Can It Get Any Worse?

I don't have to tell you the Chicago Bulls aren't very good.  Let their nine point home loss to the 6-32 Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday night tell you all you need to know about this team.

At 16-21, the Bulls are in 4th place in the Eastern Conference's Central Division entering tonight's game against Portland.  Amazingly, because the East is so top heavy, despite their poor record and consistently poor performance the Bulls are just a game behind Milwaukee for the eighth spot in the East.

Yet, there would be nothing worse than this team of misfits playing a first round playoff series against Cleveland, Orlando or Boston to just be blasted in four games.

The Bulls are in the NBA's proverbial "no man's land".  They're on the verge of being a playoff team (but really, what does that mean in the NBA) and yet they're also on the verge of being one of the worst teams in basketball.  (In fact, you could argue right now that they are.)  Other than Derrick Rose, there is not a promising player on this team.  Ben Gordon scores, but he's too short, plays too little defense, and is too one-dimensional to be considered a guy to build around.  Luol Deng has been injured, but when he's not been injured he's been bad.  Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah are both brutal draft picks by GM John Paxson who have shown little promise or basketball skills.

It's a complete mess.

That's why I've decided, until changes are made, I'm done watching this team.  There's no point.

I'm a Bulls fan.  Full Disclosure.  But there's no point watching a team that has no potential to go anywhere but down.  They have no chance of competing for a title now, or really ever with this roster of players, and until they blow this thing up, they'll never compete for anything more than a ticket to lose in the first round.

John Paxson should be fired.  Larry Hughes wants to be traded, and should be shown the door.  If anyone would take Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah, send them on the first flight to the city of their choice.  Find a big man that can actually help Drew Gooden underneath.  And find some players that will actually take first year head coach Vinny Del Negro seriously. (And that'll be hard too, since the organization doesn't even take him seriously considering they hired Bernie Bickerstaff and Del Harris to be Vinny's babysitters.)

The Bulls are in the worst spot imaginable in sports.  They're bad, but not bad enough.  They have a bunch of cast off players that aren't desirable to any other teams.  Rebuilding this thing won't take a season, but instead another long rebuilding effort that Bulls fans can no longer tolerate.  At some point, the championship DVDs get old, and people want to start seeing a team that can actually compete.  Or, at least one that can entertain.

So I'm done.  I'm not watching this.  As much as I'm a fan, there's no point in wasting my evenings.  I'm not coming back until the Bulls show me and the rest of their frustrated fan base that they seriously want to compete.  And if you're a Bulls fan, you shouldn't either.

Vinny Del Negro, Get In This House Right Now!

First of all, thanks to the boys at Y! Sports, Ball Don't Lie, for the look.

Second, watch this.

Maybe its just me, but it seems like, if you watch an NBA game, or set of games, long enough, you're bound to find something in it that just ticks you right off.  Maybe its fact that travels are rarely called.  Or, it could be players clearing the lanes for their opposition to dunk, without contest.  Or, it could be teams so bored with this and next year's forecast that they're already looking towards FA in 2010.  Or, it could be the Knicks or Warriors ever-present commitment to being uncommitted to defense.  

Yet, this one is a new low.  Well, not entirely new.  Any Celtic fan knows, Eddie House is as guilty as they come with regards to shouting at players.  Still, just because he's a player, and Del Negro's a coach, what makes it OK for House and not Of The Black?

Truth is, both are just cop out moves, like the fat kid that couldn't run to play defense, so he'd shout at you when you went up.  Yes, that fat kid.

Instead of wasting his breath on fools like Quentin Richardson, he should be trying to teach his team to get out there and stop someone the old fashioned way, maybe by putting a hand in their face, or boxing out.  

One does have to wonder, what was he shouting at Richardson?  

"MY TEAM CAN'T STOP YOU ON THE FLOOR, SO I PLAN ON SPEAKING AT THIS VOLUME!"

More likely, it was a grunt of some kind, but hey, a kid can dream, no?