By ANDREW DREICHARF
I had one of the worst sports weekends ever (and there wasn’t even a Bears game). I attended both the Bulls home opener against the 76ers Friday night, and went to Milwaukee Saturday for the Bucks home opener against the Bulls.
YIKES!!!
For the third straight season in a row, the Bulls have come out of the gate to start the NBA season flat and uninspired. Something I’m getting quite tired of. This was the third straight season I attended the Bulls home opener, and for the second year in a row it was a pathetic loss to a bad team. In fact, it should have been three straight losses in three straight years to three pathetic teams. The Bulls did manage a miraculous comeback in 2005 against the lowly Charlotte Bobcats, coming back from 30 down to force overtime and win. Long after most frustrated Bulls fans (myself included) had left the game in the fourth quarter.
In 2006 it was a last second loss, as a chance for a win was thwarted when Bulls point guard Chris Duhon kicked an in bounds pass off his foot to blow any chance of the Bulls taking a shot to win against the Sacramento Kings.
This brings me to 2007. The Bulls lost a tough season opener to a very good New Jersey Nets team on Halloween night in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Fine, we’ll let a loss like that slide.
The 76ers at home? Not so much. A sold out crowd turned on the Bulls in the 4th quarter, as it was apparent to those in attendance that this one was over. The 76ers kept scoring, and the Bulls did nothing. Chants of “Kobe," as in rumored to be traded to the Bulls, current Laker Kobe Bryant, echoed through out the United Center Friday night. No, I didn’t chant, but after Saturday night’s debacle in Milwaukee, I quickly went from “we don’t need Kobe” to “give the Lakers whatever they want."
Saturday night’s game was awful. Neither the Bulls nor Bucks had 40 points going into halftime. It was the second straight night for the Bulls they didn’t shoot well, didn’t play defense, and didn’t hit open shots. To make things worse, the Bulls committed many costly turnovers on stupid mistakes.
Bulls small forward Luol Deng hasn’t made a case for himself to not be traded to the Lakers for Kobe Bryant. In three games this season, the should be star has been non-existent on the court. The two Bulls doing the most good are the two players supposedly that are going to be traded, shooting guard Ben Gordon and power forward Tyrus Thomas (a player who looks like an all-star one night, and a bust the next). None of the Bulls key players outside of Gordon and Thomas seem to do anything right. Point guard Kirk Hinrich played well below his capabilities this weekend, center Ben Wallace (at
$15+ million a season) didn’t rebound well, and swingman Andres Nocioni did very little to help the Bulls.
I am a fan is beyond frustrated. This Bulls team is one most people picked to win the division, some even picked to win the East. Enough is enough. If this Bulls team is so good, they’ve done nothing to prove it.
If this team was making that step to elite status, they wouldn’t be starting yet another season on a down note. This team at this point in time should have come out on fire and hungry as they claim to be.
So Bulls, I tell you this as a fan, and not a sports writer, you’re not going to be able to coast this year. The conference has only gotten better and everyone’s looking to beat the team most at ESPN picked to win. If you are the elite team in the East, show us. And show us now, not in five weeks. I realize championships aren’t won in November, but they can be lost.
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