SportsDystopia

5 years ago, a Chicago Bulls team that had wandered lost in the NBA wilderness ever since the departures of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson seemed to be finding its way.  Behind tough coach Scott Skiles, who made and allowed no excuses, and a frisky young core of players, namely Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni and Luol Deng, the Bulls finally made the playoffs for the first time since the Jordan era dissolved after ‘98.  They had started the 04/05 season 0-9, but the defense coalesced as the season went along, and Gordon, a rookie, made a habit of 4th quarter offensive outbursts.  Although they lost 4 straight games to the Wizards after opening the playoffs with 2 wins, the general consensus was that this was a team on the rise, with a real future.

In the offseason, GM John Paxson jettisoned Eddy Curry to the Knicks, getting in return non-factor Michael Sweetney, eternally effortless Tim Thomas, and what eventually became the 2nd pick of the 2006 draft.  Paxson’s belief was that the young Bulls just needed time to improve, that by accruing experience, they would become a legitimate title contender.

But the team stagnated the following season, again stumbling through the early months of the season.  Gordon was no longer looking like a first class scorer, as the league had adjusted to his game.  They would rally to close the season once again though, mostly due to the team defense solidifying as the year went on, and made the playoffs for the 2nd straight year, though with only a .500 record.  Like the previous season, they were bounced in the first round in a series that they had ample opportunity to win.

By this point, it was more than clear that the Bulls needed an offensive presence to advance to the next level.  Clear to everyone except Paxson, that is.  Instead of orchestrating a trade to bring a legitimate scorer to Chicago, Paxson flatly refused to deal anyone from the group including Deng, Gordon, Hinrich and Nocioni.  What he did was sign Ben Wallace and trade Tyson Chandler, who had finally started to play with some consistency.  Though the move was hailed in the Chicago media, more knowledgable observers rightly questioned why the team could expect to improve by having essentially swapped out a young defensive-oriented center for an old defensive-oriented center.  Even worse, the Bulls drafted LaMarcus Aldridge, a young big man with real offensive talent, and promptly shipped him to Portland for the rawly athletic Tyrus Thomas.

As was the team’s pattern by this point, a slow start to the 06/07 season led to the Bulls rallying to become a defensive force by season’s end, and they even managed to get out of the first round, sweeping the defending NBA champion Miami Heat and getting revenge for the previous year’s ouster.  But they were unable to handle Detroit in the 2nd round, the team who’s ‘no stars’ philosophy they had been trying to emulate.  The difference, of course, was that Detroit’s collection of ‘no stars’ included actual scoring threats in the likes of Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.

Yet again, Paxson decided to make no real changes to the roster.

And so by the start of last season, the Bulls had waited for 3 years for their young core to somehow morph into players that they weren’t.  3 years is a long time in basketball.  It’s enough time, for instance, to learn that Ben Gordon can’t play defense or score against a defender who plays him close.  It’s enough time to learn that Kirk Hinrich is not and never will be a first-class point guard because he’s simply not a good distributor.  It’s enough time to learn that Andres Nocioni, a few nice playoff performances aside, is a flawed shooter who’s ceiling had been reached.  It’s enough time to learn that Luol Deng simply isn’t quick enough to score against playoff-caliber defenses, or to defend the league’s elite perimiter players.

Somehow, Paxson never learned these things about the players who had played 250+ games under his watchful eye.  And when the team yet again stumbled out of the gate last season, instead of changing his roster, Paxson decided to change his coach.  The Skiles firing did nothing to change the team’s outlook, because Skiles was never the problem.  Later in the season, a badly aging Ben Wallace was included in a 3-team deal that brought the Bulls an inconsistent Drew Gooden and…wait for it…flawed shooter, Larry Hughes.  When the dust had settled on the 07/08 season, Chicago had finished 33-49.

This offseason, the Bulls lucked into the 1st pick in the draft, and selected Derrick Rose, who represents an immediate upgrade at the point over Hinrich.  Their only other major move (aside from the baffling hiring of Vinny Del Negro as coach) was to resign Luol Deng to a hefty new contract at 6 years for $71 million dollars.  For the 5th season in a row, the team is stumbling out of the starting block.  But there’s no longer a battle-tested coach pulling the strings to turn a collection of mismatched players into a defensive juggernaught.

There’s only that supposed core, also in it’s 5th season, still expected to conquer a hump that now looks alot higher than it did just a few short years ago.  There’s also a general manager who has shown neither the will nor the ability to make the tough decisions necessary to improve his team.

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