Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
The Bulls Are Who We Thought They Were
Happy Thursday Chicago! You’re probably thinking, wait, is this a misprint? Am I getting a second SGCTC newsletter in just three days span? You’re goddamn right you are!
Because today is a VERY special day. And, Tuesday’s newsletter was pretty goddamn depressing. But hey, that sells too. There are currently 27 comments logged for the last newsletter, mostly pertaining to the Carson Wentz situation.
If you missed that one, that’s was the more official newsletter of this week, so make sure you read that, preferably before this one. But after works too. You can find that here.
No new subscriptions this week. Let’s change that:
Thanks for all of you who contributed thoughtful comments in the newsletter. For your sake, I hope this newsletter never gets too big. If it does, some of your bosses may find out that you’re putting more thought and effort into your comments than you are for anything you’re actually getting paid for. But you can’t put a price on passion.
I’m writing to you today to discuss a few things around the Chicago sports world — but one especially. (Also included — Cubs and Sox win projections and a new Bears hire.)
Firstly, for background: Last year, in order to engage the SGCTC readership in the new Bulls season, I tried to create a reason to root for the Bulls — their season win total over. Thus, the hype video was born. With those winnings, we planned to rent out a bar in Chicago and party our asses off. I couldn’t think of anything more up my alley than getting wasted with SGCTC subscribers all because the Bulls hit 32 wins and missed the playoffs.
COVID-19 shut that season down, just like it shut down the bars. That’s why this year, when I actually believed even more that the Bulls would hit their win total over, I did it again.
The thinking was, this time, we could actually see it through. And right around the time the Bulls hit the over, the pandemic would’ve subsided enough for us to celebrate that and the accomplishment that would be the Bulls winning 30 games in a 72 game season.
Here is this year’s video, easily embedded with Vimeo so you can check it out and get your juices flowing.
Plenty of casual basketball fans have tuned into the Bulls season like it’s life or death this year, thanks to thousands of dollars being wagered on the Bulls season over. To be frank, at times, it’s been frightening. I’ve never felt more weight on my shoulders.
Well today I write to you to tell you that we are one-third of the way there. If the Bulls win 30 games, they will hit the over on the season win total that Vegas set for them. They’ve now won 10, after a brilliant performance against the Pelicans tonight.
They’ve also played 24 games. If you divide 72 by 3, you get 24. That means that the Bulls are exactly on track to hit the over.
No one said it was going to be easy. But despite the Bulls missing three key players for extended periods in Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr. and Otto Porter, they are on track to do something special, and that something special is me winning hundreds of dollars that I spent irresponsibly back — and then some. And likewise for you all.
(On Wendell Carter Jr):
You may be thinking, but wait, that means this thing is really close? Sure it is. But the Bulls are getting better by the game. They do not even resemble the team that took the floor in the opener against the Atlanta Hawks.
On the back half, I’d argue the schedule will be easier. The Bulls, hopefully, will be healthier. And that slick son of a bitch Billy Donovan will have them playing better than ever.
Tonight, the Bulls made history. They hit 25 three-pointers, the most in franchise history. Zach LaVine — who had 46 points — had nine threes and Coby White — who turned in 30 himself — had eight threes. That’s the first time ever that two teammates have each hit eight threes in one game.
The Bulls also had 35 assists, which is impressive and also noteworthy because Jim Boylen once said that he wanted the Bulls to average 35 assists per game. Well, that’s the first time they’ve done it all year. And, no team in NBA history has ever averaged 35 assists per game.
God love ya, Jimmy.
What’s more impressive is that the Bulls, despite shooting ridiculously well in the first half, were down eight at at the break. Despite that — and this is the Donovan difference — they came out and dominated the Pelicans in the third quarter to ultimately get a win with ease.
It is so unbelievably refreshing to see a team that makes adjustments. For a die-hard like me, the Bulls doing simple things to improve their play from game-to-game and quarter-to-quarter is such a treat.
Zach LaVine has me smitten. Again, for longtime newsletter readers, that will be a shock to you. But he’s really getting me to buy in. My one major gripe with him still exists, which is that he’s reckless at the end of close games.
The data bears that out: He’s shot terribly at the end of close games — both in the last 30 seconds as well as the last five minutes. Stephen Noh wrote an excellent piece on exactly that yesterday. Donovan has done some things to try to combat that, though, so I’m hoping it will improve.
