Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
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The Super Bowl is to the sporting man what New Year’s Eve is to the drinking man—overhyped, too many people interested in participating, and always failing to meet expectations.
What is there to celebrate?
That the Bears, yet again, failed to get there?
That there’s no more football for—sigh—seven months?
That I have a headache on a Monday morning because I said I was going to have a few beers and head out after the game even though my friends and I ordered a keg?
In some ways, a keg is also like the Super Bowl. It’s a really fun idea and it gets the people going, but is always better in theory than in practice.
The good news is that I actually don’t care all that much who wins. As you can tell, I’m writing this before kickoff. Sure, I’d love to see Andy Reid get one, but I got nothing against the 49ers. That’s good, I guess—that I won’t be mad no matter who wins.
But it’s also bad. Just like when LeBron James retires, it’ll be a sad day for me. Because the only thing better than rooting for someone is rooting against someone. That could signify deeper psychological issues, apparently.
113,795 likes? Damn, I should definitely start cheering for LeBron now… NOT (hell yeah). Don’t try to turn the tragedy of Kobe’s death into an emotional blackmail to get me to start cheering for LeBron, bro.
I’ll sleep easy tonight knowing it’s #FADELEBRON now and it’ll still be #FADELEBRON tomorrow. Many great men and women with fantastic ideals have died with merely a few followers. Many bad men and women died with hundreds of thousands willing to follow them into battle.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. When I die, the last words out of my mouth will be “Still Gotta Come Through Chicago!”. That’s a synonym for #FADELEBRON.
And after I die, and I just said Still Gotta Come Through Chicago and not “love you” or “take care of the kids,” it’ll probably lead to a few of my family members saying, “did that ass hole seriously just talk for the first time in ten days and say the tagline to that goddamn newsletter he had?”
Then Michael Jordan’s ghost will appear in the corner, like Babe Ruth in The Sandlot, and he’ll say “you’re goddamn right he did” with a cigar in his mouth.
How’d I even get on this subject? Anyway, it looks like the newsletter is back on track. Nostalgia and tenderness over Kobe’s death has been replaced with vitriol towards LeBron and yet another mention of ghosts in the intro. We’re back, ladies and gentlemen.
Also, who am I kidding? Football gone for seven months? The XFL starts next week! Will I be watching? Yes. Will I be betting? Also yes.
It’s a little warm out today and my brain almost tricked me into thinking the NCAA tournament was being played today. It’s not, and the sun is sure to tuck itself away again for the rest of the week. Still, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We’re a month away from warmer weather, St. Patrick’s Day, and March Madness.
Let’s Go.
Trivia: There are six players in the Bulls top 10 for 3-point percentage all-time that played in this century. Who are they?
Keep in mind that these numbers are only from when these players played on the Bulls.
(Answer at end of the Bulls section)
Thread:
As Devin Hester’s Super Bowl return resurfaces, it got me thinking.
What’s your favorite Chicago sports memory of all time? It doesn’t have to be a championship, though it could be.
Let’s get it going!
Bulls:
Zach LaVine is not an All-Star, and thank God that conversation is (almost) over with. Coby White was not selected to play in the Rising Stars challenge, meaning the Bulls won’t have a representative in either of the two All-Star weekend contests. Good—the organization should be embarrassed, in their own city, over what has become of this franchise.
Is Common playing in the celebrity game? Maybe the Reinsdorfs can chalk that one up as a W for Chicago basketball.
I’m sure Zach LaVine will participate in something to save face for the organization. The Magic’s Aaron Gordon announced that he’s be participating in the Slam Dunk Contest, which may be enough to get LaVine involved. The two were a part of, no exaggeration, one of the two best dunk competitions in the history of the league.
LaVine has already won it twice though, so who knows if he’ll be motivated enough to play his hand again this year.
Now, if you legitimately think that LaVine deserved to be an All-Star, I beg you to tell me who he deserves it over.
Eastern Conference Starters
Giannis Antetokounmpo (captain) | Milwaukee Bucks
Eastern Conference Reserves
Jimmy Butler | Miami Heat
If you haven’t watched the Heat or Bam Adebayo play this year, please don’t tell me LaVine should be in ahead of him. He’s the second best player on a team that is currently 3rd in the Eastern Conference and was expected to be on the fringe of the playoffs, just like the Bulls.
Kyle Lowry? Same deal. He’s the floor general for the second best team in the conference, a team that lost the Finals MVP in the offseason.
