Bulls Season In Review - Part 1

By: David Lister

Wow, that was painful.

The only solace Bulls fans can take from a miserable 2007-08 season is that it wasn’t just Chicago that was optimistic about the team coming into this season. After three straight playoff appearances and an 06-07 season that featured 49 wins and a first-round playoff sweep of the Miami Heat, even the World Wide Leader was buying what the Bulls were selling.

Now that the season is over and the Bulls record stands at 33-49, ninth worst record in the NBA, I think it’s safe to say ESPN was wrong. We were all wrong.

But it would also be wrong for me to review the Bulls season with the benefit of knowing how it turned out. Instead, let’s look back at what we at the Chicago Sports Review were saying about this Bulls’ season as it happened.

Nov. 12 - The Bulls (once again) started the season miserably at 1-5. An ugly 101-71 loss to the Toronto Raptors was enough for Charlie Danoff to call for a change in the starting lineup, making a plea for Skiles to get larger and more defensive with a starting lineup of Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray. As for the poor start, we’re not worried:

Overall, it is not time to worry… yet. Skiles’ Bulls teams have started slow before and made the playoffs. In 2004-’05 they got off to a roaring 0-9, while last year they started 3-9. I know changing the starting lineup might just be putting a band-aid over a bullet hole for some teams, but I really think it could make a difference for the Bulls. They are just at too much of a disadvantage defensively with their current unit.

Finally, the biggest key for this year’s team is Luol Deng evolving into the superstar that so many people think he will become. He needs to stop being such a team-first guy and passing off shots to Duhon and Sefolosha. Deng should be demanding the ball and taking control. If he does, the Bulls could win the East. If he does not, it may be a struggle to make the playoffs.

Nov. 20 - A little more than a week later, the Bulls are no better. Their record now stands at 2-7 (and soon to be 2-8 after a loss in Denver tonight) and Luol Deng is struggling with an Achilles injury. A change has been made in the starting lineup, as Andres Nocioni has replace Tyrus Thomas at small forward. Optimism is still abundant here at CSR:

Given all this doom and gloom, is all hope lost for the Bulls? No, not quite yet. Even if I let my heart blind me to the real team when I thought they could win the East, they are not THIS bad.

The Bulls are still a playoff team. What they need to do is play the way they did in the first quarter against the Clippers. They got defensive stops, then beat the Clippers down the floor for fast breaks. Running and gunning is the only way this team will get easy baskets, and that is really important for a team that starts Ben Wallace at center.

Nov. 27 - The Bulls are now 2-10, and even a 90-78 victory against the Atlanta Hawks this night won’t do much for the mood of Bulls fans. In case you missed the big stories of the off-season, Kevin Garnett was traded to the Celtics and Kobe Bryant asked to be traded from the Lakers before changing his mind. In his column this week, Charlie Danoff questions how good a job John Paxson has really done in building this Bulls team:

So, after giving up on Curry and Chandler, and not exercising their opportunities with Garnett and Bryant, where does this leave the Bulls today?

Well, currently they sit at 2-10. For a Scott Skiles-coached team this is not a huge cause for alarm, as they always start slow. Don’t worry fans, coach Skiles will figure out this mess and have his Bulls team losing in the early rounds of the playoffs once again.

Dec. 5 - Ahhh, what’s better than December in Chicago? Well, just about anything, especially when the Bears are on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs and the Bulls are just now realizing their season started. It’s not all bad, though, (*SPOILER ALERT*) as the team is about to have their most productive month - an 8-8 December. Despite the team showing promise, point guard Kirk Hinrich is having the worst year of his career, averaging 10.7 ppg, 5.4 apg and shooting 35% from the field. You know what, Captain Kirk will not only never be a star, he may not even be starter-material:

At the end of the day, Kirk is who he is: a short two-guard who plays good defense and can make some jump shots. Despite the fact that Chauncey Billups eventually learned how to run a team all the way to the NBA Championship late in his career, I do not see the same outcome in Hinrich’s future. He is too overpaid, too satisfied with his own lack of progress, or maybe just too stupid to change. How can a team possibly have success starting Hinrich at the point when they are 6 points better per 100 possessions with him on the bench?

Hinrich eventually found his shooting stroke and finished the year at 41% from the field, his career shooting percentage. Unfortunately the Bulls still owe him $36.5 through 2012, and Hinrich is coming off career lows in points per game (11.5) and assists per game (6.0).

That’s it for part one of the Bulls season in review, be sure to come back for our next installment. It’s about to get good (and by good, I mean really, really bad).

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David Lister is the web editor for the National Sports Review. You can reach him at chicagosportsreview@gmail.com. Go Cards.

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