Good morning Chicagoans! Jim Boylen is fired. The Hawks have been eliminated. The Cubs and the White Sox are infuriating, but each is playing well again. They’ll play each other this weekend. We got a lot to look forward to, in this newsletter and the rest of the week. Let’s go.
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Tuesday Night, 11:30
What a night of sports Tuesday was. Remember when there was none of this shit like a month ago?
Cubs win, and end at 11:30 p.m. for some reason. Rowan Wick continues to cement himself as one of the only trustworthy arms in the ‘pen. He’s just about the only guy that doesn’t make me hold my breath throughout his outing. Another good start for Yu. Ian Happ is legit one of the best hitters in baseball right now according to statistics. According to me, he still pisses me off when he takes his hand off the bat prematurely.
Sox win. If the Sox could play the Tigers every night they’d be the best team in baseball. If Louis Robert could play every outfield position they’d be the best team of all time. Tim Anderson is slashing .429/.467/.964 in his last seven games.
It’s 11:35 p.m. and the Blackhawks are heading into the third period. This playoff hockey shit is bad for my health, for a variety of reasons. The Golden Knights have gotten, conservatively, a million more chances than the Hawks in this series. Nearly two-times as much, on a serious note. Yet the Hawks, down 3-1 in the series, are still hanging around. And for some reason I don’t doubt ‘em.
Here we go… see you in 30 minutes.
Damn. The season began in Prague in October (remember that?) and ended in Edmonton. Who would’ve thought. In the end, the Hawks gave us eight more games than we could’ve expected a couple months ago. They were sorely outmatched in this series and still had shots to make it a series, up until the last 20 seconds of Game 5.
Corey Crawford, one of the best Blackhawks of the past decade, kept them in it until the end.
Hopefully some changes — the right ones — will be made this offseason and the Hawks will be back on the map next time we see them.
Bye, Bye Jimbo
Jim Boylen was not the disease, he was a symptom of it. But he was a nasty symptom — one that lasted much longer than it should have, like persistent diarrhea two weeks after a flu-caused fever.
Gar Forman’s departure and John Paxson’s reassignment were long overdue and absolutely necessary in order for the Bulls to turn over a new leaf and develop some semblance of a winning culture again. But keeping Boylen would have been akin to setting out to lose 100 pounds by cutting out soda on the weekdays and donuts on the weekends but still eating a pan pizza everyday.
I’ve struggled with what drove the move for days now. Yes, it was on the last day of the regular season — a regular season that ended in August. It makes it seem like the move was planned all along, but the more I’ve pondered the firing the less I think that it was premeditated.
For the first time, maybe ever, I think the Bulls may have actually listened to the fans. If you checked any Bulls post on social media over the last few months, besides maybe on LinkedIn, every one was met with fans frothing at the mouth over the fact that Boylen was still at the helm.
It would have been disastrous for the Bulls to keep Boylen, and I’d argue keeping him as long as they did wasn’t benign either. Basketball aside, keeping Boylen would have either 1. proven that Arturas Karnisovas didn’t know what he was doing or 2. that he didn’t have the autonomy we were promised he was going to have when he was hired.
Either would have been a colossal disappointment. And based on how long the firing took place, I am convinced that possibility #1 is not true and that AK-47 (almost lost this nickname) does know what he’s doing, but that possibility #2 is still very much an issue.
There’s no way a basketball mind like Karnisovas could have wanted Jim Boylen to be his coach for even a second after he signed his name on his contract. Ownership liked Boylen because they don’t understand NBA basketball — a major problem — but also because they don’t want to pay two head coaches, which should be a minor problem considering that Boylen’s salary would be a rounding error on the franchise’s profits over the last 30 years.
COVID-19 has hurt every franchise and every business financially. Acting as if the couple million Boylen is owed is going to be the thing that puts the franchise in a bad spot economically is asinine. Plus, if you’re worried about financials, perhaps stop signing off on average-to-bad players big contracts to maintain relationships with agents (Jabari Parker). Parker’s contract alone could have employed 10 Jim Boylens in 2020-2021.
The issue, ultimately, is that Boylen should never have been a head coach in the first place. Hell, he should’ve never been the interim coach. That should’ve gone to longtime Bulls assistant Pete Myers.
Don’t get me wrong — I think Boylen is one of the worst coaches in NBA history. That’s not an exaggeration or a joke. I used to sit at his press conferences when he first got the job and actively try to not laugh at his answers like someone farted in a third grade class. He’d be sweating profusely talking about absolute nonsense after the Bulls lost by 25 and his own players were throwing shade at him simultaneously in the locker room.