Bradley Beal didn’t even make the All-Star game, so let’s just start there.
Beal’s totals in 2019-2020 (41 games): 1182 points, 258 assists, and 132 turnovers with a 51% eFG.
LaVine’s totals in 2019-2020 (51 games): 1279 points, 206 assists, 161 turnovers with a 51% eFG.
In 10 more games, LaVine has not even 100 points more, 52 less assists, and 29 more turnovers. Both teams suck about the same.
The All-Star game exists, first and foremost, to reward good players. But the premise to all of this is winning basketball games. How much do you help your team win? As they say, someone has to score the points. That’s why scoring 25 PPG with a 31.5% usage rate just doesn’t get the voters going.
LaVine is 9th in the league in USG rate, which is defined by how many of a team’s total possessions a player controls. If you have that high of a usage rate, and you have no other players on your team that can create their own shot regularly, you better average 25 per game. That doesn’t make you an All-Star, just like it didn’t make Monta Ellis an All-Star.
But anyway, enough of that, and enough of Za…
Well, nevermind.
The Bulls lost to the Pacers on Wednesday, an enormous game that could’ve been the team’s first win against an Eastern Conference foe currently slated to make the playoffs (literally, they are 0-18 against the East’s top 8 teams) and also their first legit win against a team over .500 (they beat the Clippers when Kawhi Leonard and Pat Beverley were not playing).
They were up 7 with four minutes left. And then the Bulls remembered they were the Bulls. They didn’t score once the rest of the game, and Victor Oladipo hit a three-pointer to tie it with just seconds left. Bear in mind that the Pacers were down three with 9 seconds to go. I mean, ALL you have to do is guard the three-point line and the game is over. Chalk that failure up to Jimmy Boylen.
The rest of it can be chalked up to Zach LaVine and the pitiful Bulls front office, who is so inept that they were playing Cristiano Felicio—one of the worst players in the NBA—in crunch time. At least he’s earning that $8 million per year that GarPax gave him for absolutely no reason.
In the final minutes of the game, the Bulls went to their “best player” over and over and over. In four crucial possessions in a row, he missed three 3-pointers and turned the ball over, a turnover that led to an immediate Pacers dunk.
On Friday, the Bulls allowed Kyrie Irving to drop 50 on them.
The Showtime Bulls:
Kris Dunn also sprained his MCL on the first play of that game. The fact that that is a devastating loss to the Bulls in 2020 tells you all you need to know about the state of the franchise.
I like Dunn, I really do. He plays hard and is one of the only good defenders on the team. The guy thinks he is the second coming of Gary Payton, and he’s so far from that that I almost have to respect him for having such a delusional mentality.
With Dunn out for the foreseeable future, along with Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., and Otto Porter Jr., things will continue to get worse at the United Center.
It’s again worth mentioning that the Bulls have been one of the most “injured” (quotes added to acknowledge that the Bulls have unnecessarily sidelined players for extended periods of time when they didn’t need to, like Markkanen) teams in the league since 2016, and that the organization blamed Tom Thibodeau for it. He’s gone, fellas. Just like Derrick Rose is. Can’t blame them for your descent into the pit of the NBA anymore.
Silver lining: Chandler Hutchinson, the Bulls second first-round pick last year, is becoming a player. With a 6’7, 200ish lb frame, he’s an athletic forward that has all the tools to become a great defender.
The refreshing part of the last few weeks, however, has been Hutchinson’s improvements offensively. He still struggles to finish at the rim when he’s not dunking, but when he is dunking and out in space… watch out.
Trivia answer: 2. Otto Porter, .458; 4. Kyle Korver, .425; 6. E'Twaun Moore, .422; 7. Ben Gordon, .415; 9. D.J. Augustin, .411; 10. Nate Robinson .405
Bulls record: 19-33, 9th in the Eastern Conference
Blackhawks:
I just vomited.
I cant stop vomiting.
What a massive return to the ice for the Blackhawks. Fresh off the All-Star break, they grabbed a humongous two points on the road in Arizona, against a team directly ahead of them in the playoff race.
Saturday night’s game was incredible, and it was crucial that the Hawks kicked off the post-All-Star game slate on a positive note. But—and tell me if I’m wrong, those of you who watched it—it felt like there was a special electricity to it.
That, paired with my rant about the Hawks needing to save the city and make a playoff run, plus the weather being a tad Spring-y out on Sunday, has me wanting to tattoo Jonathan Toews face on my ass.