If it does, this team will be well on its way to 30 wins. And if they can get a few games past that — maybe to 34 or 35 — they’ll be in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
And as my favorite athlete of all time who never played in Chicago, Kevin Millar, once said: “Then anything can happen.”
(Kevin Millar played on the ‘04 Boston Red Sox, the team that came back from down 3-0 to the New York Yankees to win. ‘Don’t let us win today… Cause Game 7, anything can happen.’)
If the Bulls make the playoffs, I may not sleep. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Also, saying I may not sleep is not all that great of a proclamation, considering the fact that I’m furiously typing a newsletter about the 10-14 Bulls at 12:30 a.m.
Thaddeus Young’s plus-minus numbers (when he’s on the court vs. off the court) are the 8th starkest in the league. On average, the Bulls are 16 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the court.
He’s one of the best players the Bulls have had in the last four years, seriously. He’s like Draymond Green in that the offense can run through him at the forward position. In typical GarPax fashion, even when they made a good move by signing him, it was futile due to the fact that they had Jim Boylen coaching him.
Now, with Donovan at the helm, Young is back to being the winning player that he was brought in to be.
In fact, he’s so good that I’m terrified the Bulls may trade him for a haul at the deadline. It may be good for the long run, but since we’re gambling men and women, I’d like to focus on the short-term for now.
I stand by by assertion that Coby White should take a back seat to Tomas Satoransky, who is a better facilitator and defender than Coby.
But strangely enough, I’ve found myself on the opposite of Coby arguments these days. Whereas last year I was always telling other Bulls fans to pump the breaks on the START COBY argument, this year, I’m telling some of them to back off.
Coby is not the starting point guard of the future, because he’s not a point guard. Can he get better at that position? Sure. But the guy is 20 years old, for Christ’s sake. Let him work through his struggles this year, and every once in a while — like tonight — he’ll go off.
Be patient.
Speaking of which, I’ve seen a lot of people giving up faith in the 19-year-old Rookie Patrick Williams, because he’s been missing some shots.
Kindly, get the hell out of my face.
When I was 19 or 20 years old, I did all of this in the span of 24 hours: Fell down while intoxicated and gave myself a black eye, gave a presentation the next morning about asian carp and made a joke that an asian carp hit that eye, to which none of my classmates even thought of laughing, was excused from class afterward because my teacher thought I was concussed, went home, left my wallet on top of someone’s car just before they drove away, inadvertently missed another group project because I was looking for my wallet on the streets and forgot about it, and then began experiencing internal bleeding in my cornea and subsequently had to go to immediate care.
Long story short, getting on Patrick Williams — who is starting — for missing a couple shots, all while he is starting in the NBA as a rookie and defending the likes of LeBron, Giannis, Kawhi, and Zion, is asinine.
Most rookies play their own games and have to adapt over time to become a team player, and one that contributes to winning. Williams is doing it backwards. He’s a team player that is contributing to winning before he even gains his footing as his own guy on the offensive end.
His quirks will diminish with experience, and he’s going to get a lot of it over the next two years. Come see me in 2022 and tell me that Williams was the wrong draft pick.
The Bulls are fighting through a strange season like a veteran team. Even after a few blow out losses to kick off the year, they are at about a 0 point differential, meaning they are about even with their opponents through 24 games.
That’s better than over half of the teams in the NBA. If you thought about getting off the bandwagon, think again. We’re a third of the way there. Let’s go.
The PECOTA projections came out this week, which make everyone lose their minds every single year. The Cubs were projected to win 85 games or something a couple years back, and it’s literally all anyone talked about all Spring Training. They outpaced that win total. They also didn’t make the playoffs.
This year’s projections were a bit unnerving for Sox fans. Baseball Prospectus projects that the Sox will win just 83 games this year, behind both Cleveland and Minnesota, who are projected to win over 85 and 90, respectively.
Projections are just projections. And PECOTA has been wrong before, because it has been all it ever claimed to be, a projection.
The Cubs, on the other hand, are projected to win 85 games — two more than the White Sox. That slated them at second in the division behind the Brewers, who are projected to win 88 games.
Now, I do not think that the Cubs are going to come in second in the division this year. I would guess third. I also do not think the Sox will come in third in the division. I would guess first.
Having said that, I think the more interesting angle here has to do with the offseason.
The Cubs’ projections, even outside of PECOTA, have them right at a number where they could seriously compete for the division. With that in mind, it’s unbelievable to me that they didn’t try to do even just a little bit more to maintain a level of competitiveness in the division.