Having said that, he was put in a position to fail. He wasn’t qualified. The team wasn’t good. There was zero chance Boylen’s tenure was going to end in anything but a train wreck and any half-decent executive would have known that.
That’s why I couldn’t help but feeling a little bad as the entire city rejoiced and tweeted out LETS GOOOOs in all caps while a man just lost his job. I’m not a softie, I know it comes with the territory. But for one moment, I thought about how absurd it was that this was the reaction to a man losing his job.
Like, what if you got fired and for some reason your company tweeted it out and people were tweeting saying “LETS FUCKING GO!!!!!” What a hilarious, absurd, and intensely sad phenomenon.
Having said all of that: LETS GOOOOOOO!!!
Any guilt I had celebrating the demise of another man evaporated once I read this scathing piece from Darnell Mayberry in the Athletic.
It reminded me that Boylen wasn’t simply a poorly positioned good guy, but also a manipulative, disingenuous buffoon.
You may have been surprised when rookie Daniel Gafford torched Boylen while playing video games live on his Twitch stream.
“He all right,” Gafford said, referring to Boylen. “I don’t like him a lot. But he OK. He’s got some things he can work on. Got some things he can get better at, as a person and as a coach. I’m not gonna hate on him. I’m not going to hate the man. But, you know …”
Now, say what you want about the fact that Gafford thinks it’s cool to trash his own coach online. But the fact that he — along with many other Bulls players — found Boylen so unpleasant to play for that they publicly trashed him is very telling.
Also, Boylen did put Gafford back into a game where the Bulls were losing by 20+, a game where he had already hurt his ankle, and he subsequently missed the next three games due to that ankle being injured.
Tomas Satoransky gave a not-so-nice analysis of his former coach the other week. Zach LaVine has done so repeatedly to the media.
LaVine, to his credit, even offered to pay Boylen’s fine after he was ejected in a game against the Clippers for standing up for the team last year. Then, as Mayberry explains, Boylen brought that to the media as a way to pat himself on the back, which LaVine was not happy about.
Perhaps the worst offense that Mayberry detailed was that Boylen apparently began purposely blocking the Bulls broadcasters’ view of the court during games.
At this point, as sad as it sounds, I have no real allegiance to any of the Bulls players. I have no firm connection with them, like I have for so many players in the past — ones that played for both good and bad teams. Having said that, you come at Stacey King, and we’re going to have a problem.
If I see Boylen at Federales knocking down Pacificos late at night one of these days, he’s going to wish he had never stuck his egghead in King’s way. That’s all I’ll say.
In the end, Mayberry sums Boylen up perfectly with this line:
Others say they saw Boylen for who he is, a bullshitter, a bully, a sycophant. His greatest success as Bulls coach was simply getting the job.
Karnisovas has assured us that the move was made strictly due to basketball decisions. Even if he should have been fired for other reasons, that alone is enough.
Boylen owns the second-worst winning percentage of all time for a Bulls head coach, just barely ahead of Tim Floyd, who followed Phil Jackson and set up the Bulls for the dreadful era we’re just now beginning to get to the other side of.
Lauri Markkanen, once considered one of the better young players in the league, got worse in almost every single category under the direction of Boylen. Hopefully, that is salvageable. If it’s not, ownership has no one to blame but themselves.
“I respectfully acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all of those in this organization who have come before me,” Karnisovas said in his press conference. “But I’m dedicated and committed to cultivating a culture that creates winning and has its sights set on championships.”
The Bulls have nearly entirely rid themselves of the actively harmful people in their organization. Now, if we could just trade Zach LaVine to some organization dumb enough to think he’s as good as he thinks he is — then we’ll really be in business.
But beggars can’t be choosers, right?
Who’s Next
While being the coach for the Chicago Bulls has been devalued through an inside job for the last several years, there still is value.
It is the best basketball town in the world. There’s a loyal fanbase that is dying for change and for the right coach.
At the same time, there will be swift competition in the coaching market over the next few months, and there is sure to be at least a few teams who have much better basketball situations heading into the ‘20-’21 season.
The Nets play in Brooklyn, have a proven front office, and have two of the game’s best players already in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
The Pelicans have Zion Williamson, a ton of draft capital, and a vibrant young roster. They’ll also, embarrassingly, probably beat out the Bulls in a coach contest.
Houston will most likely be parting ways with lame duck coach Mike D'Antoni, and they have one of the best rosters in the league and one of the game’s best players in James Harden.
