LeBron James is a champion, again. An In-Season Tournament (they gotta work on that name) Champion. The 1ST Champion. Just as the league hoped. Conspiracy theorists would say, just as the league planned. And maybe they did. Quite frankly when it came to the Tournament, I only watched games that the Bulls were in and a handful of highlights, and that includes last night’s Final.
Congrats LeBron. Congrats L.A. Congrats Anthony Davis. Congrats future Bulls D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and 2029 1st Round Draft Pick (whoever you are). I kid, I kid… Maybe.
It’s not that I wasn’t interested in the tournament. It’s not that it didn’t have compelling storylines and competition, it did. Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacer offense alone were enough to make this tournament interesting. It’s just that my team, the Chicago Bulls, didn’t have their sh-t together enough to take it seriously, and without my team involved, I don’t have the time or energy to stay engaged with the rest of the league.
Wiped from the competition before the elimination rounds began, the pathetic Bulls went 0-4, failing to muster a single win in group play.
Complaining about teams running up the score on them while scoring the least number of points in the tournament, made the Bulls look even more pathetic than their 0-4 record. The In-Season Tournament (was there nobody in NBA Creative with a better idea for a name??!!) relied on point differential as a crucial group play tie-breaker. It was clear the Bulls didn’t know about this rule or care to learn it. DeMar DeRozan threw a little hissy fit at the end of a game when a team tried to score instead of running out the clock. Billy Donovan had a chat with the opposing teams coach in the middle of the fourth quarter(!!!) because they were running up the score. It was sore loser shit and, again, pathetic.
You don’t want a team to run the score up on you? Play some fucking defense and play with some pride. You can’t stop a team from running up the score on you? Slow the pace of the game waaaaaay down (something the Bulls are experts at). That’s not working? Physically punish your opponent every time they try to score. Play like the Knicks did in the 90’s, or the Pistons (and every other team) in the 80’s. Make your opponent bleed for every point they get. A guy’s going to think twice about going for the lob when he gets an elbow in his ribs every time he goes up for the ball… and comes down.
The one thing you don’t do when a team is running up the score is whine and moan like a pathetic loser.
Those whining, pathetic Chicago Bulls were more a collection of individuals working through their issues than it was a team focused on winning basketball games. Somewhere in that Long and Dark Tea Time of the Soul, our current iteration of the Bulls Team found itself and emerged from the Wilderness. And it appears Coby White was the man to lead them out.
Now 4-0 since the Wilderness, the Bulls appear to have turned a corner, and have discovered the fun of Team Basketball, and Team Winning.
It’s been a different hero every night on this little hot streak for the Bulls. Friday’s win over the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs featured 4 starters (including Patrick Williams!!!) scoring 20 points or more, and a 5-7 three point barrage from Torrey Craig to help seal the victory.
The straw stirring the drink throughout this 4-0 run has been Coby White.
After his usual slow shooting start to the season, White has exploded onto the 3 point leader boards. Tied for 5th in the league with 68 threes made, shooting over 41% on threes for the season, and breaking weird team “records” for threes made (9 games in a row with 3 or more three pointers made). He is averaging 6 assists, with 6.5 rebounds, and 24+ points over the last 4 games. White has also been a +31 over the course of those 4 games. His joy, energy, and sacrifice (he’s been drawing offensive fouls like he was Alex Caruso), have made him the unspoken leader of this Bulls revival.
I don’t know if I’m sold on this being new norm for Bulls Basketball. Old habits are hard to break, but I’m going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts. The ball movement, pushing the ball up the court, fast break points, all the three pointers, this is fun basketball to watch, and the winning certainly helps. Thank you Coby White.
I just wish the Bulls had their shit together during the In-Season Tournament (even something as generic as “The NBA Cup” is a better name than that).
But they didn’t.
So here we are watching LeBron, et al, celebrate another feather in the cap for the Los Angeles Lakers. I guess I’m happy it wasn’t Boston.
It’s nice to see the Bulls playing with pride again. This Bulls team might have made the elimination rounds of the tournament, or maybe they wouldn’t have. But I know they wouldn’t have complained about teams running up the score, because every game would have been a win or close to one. This Chicago Bulls Team, the Coby White Bulls, don’t get blown out of important games.
Until they do thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing, thanks to my brother Ted for supplying the behind the scenes pictures of In-Season Tournament (there’s got to be a better name!) promotional stuff, and GO BULLS!
RokDeez Bulls Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.