Is the Bulls Farce Coming to An End?

Good riddance.

The Indiana Pacers blasted the Brooklyn Nets 129-105 on Sunday evening. The win allowed the Pacers to clinch a playoff spot after a gruesome Paul George injury set them back last season. The win also eliminated the Chicago Bulls from playoff contention, keeping them out of the playoff party for the first time since 2008, the season that put them in the position to draft Derrick Rose.

I feel like this is the way the season should have turned out for the Chicago Bulls. On paper, this team is wonderfully talented, but power struggles, injuries, and a lack of identity or cohesion took this team from being a contender in the Eastern Conference to mediocre.

The Bulls needed a season like this. Since the beginning of the Thibodeaux era, it seemed like this team was constantly running on fumes. One key player would be injured, and the next man up would have to play out of his mind just to pick up the slack. Eventually, almost every year the team would meet the wall that is LeBron James and fall apart. It seemed all the people with power - the star players and more importantly the front office - felt it was Thibodeaux's fault, and he was let go. This season showed the Bulls fans and its organization that the problem wasn't the departing coach, but was everyone else around him.

Fred Hoiberg thought he was coming from Iowa State and into a cushy job. Little did he know he would be faced with more injuries, a star player looking to assert his dominance, a former MVP that played well but not quite to his old self, and a big man that would rather fill stat-sheets and enjoy the nightlife than actually play defense. Unlike Brad Stevens, this college coach responded to the adversity by being essentially mute, rarely holding his players accountable and rarely asserting himself on the sidelines (only one technical all season).

So the Bulls season, with a half-week left, can really be summarized with one word: meh.

This was hopefully a humbling season for players, and this summer should be one that sees a sciesmic shift in the roster and the culture. The Bulls had 91% roster continuity between the 2014-15 season and this year. That can not happen again.

Preferably I would like to see Gar Forman and John Paxson removed from their positions, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf is notorious for being loyal-to-a-fault towards his front office staff. In reality, I would find their removals welcomed but shocking.

At head coach, I am 50-50 on Fred Hoiberg. He failed as a coach this season. However, if the roster is retrofitted correctly, he could have players that are more than willing to listen to him and follow the schemes that made him mildly successful at Iowa State. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind seeing him let go and replaced by a coach with NBA bench experience (head or assistant) or high-performing college experience. All I know is this coach and this current roster cannot co-exist if the Bulls want to be a factor in the East again.

Public enemy #1 for me is Pau Gasol. While his stat sheet and his fill-in All-Star Game appearance says otherwise, I feel like he has been a waste this season. His effort was wildly inconsistent over the course of the season, and he was non-existent on defense. He basically became Carlos Boozer 2.0 in 2015-16, after a season where he was a fairly useful presence upfront in Thibodeaux's final season. Luckily, there are rumors that he may not be looking to return to the team next year, which would be just fine with me.

The other big decision that needs to be made is the choice between keeping Derrick Rose or Jimmy Butler. These two have had major friction with each other as there seemed to be a power struggle for who is The Man in this town. Derrick Rose is the hometown kid, the #1 overall pick, the former MVP. But when Rose's ACL sidelined his career, Jimmy Butler stepped into the power vacuum. 2016 saw them muscling for the chance to have the voice on this team. Neither won, and combined with Hoiberg's voicelessness, the Bulls lost their identity. At least in the past, the team had the identity of defensive scrappers under Thibodeaux.

So the choice has to be made, Rose or Butler? Butler is an outstanding two-way All-Star, but he was a little too ball-dominant for a Hoiberg system that necessitates ball movement. If the Bulls choose Butler, would he be willing to move the ball around a little more while becoming the player voice of the team? Rose on the other hand has had a decent year. He's not back to his MVP self, and probably never will be, but he was absolutely starter-worthy. If the Bulls keep Rose, the question will be how many more years he can provide serviceable output? My guess is that the Bulls will keep Butler, as he has more upside and - more importantly - guaranteed money on their books than Rose does.

