Such a damn rollercoaster ride being a Bulls fan man…
I can’t act like I remember the first three championships
but the second three-peat run from 96 through 98 is still a replay in my mind.
I WATCHED every damn game. The Bulls were an embarrassment of riches:
Jordan, Scottie and Rodman were the original big 3? More like big 4! People forget that Ron Harper was a
boss before he showed up in Chicago following a knee injury.
Zen Master
Phil Jackson sat on the iron throne as the undisputed king of coaches.
The sixth man was Toni Kukoc, a guy who would have been a
starter (and all-star) on any other team in the league, the bench also featured a
number of other fringe or former starters.
Life was good…then just like that, it was all blown up thanks
to a jealous, arrogant general manager by the name of Jerry Krause…
A known-slob, legend goes MJ bestowed the nickname of “crumbs” upon him since that what was always left over on his shirt collar following a meal.
From 1999-2004, Chicago entered a dark period in basketball.
Actually it was downright disgraceful.
If fans weren’t being forced to watch bums like Khaled
El-Amin, Jerome Williams, Trenton Hassell, Eddy Curry, Jerome Williams and
young (dumb) Tyson Chandler, the organization led the league in bad
trades/personnel moves.
Signing Ron Mercer? Trading future All-Stars Brad Miller and Ron Artest (Metta World Peace) for
Jalen Rose and some change? Drafting Jay Williams to be the future of the team
only for him to wrap a motorcycle around a light pole on the north side and end his career?
Giving Ben Wallace $60 million dollars? Come on man.
Funny thing is, the fans never left. That despite six season of just awful
basketball, the Bulls still managed to stay in the league’s top five in game
attendance. I know I spent quite a few Friday and Saturady nights in High
School at the United Center watching bad basketball.
2004-2007 was respectable; the Bulls started making the
playoffs again. There were some
solid, not spectacular players like Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng but
not without another dumbass front-office move or two…
LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas?! Seriously?
Then in the summer of 2008 it all changed…
Call it luck, call it fate, call it conspiracy but the Bulls
ended up with the number one pick in the draft and used it to select the
franchise player the team had been lacking since no. 23 hung it up.
Which is where everything gets really interesting…everyone
knows the story at this point…
Derrick Rose comes in, wins Rookie of the year, goes to the
all-star game in year two, league MVP in year three, tears ACL in year four,
and here we are in year five pining for him to return with the same level of
anticipation as a dude waiting for a hot chick to text back.
Meanwhile something marvelous is happening…
This current Chicago Bulls team should probably be golfing
right now. Everyone knew
they’d make the playoffs. They play in a top-heavy Eastern Conference and are
too well coached…
At the
beginning of the year, I expected nothing more than a one (series) and done
postseason.
No Rose and the “bench mob,” a collection of overachieving
reserves that contributed greatly to the team's consecutive best record in the
league were broken up.
Biggest personnel moves were bringing back Hinrich. Deemed
expendable following Rose’s arrival, he was shipped off a couple years back in
an attempt to create salary cap space and land some guy from the Cavaliers who
ended up taking his talents to South Beach…
And Nate Robinson… a diminutive point guard with a
shoot-first (and often) mentality known for being so annoying, he managed to
get under comedian Dave Chappelle’s skin…
The Bulls literally limped into the post-season with enough
injuries that you had to wonder if coach Tom Thibodeau would start pulling guys
from the front row to suit up.
The first round series win against the Brooklyn Nets, a team
filled with enough All-Stars and mid-level players, you couldn’t help but
wonder if someone had turned off the salary cap option while playing NBA 2K13
was a dream.
Exhibit A of what happens when teamwork and heart overcomes
individual talent.
Then Monday happened…I figured the Bulls would get one game
against LeBron James and the Miami Heat, not game ONE.
In a season of
low expectations, the Chicago Bulls have blown me away with their effort.
Derrick Rose may come back these playoffs or he may not,
he’s not the story the moment nor should be.
For me, the story is witnessing the progression and
development of several players.
Robinson was given a shot as Thibs had no one else and has
more than exceeded expectations.
Dude won the Bulls 10 games alone this year during the regular
season.
He probably won’t be back next year as someone is going to
give him a nice little payday, but in a game dominated by guys 6’8 big men, you
can’t help but root for the 5’9 Robinson, a “regular” sized dude who also
played football at the University of Washington.
Did you see Jimmy Butler Monday night? Kid barely got off
the bench last year and there he was guarding LeBron and dropping 21 on the
defending champs. He looks like
the heir apparent to Deng at the Small Forward spot and will be getting paid in
2014.
Joakim Noah has arrived. Since being drafted in 2007, this
dude has fucking worked his ass off and gone from being a clown, a guy with a
sense of entitlement due to his father’s pro tennis background, to a top five player at his position.
And he’s doing it big these playoffs with plantar
fasciitis. You want to know how that
feels? Stick a dozen thumbtacks into your foot, put on a pair of shoes and run
around…
Finally there’s Coach Thibs; after spending 21 years as an assistant and being named coach of the year in 2011, he’s showing the country
why he’s already the best in the league…the NBA’s MacGyver.
Of all the
teams remaining in the playoffs, no team has less and has done more with what
he has
Whether you are
a Bulls fan, a Basketball fan or maybe not a fan at all, they are must-see TV
right now
The way it should be.
Game two tonight seven eastern.
Don’t be late…
-WST
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