Couch: The Honeymoon is over, Bulls should start over

[TB#1]

The Full Rant

It's high time for the Bulls to start over
Boylan was a temporary tonic, but team seems to be stuck in rut

January 9, 2008
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist

Well, that's that. The Bulls lost to the lowly, dysfunctional New York Knicks 105-100 at home Tuesday. The happy times were gone; the old, blank looks were back.

''We've just got to figure out how to make plays down the stretch,'' guard Ben Gordon intoned.

And to look at his face -- and the faces around the locker room -- was to know that it had to be hitting the Bulls right then and there:

Maybe this mess wasn't Scott Skiles' fault after all. The problem is with them.

''We started holding the ball, there was no movement and we became very stagnant,'' interim coach Jim Boylan said. ''We had the game in hand and just let it get away.''

Honeymoon over. That's that. In the two weeks since Skiles had been fired, the Bulls were looking relaxed again. They were trying again. They won a few games. But that little improvement never did look right. It never was going to last.

For example, Ben Wallace has been energetic and playing with great interest. He still did Tuesday, by the way. But do you believe that will last?

It might, I guess. Maybe Wallace is finally comfortable. You've been screamed at every day for a while, then suddenly you're hearing Boylan's mellow tunes instead. And maybe that allows you to clear your head, to be yourself.

Struggling teams can get a spark from a new coach, but it rarely lasts. Nobody loses to the Knicks, especially at home. Not even when your best player, Luol Deng, is out with a sore Achilles tendon.

I don't think the Bulls will slip all the way back to the terrible team they were up until Christmas. But close. And the best you can hope for, anyway, is that they can become the same team they were last season and the season before that.

Eke into the playoffs with no chance of doing anything when they get there.

Patience doesn't work today

Is that going to be OK with you, Bulls fans? Are you still going to buy all that stuff about a young team growing up? I was already sick of that story last year. But then Skiles got the Bulls into the second round of the playoffs, and at least that counted as progress.

[coldfish]

Patience doesn't work today

I'm sure that at some point, mr. Couch would go on about how great a job Boston has done in making trades. However, I'm sure he wouldn't admit that they accomplished what they did through a supreme amount of patience.

They brought in young players, force fed them the ball and lost a lot of games while driving up those trade values.

Patience works.

Is that going to be OK with you, Bulls fans? Are you still going to buy all that stuff about a young team growing up? I was already sick of that story last year. But then Skiles got the Bulls into the second round of the playoffs, and at least that counted as progress.

So much of what the media writes is almost complaining about the Bulls not giving them good stuff to write about. Its really not about winning with the media, its about making big splashy moves to be discussed until people get tired of it.

Essentially, what the media wants is the New York Knicks (I know, they beat us last night but I still would not swap franchises with them).

[BigUps]

Eke into the playoffs with no chance of doing anything when they get there.

This is the statement that really annoys me the most. Not because I disagree with it, but rather because its 100% true. We can't beat numerous teams in the east and we'd lose even more to teams in the west yet:

1. We're relying on the vets.
2. Promoting a coach internally, rather than bringing in a new coach with a fresh outlook.
3. Still have the same flaws we've had the last 2.5 years (jumpshooting team, no post player, small gaurds....)
4. Not active in recruiting coaches/players (as far as I know and outside of shotty reporting).
5. Haven't hired a big man coach in forever.
6. Run a predictable offense.

and so on.

I'm a big fan of Paxson, but I'm really starting to wonder what his vision is for this team. I thought he and Skiles were a perfect match and I felt like we knew what to expect from the team and coaching staff. Now, I have little to no clue.

A major player change needs to occur, soon. Maybe not even to better the team, but to simply show me a pulse. Okay, I lie. I want the change to better the team too, but you get my point.

[kyrv]

I don't think the Bulls will slip all the way back to the terrible team they were up until Christmas. But close. And the best you can hope for, anyway, is that they can become the same team they were last season and the season before that.

Eke into the playoffs with no chance of doing anything when they get there.

Well they did sweep the reigning champions last year to win a playoff series. I don't consider that 'not doing anything', maybe mr. Couch does?

[DuckIII]

I still think this team can do damage in the East. I'm likely going to keep thinking that unless things get progressively worse over the next 6 weeks.

But in order for them to do that, the coaching decisions need to improve and the younger players need to be developed to maximize their potential impact in the post-season.

And last night's game under Boylan was the first time I really became concerned that the organization and staff isn't committed to making those things happen this year. I hope I'm wrong.

But with the one simple coaching decision of leaving Wallace in the game when the Bulls couldn't score, when Aaron Gray had proven he could score in those matchups, and when Wallace wasn't impacting the game defensively and was actually getting beat up by Curry, I've started to lose faith.

You have to coach the game that is being played. And coaching the game that is being played in some circumstances, like last night, will dictate reliance on our young players - even multiple young players at once - even in critical situations. Not all the time. But sometimes. And the coach has to be able to identify those times and concurrently have the stones to do something about it once once the identification is made.