It's going to be a cruel summer for the Bulls, or at least it should be. This team should not be the same next year as it was this year. The 2016 Bulls represented a lack of effort, a lack of identity, and a lack of team cammraderie. The glue that was the hard-chargin' Tom Thibodeaux had to be removed in order for the public to see that this team was truly a house of cards. The summer of 2016 will show what Jerry Reinsdorf truly expects from his basketball franchise, and if fans should care about them moving forward.

MJ's Birthday Present to Chicago

Today is the 179th anniversary of Chicago's incorporation as a city. Happy Birthday, Chicago! To mark the occasion, I bring you this highlight video of the city's favorite basketball player scoring 61 over a division rival on its 150th anniversary.

March 4th, 1987, Pontiac Silverdome, suburban Detroit. Michael Jordan leads the Bulls to a 125-120 overtime victory over the Pistons. He scores 61 points on nothing but two-pointers and free throws, and neutralized a combined 63 points from Hall-of-Famers Adrian Dantley (32) and Isiah Thomas (31, along with 18 assists).

This video is 9 minutes of fun for any non-Pistons fan. MJ was a scoring machine, getting buckets in any way imaginable within the three-point line. He was en route to the highest scoring season of his career: 3,041 points in 82 games, and he only did it on 12 made three-pointers. MJ would go on to score 61 points again in the penultimate game of the '87 season. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else around him, and the team was swept in the First Round by the Boston Celtics. Those same Celtics would beat these Pistons in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Video courtesy of Balthus23. Jim Durham and Johnny Kerr on the call. Enjoy!

Looking Back at MJ's 1st NBA Game in North Carolina

Christmas Eve Eve, 1988: Michael Jordan's first NBA game in the state of North Carolina.

The Wilmington native and North Carolina Tar Heel was drafted 3rd overall in the 1984 draft. Four years into his NBA career, the two-time scoring champion and reigning steals champion was already wowing fans across the league. However, for all of the highlights and milestones, MJ had yet to return to his home state.

The arrival of the expansion Charlotte Hornets provided that opportunity in 1988. In front of a national TV audience on TBS, the new teal-pinstriped outfit was able to show off their sparkling new hive and raucous sellout crowd for all of America to see. It also gave the expansion team the chance to prove themselves against His Airness.

The game came down to the wire, with the Hornets pulling out the close victory 103-101 on a Kurt Rambis layup at the buzzer. It's funny he's the hero in this win after he blew a layup early in the game that led to a Bulls score. Kelly Tripucka led Charlotte with 30 points. The team forced 23 turnovers while only giving up 14. The Hornets bench also outscored the Bulls 38-19.

Michael Jordan was fantastic, pacing his team with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 steals. However, he also had 7 turnovers in the losing effort. It was amazing to watch how acrobatic and nimble he was throughout the game. When the curtain closed on MJ's career, he had played 37 games against the Hornets. He would finish with averages of 32.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. Jordan was so good against Charlotte, he owns the team now!

Video courtesy of UndisputedGoldLion. Footage is from WFLD 32 Chicago (I wonder how a Bulls game would look now if they still did games). The late duo of Jim Durham and Johnny "Red" Kerr are on the call. Enjoy!

Bulls vs. Lakers: Shaq Instagram Debate Settled

In July 2015, NBA legend and TNT studio analyst Shaquille O'Neal posted the above picture on his Instagram of what he felt were the all-time starting fives for the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. O'Neal, whom put his self in the Lakers five, felt his squad could beat the Bulls five "by fifty". Once the debate was sparked, several YouTube videos were posted using NBA 2K15 to figure out who would win. While they're all good videos, I felt that not having a virtual Kareem Abdul-Jabbar available - forcing gamers to create or download their own - took away from the experience a bit. With Kareem being included in NBA 2K16, I decided to give this debate another look.

