I hope the Bulls miss the playoffs

:: Due to the historic nature of the Bulls-Celts series, this post was later retracted.

Thursday night, my beloved Chicago Bulls defeated the Miami Heat to jump ahead in the standings – the team is now tied with the Detroit Pistons for the seventh of eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

I am in the minority of Bulls fans that hope the team tanks their remaining nine games of the season and fail to earn a playoff berth. 

I have no reason to look forward to playoff basketball from the Bulls.  The Bulls would be matched against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics or the Orlando Magic.  I don’t want to watch LeBron single-handedly pimp slap the Bulls.  I don’t want to see the Celt’s aggressive defense disarm Derrick Rose and company.  And while it would be somewhat entertaining to see Dwight Howard make serial ass-clown Joakim Noah his personal bitch, I can do without a Bulls-Magic playoff matchup. 

The team will not land a high draft pick if they miss the playoffs – the scars on GM John Paxson’s ass from last spring’s horseshoe extraction still haven’t healed.  I simply see no value whatsoever in a playoff berth for the Bulls.

Last year, the Bulls finished with 33 wins and failed to reach the playoffs.  They fired coach Scott Skiles 25 games into the season, ultimately replacing him with coaching neophyte Vinny “Deer in the Headlights eyes” Del Negro last summer. 

The Bulls are projected to reach 39 wins this year.  I feel that a six-win improvement, combined with a return to the playoffs, will lull Paxson and Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf into believing the team is headed in right direction.  They will feel validated in their selection of Del Negro as coach, believing the team is a few key pieces away from contending for a title.

Pardon the pun, but this type of this thinking is complete Chicago Bullshit.  The team is light years away from even sniffing the jocks of the NBA’s elite.

The decision to hire Del Negro was an incredible mistake of Hurricane Katrina proportions.  At times, he seems confused and detached on the sidelines.  His player rotations and substitution patterns are puzzlingly erratic – Del Negro even had his pee-pee whacked by Paxson earlier this month for leaving Rose, team’s best player, on the bench during key fourth-quarter moments.  When hired, Del Negro preached the virtues of team defense, yet players of average talent routinely have career nights against the Bulls. 

The current team is virtually the same team that finished with 33 wins last year.  With the addition of a future star in number one draft pick Derrick Rose and a new coach to shake things up, one would hope for a significantly improvement.  Six wins does not constitute a significant improvement.  The team still has the same problems that led to Skiles’ dismissal: defensive inconsistency, lapses in energy and effort and a complete lack of focus and direction. 

Some contend that playoff experience would be valuable for Rose.  While it is true that the exposure to the pressure and intense atmosphere of the NBA playoffs can benefit a young player, these benefits are negated if the team is not competitive.  Leading the team to humiliating losses against the league’s best teams will not benefit Rose.  Furthermore, Rose led the Memphis Tigers to the NCAA championship game one year ago.  He is familiar with the pressures of playing on a big stage. 

Paxson and Reinsdorf need a reality check.  Their coach’s primary jobs are to lead the team to a championship while developing Derrick Rose into the star he will eventually become.  Del Negro is failing miserably at both.  A playoff berth would only further the delusion that “the arrow is pointing up” for the Bulls.

I usually embrace the possibility of a Bulls playoff berth.  This year, I’ve reached the point where I don’t need four to seven extra games of bad basketball in my life. 

2 responses to 'I hope the Bulls miss the playoffs'

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1. Sir, I do believe that this post was a mistake and I demand a retraction, or the public will have your head!

   wondroushippo

   04.30.09 10:31 PM

    

2. Excellent point, wondroushippo. You can find the retraction here: http://blog.bokeen.com/749

   bokeen

   05.03.09 11:09 PM

    

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