jnrjr79 wrote:Guru wrote:jnrjr79 wrote:
Neat. But you don't just get to throw out the miserable start to the season. As it stands, the Bulls are bound for the play-in and their likely best outcome is a first round exit if they even make the playoffs. I just can't get too worked up about going 19-13.
60% seems pretty competitive.
The Bulls are 24-27. They have not won 60% of their games. We don't just get to pretend the beginning of the season didn't occur. Even with the recent improved play, the Bulls are basically bum-slaying. They have a good record against bad teams and a bad record against good teams. There is zero reason to believe this team, as currently constructed, is going anywhere in the playoffs. I'm enjoying the Coby White experience as much as anyone else, but pretending this team is actually good is pretty silly.
When it comes to evaluating the "competitiveness" of their team some fans, and evidently AK, deem postseason play a sufficient indicator of a team that is either already there or headed in the right direction. I don't understand why, but the phenomenon remains despite:
1. In the NBA it is virtual requirement to have at least one legitimate superstar (top 10-ish depending on other factors) to be a contender. We have zero. And despite how wonderful Coby's development is, with it being clear he is an important part of this team's future, he is not that type of player. Nor is any other young player.
2. The only three ways to get such a player is free agency, trade and the draft. We have no capspace, one of the lamest if not the lamest war chest in the NBA for effecting major trades for elite talent, and we're too good for a high lottery pick and don't even have all of our own future picks locked up.
3. 20 OUT OF 30 TEAMS REACH POSTSEASON PLAY. It is not, standing alone, an indicator of anything relevant to actual contention.
4. Regular season wins are isolated affairs. In the playoffs you need a dynamic and versatile roster that can adapt and adjust in context with playing the same team over and over and over in response to the adjustments your opponent makes. We have one of the most one-note, least offensively and defensively versatile rosters in the NBA.
5. 2 of our "core" players are old. The third has a chronic injury history, is a complimentary star not a cornerstone even at his best, and both he and the organization want a divorce anyway which neither can have at this point due to a season ending surgery.
Not that this will convince anyone who just disregards all of this and tries to convince themselves we are in a good spot, but the evidence is overwhelming that we are in just about the least desirable situation an NBA team can find itself in.
