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.

Butler Voted as All-Star Starter

While Jimmy Butler might be downplaying Thursday's news on the outside, he's gotta be ecstatic somewhere on the inside.  For the third straight year, Butler will be joining basketball's elite at the NBA All-Star Game.  And this will be the first time he gets to start for the Eastern Conference.  Thank the revamped voting process in which fans account for half the vote's weight while players and media members get a quarter each or we'd be talking about Joel Embiid starting instead.

Before Butler heads to New Orleans for this glorified exhibition without any defense, he should soak in all the congratulations he's getting.  A player who has worked hard to elevate his game and done just that since he first came into the league deserves the spoils.  People have recognized the payoff of that work and this is Butler's reward.  It helps that he's putting up career-best averages in points (24.8) and rebounds (6.8) while also tying for his career high in assists (4.8).

It's almost cliche at this point to recount Butler's underdog tale, but it only makes you appreciate him even more.  A teenager who got kicked out of his home in the Houston suburbs and had to go to junior college to draw attention from Division I schools would probably have his basketball success stop there.  But he accepted an athletic scholarship from Marquette and played well enough for the Bulls to take him as the last first-round draft pick in 2011.  You know the rest.

This year, Butler's star keeps ascending at a time when the Bulls are uncertain about their future direction.  Without him, they wouldn't be holding onto the last playoff spot in the East, albeit with an unimpressive 21-22 record.  The presence of future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade has helped him and the Bulls as well.  Wade has credited Butler as a major reason he bolted from Miami, so the appreciation and helpfulness goes both ways.

As time goes on, we have to appreciate Butler for the great player he is.  His hard work, the fruits of said work, the way he looks out for his team and his personality are all attributes people look for in an NBA player.  Few are able to back up their talk with walk the way Butler is.  Sure, some might not like how he called out Fred Hoiberg last year or forcibly grabbed leadership among the players, but you can't look me in the eye and expect me to believe he hasn't earned it.

This is his time and his moment.  We in Chicago should be lucky to have him.  Otherwise, we'd be watching some pretty bad basketball with little to no excitement.  Congratulations Jimmy!

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.

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.

How Low The Bulls Go

I was working during the Bulls' back-to-back clunkers with the Milwaukee Bucks, but that doesn't mean I don't know how bad they were.  One of the things about my new job is I have to break during my first five hours.  On Thursday and Friday, I chose the start of the Bulls games to take them.  Despite only being able to watch the first quarter closely both times, they were all I needed to see.

I'll get to why in a second, but to add to all the drama, Nikola Mirotic missed Friday's mandatory walkthrough and could be fined.  This came one night after he received the first "DNP - Coach's Decision" of his career.  While he apologized, he was still confused as to why Bobby Portis had taken his spot in the rotation.  It's not like Portis has performed much better than Mirotic has of late, but with a qualifying offer on the table for next year, don't be shocked if Mirotic is done in Chicago after this year.

But the Mirotic chapter looks rather small compared to the bigger issues facing the Bulls.  After a nice start to the season, they are now 13-13, having lost six of their past eight games.  They are becoming the team many like me were in denial about during the summer:  mediocre and right in the middle of the NBA.  It shows how wrong and indecisive Gar Forman and John Paxson have been in their decision-making.

Yeah, about that.  Remember when Forman said the Bulls were going to get "younger" and "more athletic", only to stop just short of that when it came to the core?  Doing more talk than walk on the matter came back to haunt him this week when bot the Bucks AND Tom Thibodeau's Minnesota Timberwolves beat his team with the very makeup he said he would pursue.  Meanwhile, Forman's young guys, all on the bench, have made little to no progress nearly two months into the season.

I'll give a Christmas cookie to anyone who can tell me with a straight face one young player who not only has improved under Fred Hoiberg this year, but is a viable franchise building block for years to come.  Otherwise, you'll have to accept that Hoiberg is the anti-Thibodeau in that he doesn't maximize anybody's game.  Forman felt he could and decided to give him a five-year contract that's currently in year two. 

Christmas Eve has historically been an exit day for Bulls coaches just not living up to expectations.  Just ask Tim Floyd and Scott Skiles.  We are exactly one week from that day and there's speculation that in the event Hoiberg goes then or on any day, Forman becomes a scapegoat and goes with him.  It would be nice for this organization to hold people accountable and if the Bulls follow their history, it can happen sooner than later.

The worst thing about these past few games is that the Bulls have looked completely disinterested on both ends.  The offense is out of sync and not making smart decisions.  The defense has let anybody and everybody carve it up like Swiss cheese, showing little resistance in the half-court and letting itself get beat convincingly on the break.  The players can talk all they want about improving, communicating and all that, but until they actually show that they care by their actions, they'll get booed off the United Center court as they were Friday.

Many are calling this the low point of Hoiberg's tenure and it's hard to argue against it.  To get back above .500, they'll have to beat the Detroit Pistons on Monday.  Even if they win, the issues with the team's makeup will remain.  And they won't change until the organization decides to actually build a foundation we can all be proud to call our own.