At the very least, the Bulls can end 2016 at exactly .500, which would be fitting for this group.  But the Bucks blew them out on both ends of a home-and-home earlier this month and playing the back end of a back-to-back won't make it any easier against this younger, more athletic opponent.  Sound familiar, GarPax?

Bulls Back to Good Basketball Against Pistons

It's amazing what 2 1/2 hours of practice can do to a team that's struggled of late like the Bulls.  Fred Hoiberg felt it was merited Sunday after 11 straight lackluster quarters that led to three straight losses.  It immediately paid off Monday with a dominant 113-82 win over the Detroit Pistons.  The victory bumped them back above .500 at 14-13.

This game belonged to the Bulls from the opening tip.  They scored 12 of the game's first 14 points and matched their 69-point total from Friday's loss at halftime.  The lead was 34 at the end of the third quarter, allowing Hoiberg to rest his starters for the entire fourth.  In short, Detroit never had a chance.

Seven Bulls, including all five starters, scored in double figures.  Jimmy Butler did the most damage with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and making all six free throws.  Taj Gibson had 16 and made all eight of his shots.  Rajon Rondo came within two rebounds of a triple-double on a night he had 10 points and 14 assists.

Off the bench, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott each scored 13 and shot 50 percent from the field.  It was the best they could have hoped for in a season they have struggled to find their footing.  Then again, the same could be said for the entire reserve unit.  But as the two non-starters who typically get the biggest workload, the others can take a cue from them and these types of games can only inspire confidence to play at a higher level.

The Bulls' starters have the talent to compete with anyone in the league, especially those that are struggling.  Granted, the Bulls are closer to the bottom of the Central than they should be, but Monday showed why they're better than the slump they just showed.  More slumps will regrettably happen throughout the year (that's just how it is with this team), which will make games like this easy to savor.  More importantly, it will get them in the playoffs, which is the main goal for this team after missing out last year.

The season will continue Wednesday against the Washington Wizards.  For some reason, this is a team that's had the Bulls' number for a few years now.  But the Bulls made progress by defeating them at the United Center on Nov. 12, so they have a chance to put any further talk about their inability to beat them to rest.  Then again, this team tends to pose more questions than answers, so another letdown is not out of the question, but there's no reason not to think positively after the game we just saw.

Thibs, Timberwolves Beat Bulls

The above iconic image of Tom Thibodeau during his time with the Bulls has been used many times on social media since it came to be.  It showed up plenty of times last year when the Bulls were on their way to missing the playoffs.  On Tuesday, it made a triumphant return as Thibodeau's Minnesota Timberwolves came from behind to win, 99-94, at the United Center.

Things started well when the Bulls exploited a thin Timberwolves defense down low.  They led by as much as 21 in the second quarter before the visitors, who entered tied with Dallas for the worst record in the NBA, began to look like the team people expected at the start of the year.  Their youth and athleticism, the very thing Gar Forman and John Paxson backtracked on during the offseason, played a large part in making up the entire deficit and eventually, taking the lead.  The Bulls, who scored 38 points in the first quarter, became stagnant on offense and were badly beat frequently on defense to complete the NBA's biggest collapse so far this season.

For the second time in 10 days, the Bulls lost to a team entering with the league's worst record.  Take out the first quarter and it was ugly from start to finish.  They were outscored 77-56 in the final three quarters and shot 24 percent from the field.  And during one stretch, they made just one of 12 3-point attempts.

All five Timberwolves starters scored in double figures.  Zach LaVine led them with 24 points and Andrew Wiggins just trailed him with 23.  There were 16 points apiece from Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng, whom the Bulls passed on in the 2013 draft for Tony Snell.  In typical Thibodeau fashion, no Minnesota starter played less than 34 minutes and on this night, it didn't hurt the young team.

Jimmy Butler was the game's top scorer with 27 points and came within a rebound of a double-double.  Robin Lopez had 14, but just four in the second half, though he did get on highlight reels with some emphatic blocks (finishing with 4).  Dwyane Wade totaled 12 on a night he wasn't particularly sharp (4 of 13 from the field) and found himself ejected in the final seconds for clapping in referee Ben Taylor's face.  Taj Gibson added 10.

There's no way this should have turned out the way it did, but Thibodeau's crew had extra incentive to play extra hard when it fell in an early hole.  Meanwhile, the Bulls again played down to their competition and couldn't find another wind once they fell out of the first one.  The shooting was putrid and the defense either collapsed frequently or couldn't get back on fast breaks.  No team can play a game like this and expect to come out on top.

The Bulls will lick their wounds Wednesday before playing a nationally televised road game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the first of a home-and-home.  Rajon Rondo will hopefully be back from a sprained ankle.  But it won't matter if they don't play those 48 minutes of intensity.  I always to channel the late Norm Van Lier, but it becomes necessary when the worst of the NBA is besting what should be an above-average Bulls team and Thibs is laughing all the way home.

Bulls Lead Spurs Wire-to-Wire

It's been a trademark for the Bulls these past few years:  lay an egg against lesser teams, then show up like it's the game of their lives against the heavyweights, especially if the game is nationally televised.  For over a week now, the Bulls have not disappointed in that regard.  They lost to Dallas and the Lakers, but beat Cleveland on ESPN.  On Thursday, they faced the San Antonio Spurs, undefeated on the road through 13 games, in a game broadcast on TNT.  Staying true to form, they led throughout in a 95-91 win.

Although it was mostly the Bulls, who led by as much as 18, controlling the game, they faced a stiff challenge in the second half from the Spurs, desperate to keep their perfect road record alive.  They got to as close as four with 3:24 to play on a 3-pointer from Pau Gasol.  But the Bulls made their free throws and cracked down on rebounding on both ends.  It was enough to finish the Spurs off and cause Gregg Popovich to not pull any punches afterward.

All five starters scored in double figures.  Dwyane Wade led with 20 points, nine coming from the free-throw line.  Despite not scoring in the first half, Jimmy Butler finished with 13.  Twelve points each came from Taj Gibson, Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo, who finished within one assist of a triple-double.

Despite the Bulls' tendency to show up more prepared when the national spotlight is on them, they can always use signature wins and this was their second in less than a week.  While they won't contend for a championship, they have enough talent that will get them over the hump against the best of the league.  That's why quality opponents can't take them for granted.  Though they've beaten good teams regularly in past years, this is a different team that can beat others in a way not executed properly much until now.

The Bulls will take a day to savor the win before returning to action Saturday against the Miami Heat.  Naturally, this has a chance to be a letdown after a big such as the one Thursday.  The Lakers beat them not long after they did the same to them in Los Angeles.  They'll try to avoid a repeat since they already beat Wade's former team in his return to South Beach a month ago.

Perhaps a key will be to keep teams off the charity stripe as the Bulls have been.  They rank second in the NBA with 18.1 free-throw attempts allowed per game and tied for third with 17.7 fouls committed.  That trend kept up Thursday when the Spurs got to the line just five times.  If they do that again Saturday, they'll make a bad team even worse.