The 76ers will also likely be getting rid of Brett Brown, which will leave another young, talented roster up for grabs.
In other words, the Bulls would’ve been in much better shape if they had gotten rid of Boylen last year, when they should have.
It is worth considering that all those coaches that lost their jobs or could lose their jobs are also now available.
Brett Brown has proved himself likable among players and also proven himself a not very good coach. D’Antoni is a good coach under the exact right circumstances, and Ryan Arcidiacono is not Steve Nash and Zach LaVine is not James Harden, despite what he’d tell you. I doubt he’ll be eager to jump at the Bulls roster, which is mostly void of talent.
Alvin Gentry, who the Pelicans got rid of, has done his best work as an assistant. I’d rather him not take over. But with all of these coaches, they’re so much better than Boylen that it’d be a massive upgrade no matter what.
Still, the Bulls should not be settling. They have already given up precious years to awful coaches and their youth has suffered enough.
The Bulls may be towards the bottom of the totem pole in terms of the coaching carousel, and Karnisovas said the Bulls have no timetable to bring in a new coach. But I don’t believe him.
The NBA just authorized a mini-bubble/offseason training camp for the teams that weren’t invited to the Orlando bubble. That will kick off September 14th. Not having a new coach to facilitate those workouts would be a waste of time, and having one would be a great way to initiate the group and have them ready for next season, whatever that is going to look like.
Here are the candidates, besides the aforementioned coaches who could get fired or just were:
Kenny Atkinson is at the top of my wish list. He was fired by the Nets basically because when you sign two superstars, they decide who they want to be coach. And it wasn’t him. Before that, he turned in a coach-of-the-year type effort for the a team that had a few good young players, aka the Bulls. Okay, maybe the Bulls are a tad worse. But it would be a perfect marriage. I’m just not sure he won’t take one of the better jobs available, though the Knicks hiring Tom Thibodeau helped. Atkinson has a family already located in New York but now will obviously be unable to stay there if he wants to continue coaching.
Ime Udoka, the 76ers assistant and former NBA-er, is apparently the Vegas favorite to land the Bulls job, according to SportsLine. That’s mostly due to the fact that he has a relationship with Marc Eversley, who, if you remember, was hired as the general manager way back when in April. Udoka comes from the Greg Popovich coaching tree, having been on the bench during their championship runs earlier in the decade and serving as their summer league coach over the years. Most importantly, he’s married to Nia Long. That alone could will buy him immediate respect from virtually every NBA player. I would not be mad if he became the next Bulls coach.
Mark Jackson… can’t even form a coherent sentence about basketball on national television and once he left the team he coached, they immediately won an NBA championship. Stop it.
Jason Kidd is not a good coach. Pass.
Becky Hammon is currently serving as a Popovich disciple as the leading assistant for the San Antonio Spurs. For those that are prone to scoff at the thought of the a woman head coach in the NBA, stop here. Hammon is a legitimate candidate and has earned her right to get here. She’ll eventually be hired, I just don’t think it will be in Chicago.
Adrian Griffin is one of the top candidates for the Bulls job. He worked as a top assistant under Tom Thibodeau and is now the lead assistant for the Raptors under arguably the best coach in the NBA, Nick Nurse. Griffin, a former player and Bull, has been rumored for many jobs in recent years, and enjoyed his stay in Chicago. In Toronto’s last regular season game, he stood in as the head coach. I think Griffin would be a fine hire.
Wes Unseld Jr. is a Nuggets assistant and son of the legendary Wes Unseld, obviously. He is connected to the job because Karnisovas worked with him for years in Denver. I’m not going to act like I know much about him, but I’ve heard only good things — which is the case most of the time with assistants.
Darvin Ham is Mike Budenholzer’s right-hand man in Milwaukee and will also be strongly considered. Anyone that gets that title with one of the best coaches will ultimately get more chances at a head coaching job. He’s a good option, I guess, but not close to the best option, in my opinion.
Other candidates that could be dark horses: Mike Malone, the Nuggets head coach, if they somehow lose to the Jazz in the first round and management makes a rash decision. Chris Fleming, the Bulls top assistant, who was with Kenny Atkinson before he came to Chicago and is apparently a great basketball mind. For obvious reasons, he was unable to let that coaching ability shine through this past year.
The Bulls, regardless if they get their pick of the litter or not, will be able to find a good head coach this offseason. If Karnisovas is given the autonomy he deserves, I really do believe he’ll make the right decision and we’ll have a more-than-capable leader next season.