[ikeziskash]

Are the lights on upstairs in Paxson's office? Is ANYTHING happening in there?

[Magilla_Gorilla]

Leaving Wallace in is the single biggest mistake of both the Skiles and Boylan era.

I counted 3 times that Wallace passed out after receiving a perfect pass under the basket. Wouldn't be a big deal, except that we were in the middle of a scoring drought and were desperately in need of a basket, any basket.

Gray had proven he could score over Curry or draw the foul. Why not put him in for a possession or two and just see what happens.

Instead we have to stroke BW's ego and watch him screw up possession after possession.

[#1TKfan]

Eke into the playoffs with no chance of doing anything when they get there.

This is the statement that really annoys me the most. Not because I disagree with it, but rather because its 100% true. We can't beat numerous teams in the east and we'd lose even more to teams in the west yet:

1. We're relying on the vets.
2. Promoting a coach internally, rather than bringing in a new coach with a fresh outlook.
3. Still have the same flaws we've had the last 2.5 years (jumpshooting team, no post player, small gaurds....)
4. Not active in recruiting coaches/players (as far as I know and outside of shotty reporting).
5. Haven't hired a big man coach in forever.
6. Run a predictable offense.

and so on.

I'm a big fan of Paxson, but I'm really starting to wonder what his vision is for this team. I thought he and Skiles were a perfect match and I felt like we knew what to expect from the team and coaching staff. Now, I have little to no clue.

A major player change needs to occur, soon. Maybe not even to better the team, but to simply show me a pulse. Okay, I lie. I want the change to better the team too, but you get my point.

7. have nobody on this team that can beat you off the dribble. its hard for this team to create their own shots.

[Wingy]

I still think this team can do damage in the East. I'm likely going to keep thinking that unless things get progressively worse over the next 6 weeks.

...but the key word is East. I agree with you that we can bounce back and make some East playoff noise...but I just don't ever see this core being on the same level as the West.

If Pax blew it up, I wouldn't be the least bit upset. I'd try to keep Deng, TT and Noah. Maybe try to use Kirk or BG for a high draft pick (perhaps Miami? Maybe we could take advantage of Riley's impatience).

Boylan's 'honeymoon' was one of the quickest I've ever seen.

[Sonny_D1]

I mentioned this little story before, but since I'm absolutely disgusted right now, I'll bring it up again. My good friend lives in Detroit and is a die-hard Piston fan (yeah, how can he be a good friend then right?). Anyway, when we signed Wallace he called me and told me we would regret it immensely.

Everything, and I mean everything, he told me came to fruition. It was his words, coupled with my own feelings of Wallace of course, that really had me concened at the time of the signing. I just had no idea it was going to get this bad, this quickly.

[endemicBull]

It's now or never...trade the youth for more youth, or become the late 80's Cavs, at best...

[BULLHITTER]

a great many emotionally extreme reactions.......

yes, the bulls problems are many and none are fixable with ONE move;
fans seem to forget their lofty expectations for this team and with the team now in a state of flux for a variety of reasons, everybody's on the "pax should have known" bandwagon. and it's noteworthy that imo, lamarcus, tyson, brewer, nor eddy would be the answer either. leadership is the main, primary flaw in the bulls current construction. this team is a headless "fist" of players who, while they may like each other are too reseved a group to allow one personality the impact to influence the group in a positive way on the court. that's why you see so much indecision at crucial junctures.

i'm not sage enough to know what they should do, and my opinion about it isn't anymore ideal than anyone else's. however, i once again have to agree with duck when he stated:

You have to coach the game that is being played. And coaching the game that is being played in some circumstances, like last night, will dictate reliance on our young players - even multiple young players at once - even in critical situations. Not all the time. But sometimes. And the coach has to be able to identify those times and concurrently have the stones to do something about it once once the identification is made.

....didn't really see that out of boylan last night. while it's much harder to analyze a game at the game (too many visual distractions from the court action) riding gray against curry was a no brainer; removing curry's effectiveness by making him defend should have been employed, even if keeping wallace in to guard him defensively; either way gray's got a mismatch on randolph (who spent the night in foul trouble) or curry's on the bench due to fouling.

there's no question that wallace hurts the team offensively. i knew he was limited, but passing up layups is inexcusable and i wouldn't care how much or little he makes; you have to covert layups, and ben can't do that.

[tyrususi007]

I think BigUps point #2 is the bottom line. The System, style of play and coaching needs to have a spring cleaning.

I have to say that when they played Portland on TNT and Doug Collins was one of the announcers and talked and picked apart the Bulls system, style of play and players and I had to agree with everything he said.

Bring him (Collins) in. For the rest of the year with options for more years down the road. Make him earn the coaching job here. I know many arent fans of his, and Im not 100% sold. But give him a shot.

Do something. Bringing someone up internally doesnt stop the bleeding, its like putting another banage over the wound.