The shamrock will have to do for now. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
The boys (you can only call your team “the boys” in hockey) are now *gulps* just three points behind Arizona for a wild card spot.
I can see it now: The SGCTChicagoans get off of work at five. The sun is peaking through the clouds, the winter is over. It’s 66 degrees outside. The Hawks start Game 1 on the road in less than two hours. And don’t you dare tell me this team—this team, that has a captain and an MVP with three Stanley Cups under their belts—can’t win a Game 1. After that, anything can happen.
Let’s GOOOO! Blackhawks are appointment television from here on out.
They’re at Minnesota on Tuesday. The Wild are four points behind the Blackhawks in the standings… as winnable as they come.
Blackhawks Record: 25-21-6
Chicago Baseball:
The Kris Bryant grievance is settled: He is under Cubs control for two more years, not one. Originally, there was a report that Bryant was unhappy with how the team handled the grievance—that they lied. A later report refuted that and said there were “no hard feelings” between the two sides.
For one, I bet the Cubs lied their asses off at that hearing. Every MLB team does. They keep players down to gain more years of control, and until something is changed in a bargaining agreement, teams will continue to do so.
The Cubs had a good case because their starting third baseman was Mike Olt and Kris Bryant didn’t technically come up until Olt got hurt. But Kris Bryant lit Spring Training on fire in 2015 and was no doubt ready to come up. It’s business, and I don’t blame either side for handling it the way they did.
The Cubs have reportedly offered Kris Bryant, at one point or another, a $250 million extension. I think that’s probably a fair deal, depending on the years attached. But Bryant will probably be able to get more than that in free agency, and I doubt Scott Boras is willing to hand out any favors to the Cubs.
Once the grievance was settled, the Nolan Arenado trade rumors surfaced yet again. The first rumored deal was a straight up swap of Bryant and Arenado between the Cubs and Rockies. In that deal, the Rockies would probably eat at least a little bit of the $200+ million left on Arenado’s deal. Arenado has a no-trade clause, but apparently would absolutely wave it to play for the Cubs.
It’s strange that these two players are in trade rumors, for each other, because the Arenado/Bryant debate over which is a better player has always been a heated one between fan bases.
I’d personally rather have Bryant. Though Arenado’s road OPS was better last year, he’s just under .800 for his career in away games, which is a very pedestrian number. Bryant, on the other hand, has been pretty consistent throughout all ballparks. His career home OPS is .920, his away .880.
Even though Kris Bryant is an above average fielder, Nolan Arenado has a clear edge there. He’s one of the best infielders in all of baseball.
But the Arenado or Bryant question is a loaded one. Would I rather have Bryant? Probably. But if Bryant will be gone in two years, something that everyone has written off as a foregone conclusion, why not take the six years of Arenado?
This is all a hypothetical, obviously. I’m not sure that the Rockies would give up Arenado and eat some of his salary just for two years of Kris Bryant on a bad team.
The Cubs are in a strange situation. They have a playoff-caliber roster that didn’t make the playoffs last year. They have four prospects in the top 100 for the first time in a long time, but they need to think hard about both the short and long-term status of the club.
Jed Hoyer says he expects for the Cubs to be active in the trade market through February.
If I had to bet, I’d err on the side of the Cubs making a major move before the season kicks off.
On the South Side, there’s not much to report besides a few Ricky Renteria quotes:
“I will be disappointed if we don’t make the postseason.”
“If I suck, you can tell me I suck, that’s the way it is.”
Ricky—bad manager, cool guy.
Three weeks until Spring Training begins.
Bears:
The Bears offseason should be quiet until some acquisitions pick up.
My wish list: Anyone but Philip Rivers for QB and Greg Olsen or Eric Ebron.
Olsen should’ve been one of the best tight ends in Bears history, but we pissed that chance away. He’s dealt with a slew of injuries but apparently still wants to play. If nothing else, he’s better than the current options on the roster. Ebron is probably more likely.
A little Bears history:
GOAT.
We end the newsletter the only way a Super Bowl week newsletter can in Chicago, with one of the best plays in the history of the franchise.
Devin Hester, you are ridiculous.
This edition of Still Gotta Come Through Chicago may be a bit sloppy, my apologies. The Super Bowl has me rushing. Next week will be the best newsletter yet. Thanks for all the support these past few weeks. There’s a big announcement coming in the next month. Stay tuned.
Betting pick:
Record: 19-12
This week’s pick: Sacramento Kings -1.5 against the Timberwolves on Monday
The XFL is right around the corner.