Here are the video highlights, our first video on the new Scenario Mode TV YouTube channel. Analysis and setup information is provided under the video:

I played a CPU vs. CPU game between the Lakers and Bulls with 12-minute quarters. Since Shaq started this debate, the Lakers are the home team. I used the following versions of each player for the starting fives:

BULLS

PF Horace Grant ('92 Bulls, 80 overall)

PF Dennis Rodman ('96 Bulls, 85 overall)

SF Scottie Pippen ('96 Bulls, 92 overall)

SG Michael Jordan ('96 Bulls, 99 overall)

PG Derrick Rose (Current player with attributes from his 2K15 MyTeam MVP card, 94 overall)

LAKERS

C Shaquille O'Neal ('01 Lakers, 96 overall)

C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ('87 Lakers, 94 overall)

SF Elgin Baylor ('65 Lakers, 91 overall)

SG Kobe Bryant ('01 Lakers, 95 overall)

PG Magic Johnson ('87 Lakers, 97 overall)

The game was played on Superstar difficulty with simulation sliders. I wanted to see how this starting five would shake out over a full game, so I turned off fatigue and injuries and set the rotations so each player was set to play a full 48.

When this debate first came about, I set aside my Bulls bias and conceded that the Lakers definitely had the advantage in this scenario, though the Bulls wouldn't lose by 50. A lot of people pointed out that Artis Gilmore should have been put in at center for the Bulls, and I agree. Having hall-of-fame and hall-of-fame-caliber centers in the frontcourt are to trump two all-star power forwards over a 48 minute span. But switching out an all-star forward for a hall-of-fame center could change some things. But these are the ten that Shaq set forward, so we're going to roll with it.

Here are the results. As I thought, Shaq's Lakers didn't beat the Bulls by 50. They beat them by 5, 125-120. While I made sure that each player played the full game, I forgot about disabling foul outs. So when Derrick Rose picked up his sixth with 23 seconds in the fourth quarter, I had to cut the experiment short. Below are the stats:

In the end, it was the instigator of the Instagram debate that made the difference. Despite scoring almost exclusively in the paint and struggling at the line, the Lakers were able to pull out the narrow win thanks to one Shaquille O'Neal. Horace Grant gave a valiant effort, but Shaq was just too much for him, amassing 42 points and pulling down 11 boards.

I figured the difference would come down to the frontcourt, and that was the case here. Kareem and Shaq are two centers that were major scorers in their careers and know how to get to the basket. The duo combined for 54 points. Grant and Rodman were looked at for rebounds and rim protection. They finished with a combined 19 points. In the context of this game, that meant that the Lakers had five scorers on the floor the entire game, while the Bulls had three. Jordan, Pippen, and Rose were able to get their points through much of the game. But in the later stages, the Lakers were able to focus on those three defensively while pulling off a 7-2 run of their own to put the game away.

In the end, it was a fun game. Discussions about who is better and who is best make the basketball world go 'round. It's always good to watch it actually play out instead of just talking in hypotheticals. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below. Do you think these are truly the all-time starting fives for both teams? What other NBA team starting fives do you think could stand up to the Lakers or Bulls?

The NBA According to Scenarioball

Happy Monday and Happy Black History Month! I hope you had a great weekend.

A lot of exciting stuff will be coming your way this month, including my first video for the Scenario Mode YouTube channel. I'm still working on my rhythm from recording games to editing to posting. So as of this writing, my first video isn't ready just yet. In the meantime, I decided to give you a post that puts my new game Scenarioball into perspective. While I have done some tabulations for individual games, I eventually wanted to look at my game from a more macro level. The beginning of a new month seems like a good time to reflect.

Below are NBA team Scenarioball stats through January 31st. While the game can get much more advanced by tracking things such as ugly-looking shots and missed open layups, I figured I would keep it simple and look up the tracked stats that you can find in the NBA.com stats section.

