January 16, 2020
When is John Paxson going to be held accountable? At the start of
the season he said the Bulls would be competitive and make the playoffs. Once
again, they are on the outside looking in. The Bulls record is 15-27. They are
1-16 versus teams with .500 records. They can only beat teams with worse
records than theirs. Nine of their wins have come against the woeful Atlanta Hawks,
Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons who are a combined 37-84. Subtract that
and they have only won 6 games. Paxon has been in charge since 2003 and has
only had success in the Derrick Rose era. Sadly, this was short lived as Rose
suffered the first of many injuries in the opening round of the playoffs in his
third year.
Rose tried to come back but was let go because he couldn’t
co-exist with Jimmy Butler. Butler had made himself a star. He showed
considerable growth in talent and ego. He refused to adapt to former coach Fred
Hoiberg’s offense, playing his own selfish game. Paxon thought he could turn
things around by acquiring past their prime players, Dwayne Wade and Rajon
Rondo. The Bulls did reach the playoffs, facing the Boston Celtics in a best of
five series. Rondo spearheaded two upset victories in Boston. He injured his
thumb and was out for the remainder of the series. Butler, who thinks he’s a
superstar, couldn’t carry the team to one victory even with two home games.
The following year the Bulls were trying to lose games trying to
receive a high draft pick. The Bulls weren’t bad enough and ended up with the
seventh overall pick, Wendell Carter Jr. Hurt most of his first year, the Bulls
believed he would make major strides this season. Prior to his current injury,
there were games when he reached double digits in rebounds and points. With his
size, he should get 10 rebounds every game. When you only average 11 points a game,
the double-double is nothing to crow about. Part of the problem the numbers aren’t better is because he spends a good portion of the game on the
bench in foul trouble. He would be the perfect second string player for a good
team. This year, the Bulls found themselves with another inconsequential seventh
overall pick. Coby White may have been the best player left and was yet still
behind Kris Dunn on the depth chart. With the injuries he has gotten more playing
time. He sometimes shoots lights out and times when he’s cold. This will happen
to a young player when 90% of his shots are 3 pointers.
Three years into the rebuild and the Bulls haven’t improved one
bit. You can’t build a competitive team when your number one pick is seventh
overall. Did anyone think Paxson would succeed? Most people who are
this incompetent would not keep their jobs. However, there is no better job
security than working for the loyalist Reinsdorfs.
Paxon has an abysmal track record when it
comes to coaching and things are no different with Jim Boylen. He is the
antitheses of a modern NBA coach. He reminds me a of fictional coach Norman
Dale in the movie “Hoosiers”. He paces the court and yells at his players.
Since Boylen has failed as a college coach and there is no chance in Hell he
will be offered another pro job, maybe he can get a high school job. His
offense centers on fast pace up the court. This gives him the luxury of not
setting up plays. The one play he calls is where LaVine hogs the ball. This is also a bad shooting team and when you miss a lot of shots (especially 3-pointers),
it puts pressure on your defense to set up. I know that the Bulls steal balls
and force turnovers. If they don’t, the set defense is lousy. They fail to cover
up 3 point shooters and don’t communicate. This becomes very apparent when
opponents get uncontested lay-ups on pick and rolls. These are things a good
coach can improve.
A good coach knows he should be on an even
keel, not to get too high or too low. This will help his players do the same. However,
Bulls management, players and coach get euphoric with wins over teams like
Atlanta, Washington etc. I am also sick and tired of Boylen putting a positive
spin on every loss. Paxson can’t see this coach is a mistake? Do he and Ryan
Pace hang out? The Bulls need a star that makes his teammates better. My
suggestion is do whatever it takes to trade for a top three pick. If it means
giving up two number one picks, so be it. Don’t be afraid to include Markkanen or LaVine in a package deal.