Rest of the week
Tell me why the Cardinals get to play a bunch of seven-inning games that hurt the Cubs because they can’t keep themselves from running around and getting COVID-19? I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that the game is all of a sudden going to be over when its the 6th inning.
Two more tomorrow — at least we’ll get some day baseball for a change. I missed it.
Dane Dunning, one of the top 100 prospects in baseball and a 6’4, 225-pound right hander, will make his debut after coming back from a Tommy John surgery. He’ll face off against the Tigers’ Casey Mize, one of the highest rated prospects in baseball and tigers No. 1 overall pick from two years ago.
Should be a fun night.
The Sox have two more against the Tigers until the crosstown series commences on Friday. These games, unlike in past years, are going to have a massive effect on each team’s actual season. A weekend baseball series that matters for everyone in Chicago — in August.
I can’t wait. What are your plans?
The Bears finally put the pads on and stopped acting like their training camp was Area 51. The slo-mo videos are doing whatever they can to make Trubisky look good and it seems like its his job to lose, which makes no sense, but I’ve written about that before. If you think that your quarterback will play much better without fans in his own stadium, you probably don’t have a quarterback at all.
Poll:
Thanks for reading — as always! We’ll be back with another edition, hopefully Monday. To my commenters — let’s get it going today, huh? Hop in.
We are so back! Ill get right into it. As you know this newsletter is where I blow off all my steam and since it has been a long while since my last post, you can imagine all the pressurized anger I have built up inside. I don't want to blow my load all in one post, so I will pepper in my thoughts thought coming newsletters.
But right now I want to focus on a dude that goes by the name of Kris Bryant, KB or AKA the most overrated soft bum in Chicago. He stinks. I don't give a shit that he was rookie of year or won an MVP 5 years ago. The dude has regressed like crazy. It's not normal for a player like him to get worse as he ages into his prime years, but it does happen. And boy did that happen with this guy. I have never seen a guy get blown away by 89 mph fastballs more than this guy. It's amazing to watch. It looks like him and happ went all freaky Friday on our asses and ate a fortune cookie and now happ is playing like bryant did in his fresh/soph year and KB is now happ from last two years. I got to bring up the injuries. First of all I think for the most part, he is hurt NOT INJURED. To put it simply, hes A BITCH. Baseball is a grind. everyone in some way is sore or hurting. Now, you cant blame a player for getting injured so here is how we should look at it. Maybe he isn't a bitch and he really is always hurt and injury prone-not good, or he is just flat out average at BEST-Not great considering how he started. and what his asking price is gona be. And in between his averageness are slumps that involve him not being able to get around on an 89 mph fastball for 3 months
He is also such a great example of how stat lines don't always tell the whole story. Everyone wants to point to his serviceable BA and his home runs but that is cuz my guy is the Garbage time king! Nothing gets KB more locked in at the plate than a 8 run deficit or lead.
Somebody is going to over pay for KB and I just pray to God that it's not the cubs.
Also, since I just ripped KB a new one, I fully expect him to hit 3 home runs as soon as hes back in the lineup. Pick of the week: Kris bryant homerun +12000
I missed the last newsletter, but it feels good to be back. How sad is it that Jim Boylen getting fired is the highlight of being a Bulls fan the last like five years? I love Artie K so far, the man ended an appearance on a Chicago radio show saying, "thank you Chicago" - he is a man of the people! The fact that it took this long for him to fire that fat, bald, sweaty clown I think definitely shows that the Reinsdorf's still think they know anything about sports and have a hand in what he is doing, which disappoints the hell out of me. While you're conducting the AK-47 train, I'm roaming the aisles checking tickets, let's roll!
You might've thought I'd have a comment without having anything to say about Mitch Trubisky, but you were wrong! I'm so sick of hearing that name and seeing that face. I think the internet should block anything that has to do with him until he shows any sign of being a competent quarterback. I saw a video on the Bears Instagram page of him hitting a wide-open Jimmy Graham on a pass in practice and people are commenting bullshit like "10 looks good!" and it got me so unreasonably fired up. I love that people want to see him do well and keep giving him another chance, but it feels like watching a friend go back to an ex-girlfriend over and over that everyone knows is the worst person in the world, and you can't do anything about it. It sucks man. And, on that throw, Trubisky's feet were pointing one direction, and he threw the ball in another. That's not looking off a defense, that is bad quarterback footwork. I was the back-up quarterback on my second grade football team, and I know that. How has dumb Mitch not corrected this? I don't have any hope for him this season.
Have a great day, Chicago