It's really cool to see it all laid out in front of me. Here are a few loose observations I extract from the numbers:

• I'm not surprised that in terms of what I enjoy the most about basketball, the Warriors bring it the most and in spades. Every Warriors game I watch has been an event for me. I have been particularly enamored with the play of Steph Curry like almost everyone else, but Golden State's entertainment value is a team effort. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can cap off a historic season, dunking and dropping treys along the way.
• Depsite their underacheiving, the Rockets seem to still be entertaining to watch. I had been avoiding Rockets games up to this point because of the organizational and defensive mess they're in, as well as their outright refusal to play the raw but talented K.J. McDaniels. In the face of these stats, maybe I'll give them a look when they come back around on the national schedule.
• When Doc Rivers replaced Vinny Del Negro as coach of the Clippers in 2013, Blake Griffin quipped that Lob City "[didn't] exist anymore". Yet there they are, leading the NBA in alley-oops, propelling themselves into 3rd place in the Scenarioball standings. A few things turn me off from the Clippers. Among them are Doc's constant whining for calls (more than what's normal for NBA players and coaches), torpedoing his roster with each transaction, and the team's below-average logos and uniforms. Biases aside, there's no doubt the Clippers are fun to watch.
• It's hilarious that the worst team in the league are a Top 10 Scenarioball team, coming in at #9. We should get them a trophy! The Bulls, my favorite team, are all the way down at #20.
• The Brooklyn Nets are at the bottom of the Scenarioball standings with only 118(!) points. They're 48 games into the season, yet are barely over 100 points. If you doubled the Nets' point total, it would still fall short of the second-to-last Hornets. After all of the fanfare of moving into a cool, new arena in the heart of Brooklyn and paying big bucks to be an immediate contender, this franchise has stagnated. The team is attempting to transition with the removal of head coach Lionel Hollins and reassignment of GM Billy King. At this point in American history, however, the future is up in the air. They will be hard to watch for the foreseeable future.

There's a look at the NBA according to basic Scenarioball. Let me know what you think in the comments. Do any of these findings surprise you? Are their teams you enjoy or dislike that are in different places in the standings? I will definitely be updating the stats and adding some advanced categories at a later date. I also want to comb through the college ranks, too, but with 351 schools, that post will take awhile.

Scenarioballin' on a Thursday

Kobe Bryant hosted the Bulls for a final time last night. On the court he finished with 10 points. In a game of Scenarioball, his 2-7 shooting from outside and 2 turnovers saw him finish the night with -1 points.

Yesterday I told you about a game I started playing to make the games I watch more interactive. I named it "Scenarioball", which may not be the most inventive sport name, but we're just going to roll with it. I decided to try out my game on TNT's Thursday Night doubleheader. Last night's slate consisted of the undermanned Knicks taking on the Raptors in Toronto, followed by the Bulls visiting Kobe for the final time as they took on the Lakers in LA. Here are my results:

The Knicks were able to keep the game somewhat close, losing 93-103 despite being without Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jose Calderon. The Knicks were mostly blah outside of Afflalo going 3-for-3 from three and Vujacic going 3-for-6 from outside with 2 steals. The Raptors on the other hand were pretty fun to watch. Kyle Lowry knocked down a few treys and got a few steals, James Johnson got 4(!) blocks, and DeRozan, Ross, and Biyombo threw down a dunk each.

As a Bulls fan, it felt good to see them not play down to an opponent. This was a free win coming in and they took advantage with the decisive 114-91 victory. Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson rose to the Scenarioball occasion by notching double-figures. They both had three dunks each, with Butler receiving two alley-oops. Butler also swiped four steals. The Lakers, though they were blown out in Scenarioball and in real life, defied my expectations. Brandon Bass, a guy I largely ignore, led the way with 5 points. D'Angelo Russell, a guy I'm really hoping pans out as an NBA player, was at the bottom with -3 points in 24 minutes of play.