Chicago Sports Exchange: Bulls’ Roster Upgrades... Still Loading
Also, Hawks take a tumble in the standings
ed. note - Check for the CSE “Baseball Edition,” each Thursday going forward
Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley decided it was time to get off their hands last week.
After a three-month evaluation of a roster they left mostly unchanged since last spring, the Chicago Bulls’ executive vice president and general manager began to make this team their own Thursday.
That meant parting ways with former seventh-overall pick Wendell Carter Jr., his 2018 draft classmate Chandler Hutchison, king’s ransomer Otto Porter Jr., Daniel Gafford, Luke Kornet, and two first-round draft picks.
Where there was once mounting concern from Bulls fans of being at the mercy of another conservative front office, is now proof that this regime is willing to go hard to make its house a home.
Now it’s up to Billy Donovan to make the most of what little practice (yes, practice) time he has at his disposal to help pull things together, and the blended pieces to learn how to play with one another.
So far...let’s just say there’s plenty room for improvement.
HOLD - New-Look Bulls Disappoint In Opening Act, Prepare Staging Against League’s Best
So umm, yeah.
The new-look Bulls have some kinks to work out.
Sloppiness and subpar shooting paved the way for a 120-104 debacle against San Antonio Saturday. So, too, did the team’s feeling out of its trade-deadline transplants Al-Farouq Aminu, Troy Brown Jr., Javonte Green, and, especially, Nikola Vučević.
The Bulls (19-25) force-fed Vučević at times, but overlooked the two-time All-Star at others. With his skillset, Zach LaVine dynamism and Billy Donovan’s ingenuity, issues on that side of the ball promise to resolve much sooner than later.
How well this team, now losers of three straight, can shore up its defensive deficiencies isn’t as clear cut.
Shoddy perimeter defense and a lack of rim protection resulted in the Spurs shooting 17-for-21 in the restricted area.
Daniel Theis, who was unable to suit up against the Spurs due to personal reasons after he and Green were acquired from Boston as part of a three-team trade Thursday, should help fortify the latter.
But any significant improvement on that side of the ball will have to involve a team-wide commitment.
‘‘I think it started out on top. Our ball pressure and our guard pressure in the pick-and-roll has to be much better,” said Donovan, whose team is giving up the sixth-most shot attempts from within five feet of the rim, told reporters after the game.
“I thought the ball went wherever it wanted to go. And then I thought when it came downhill, we didn’t have enough presence at the basket to contest and challenge.’’
Things only get tougher with the Bulls squaring off against Phoenix (31–14), Utah (34-11) and Brooklyn (31-15) later this week after tonight’s game against Golden State (22-24), who
HOLD - Hawks Fall Out Playoff Picture After Being Swept By Nashville
This one stings a bit.
Alex DeBrincat scored two goals less than two minutes apart in the third period, but Nashville’s Roman Josi converted a Kirby Dach turnover into the tie-breaking score to drop the Blackhawks 3-2 Sunday.
With the loss—their second in a row and sixth in their last eight games—the Hawks (16-15-5) are now looking up at the fourth-place Predators in the Central Division standings.
“It’s frustrating,” said DeBrincat, who has now scored the fourth-most goals (104) of any Blackhawk in his first four seasons, after the game. “Obviously we lost too many games in this stretch to be OK with. We’ve got to find our way back to what we’re successful with.”
That’s the kicker.
The Hawks began the week with a pair of victories against third-place Florida and took Dach, who missed the first 34 games of the season while recovering from a broken wrist, into the two-game set against the Predators.
But as fortunate as the Hawks were in facing the undermanned Panthers and getting Dach back a month ahead of schedule, they were just as unlucky Sunday.
Malcolm Subban made 28 saves on 31 shots. Two of the three that got past him ricocheted off of players’ skates.
The Hawks have the chance to take their playoff destiny into their own hands with two games against second-place Carolina (23-7-3) and another tilt with the Predators (18-17-1).
BUY - Fire’s Fall To Cincy Can’t Overshadow News Of The Stands
Even if they’d won their third preseason game Saturday, the best thing that could’ve happened to the Fire the past few days still would’ve come off, not on, the field.
That’s because after more than a year in the making, the Fire, who lost 2–1 to Cincinnati, will finally get to play in front of an actual crowd at Soldier Field this season.
With the city’s COVID-19 restrictions just beginning to loosen, the stadium won’t be filled anywhere near capacity. Only about 7,000 fans will be able to attend the Fire’s opener against New England April 17 with the team having the option to increase attendance to about 15,300 people as the season progresses.
But after playing to piped-in crowd noise last year, any portion of the real thing is welcome.
“I’m pretty sure that our fans will push us to get even stronger,” head coach Raphael Wicky told reporters earlier this month. “That’s always a big difference when you have home games with your fans behind you and pushing you.”
Drew Stevens is a Senior Writer for WARR Media, he lives and works in Chicago