Frankly, it’s embarrassing. Even after all they’ve done to strip themselves of salary, they still could win the division. And a move here or there could have helped them get to 90 wins. They decided against it.
The same goes for the Sox. I wrote about this Tuesday, but the Sox have a lower payroll than the Cubs. It’s a middling payroll that’s not in line with a team attempting to compete for a World Series. In a vacuum, a lot of their moves were fine. But with all of the cheap talent they have, why not swing for the fences?
The Sox have Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson, Lucas Giolito, and a slew of other players on team-friendly deals. Similar to how NFL teams go all-in when they have their quarterbacks on cheap rookie contracts, the Sox should have made a more lucrative effort.
Their payroll is currently lower than it was ten years ago. So before you praise the Sox ownership and degrade the Cubs’, at least remember that. Then you can make fun of the Cubs. Please do.
Regardless, the Sox are going to be a fun ass team this year, and they’re going to win a lot of games. And I’ll be in the stands, God willing, because I’ll have season tickets. And if you have a problem with that because I’m a Cubs fan, feel free to send me $10,000 and I will go to Cubs games instead.
The Bears hired Sean Desai as the defensive coordinator a few weeks ago. If you’re unfamiliar with him, read what I wrote about him then, here.
Long story short, he’s exactly the type of hire the Bears should be making right now. He’s young, smart, and has the total support of all the players — present and past.
The news was refreshing, as Desai was dubbed Vic Fangio’s right-hand man. The Bears defense hasn’t been the same since Fangio left, so any potential return to that glory was welcomed.
Because that struck me as smart, I should’ve assumed something else was coming.
Alas, that came today.
The Bears hired Mike Pettine as a senior defensive advisor. Pettine has been around the league for a while. Most recently, he was fired by the Packers two weeks ago for drawing up an inconceivably bad game plan against the Buccaneers in the NFC championship game. He’s the guy that let the Bucs score with mere seconds left in the first half.
There’s nothing a young, first-time, promising defensive coordinator must love more than having someone hired that could undermine you and get away with it.
There’s a reason why Kyle Shanahan left the Browns after working under Pettine as the offensive coordinator.
It’s not a big deal in the end, but it’s just so Bears. One step forward, two steps back.
We already have one bald-headed fellow middling with anything good the offense happens to do. Unfortunately, he’s the head coach. We don’t need another one disrupting the defense.
Next week we’re going to kick off with some major Blackhawks talk. Needless to say, they are back. And your boy has been digging in! Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading another newsletter this week — I really appreciate it. Let’s get to the weekend. STILL GOTTA COME THROUGH CHICAGO! Don’t forget to read Tuesday’s newsletter here.
A nice little 2for this week Donny!! Great all around game for the Bulls last night. Definitely did not expect that with 2 starters and our 6 man out. It helps when you make 25 threes.
I am so inconsistent with my thoughts on Coby. Of course he puts up 30 on 8 threes the day after I tell my GC I’d rather have Lonzo than coby. I still stand by that statement though. Coby is a spot up shooter, he can get to the rim at times but he’s not an above average finisher and his passing is subpar with multiple turnovers per contest. It is nice though knowing he is 20 years old and can only improve. I like Jake’s take with him coming off the bench, being another scorer with Otto. Patrick Williams has been nothing but solid night in and night out aggressively guarding the opposing teams best player. Combine that with 47/40/80 splits and you cannot ask for more out of the guy other than to shoot more. Only players in the draft better than him are Melo, Wiseman, and Haliburton is a close one but Patrick is a better fit for our team with his defense and length as a stretch forward.
I am itching to murder the Sox ml and run line any time they face a left handed pitcher. Got me out of so many holes. It’s going to be hard to replicate their offensive stats with how well they did last year but they have so much youth and skill it should be exciting. Moncada is going to have an incredible year. He missed time with covid last year and always seemed not 100% he has been under the radar this offseason and I think he will have significant contributions in 2021. Onto the clippers
Im a big Coby White fan and for most of this season I thought he should undoubtedly be the starter. Then at halftime last night I was scrolling through the box score and saw that he was at a -9, while Sato was a +17 and simultaneously as I was looking at that, big Z looked over to tell me the exact same stat line. We got to talking about how great of a scorer he is and how his play could land him as a perennial 6th man of the year award contender. He's still one of my favorite players on the team, but he should not be our starting point guard at this point.