Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
I'm Fired Up! Bears playoff hopes, Zach LaVine, Yasmani and Jose!
Follow us on Twitter @stillgottaChi
Subscribe to Still Gotta Come Through Chicago:
This week in Chicago:
Bears: Thanksgiving at the Lions 11:30 a.m.
Bulls: Tonight vs. the Trail Blazers 7:00 p.m., Wednesday at the Warriors 9:30 p.m., Friday at the Trail Blazers 9:00 p.m.
Blackhawks: Tuesday vs. Dallas 7:00 p.m., Friday vs. Avalanche 3:00 p.m., Saturday at Avalanche 8:00 p.m.
MOL of the Week: (send nominations at @stillgottaChi on Twitter or at stillgottacomethroughchicago@gmail.com)
A reminder that the MOL of the week (Mrs. O’ Leary of the week) is someone who is either the antithesis of a SGCTChicagoan or someone who felt our wrath in the past week. The first ever MOL of the week was given to Christian Yelich last week for snapping at Yu Darvish on Twitter. This week we get John Focke, who—bless his heart—had to narrate the Hornets’ downfall on Saturday. Listen as his voice slowly gets more desperate throughout the clip.
“They won’t go away. Good god.”
“Loose… Chicago’s got it… Oh, no… You’re kidding!”
Congrats, John! You’re the MOL of the week.
SGCTC Four Stars of the Week:
Just look at this graphic design work:
Luol Deng: Luol Deng night was at the United Center on Wednesday. One of Chicago’s all-time favorite Bulls.
Allen Robinson: 6 catches, 131 yards, 1 TD (with a called back 63-yard reception)
Jose Abreu: 3 years, $50 million for the Big Fella. Very few athletes get to stay where they want to throughout their careers and also get paid handsomely to do so. Congrats to Abreu, a SGCTC favorite.
Shaquille Harrison: The Bulls PG has hardly played at all this year, until a few injuries gave him an opportunity this week against the Pistons. He totaled 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists and dominated defensively. On Friday, after LaVine and co. had given us a dud of a game for the ages, Shaq’s intensity almost brought the Bulls all the way back from a 20+ point lead, to the point where the Heat needed to bring Jimmy Butler back in.
Trivia:
Yesterday, this depressing graphic popped up during the Bears game. There’s a lot of interesting former faces of the franchise here. The trivia question, however, is which Bears quarterbacks listed went to Big Ten universities? (Answer at the end of the Bears section)
Intro:
On Wednesday, when the Bulls beat the Pistons 109-89 at the United Center, there was something more important going on. It was Luol Deng night. One of the most important Bulls in the post-Jordan era. An all-time guy and player. This is what I wrote about him when he retired a Chicago Bull at the beginning of this season.
Here’s an excerpt:
Deng represents the best of the Bulls in this century, leading a team that Chicagoans were genuinely proud to root for. He played a major part in forming an identity that the Bulls often claim they have, but usually don’t: a tough, “blue collar”, winning team. A team that you’d be happy to score 90 points against, thanks to Deng, who guarded the best player on the other team the majority of the nights, oftentimes for 40 minutes plus.
Luol Deng night ended up resulting in some unintentional comedy, because, well, it’s the Bulls. A group of former teammates showed up to show appreciation for Deng. Here was the squad:
From the left:
Joakim Noah: Obviously, SGCTC certified.
Nazr Mohammed: Shoved LeBron to the ground in the middle of a game, so by default a SCGTC HOFer. He played for the Bulls for three years at the end of his career and averaged about two points per game.
Aaron Gray: Aaron Gray, I believe, is legit the reason why my older brother stopped watching Bulls basketball. Seeing that guy—who does not look much different from when he was in a Bulls uni—haul it up and down the court was enough for my brother to be like, yeah, I think I’ll stick to the Bears. I’ll never forget him going “Who the fuck is that?” before he walked out of the room to spend his life in more productive ways. Gray played for the Bulls for 2 1/2 years and averaged about four points.
Jannero Pargo: Pargo played for the Bulls intermittently for 3 1/2 years and averaged about seven points.
Deng: SGCTC certified.
John Lucas III: He played for the Bulls in a grand total of 51 games, one of the random ass point guards that Tom Thibodeau turned into a productive player. He did smack a jumper right in LeBron’s face to end the Heat’s win streak. He’s a poor man’s C.J WATTSSON.
Ben Gordon: I think if Ben Gordon came into the league like eight years later he would’ve made 200 million dollars. Wetter than hell. Zach LaVine WISHES he had a Ben Gordon stroke. Him being there actually makes sense, having played for the Bulls for the majority of his career. He sort of offset Deng. He played no defense whatsoever—if you set a pick on the guy, he acted like he blew out his knee and the possession was over—and shot every time he got the ball. Deng, of course, played incredible defense and probably never shot enough.
Tyrus Thomas: Whenever you feel the urge to say “well, Paxson is at least a good drafter”, don’t forget he traded LaMarcus Aldridge on Draft Day for Tyrus Thomas. Look, he’s one of the most athletic guys I’ve seen play basketball at that size and we all loved him in the NCAA tournament at LSU. Although he played for the Bulls for just 3 1/2 years and his career high was 10.8 PPG, Michael Jordan gave him 40 million. Good for him.
This island of misfit toys-ass tribute night would be like if your significant other planned a surprise party for you for your 40th birthday and when you got home, there were like eight kids from your high school that you hadn’t talked to in ten years, someone you dated for a week in middle school, and your parents. I imagine Deng walked in the room and was just like, ‘What exactly is going on here?’
(Chances are Deng is friends with all of these guys and was happy they were all there.)
I legitimately laughed out loud when I saw the group they put together. At least Derrick Rose got in the pic after the game, meaning the group had about 3.5 guys that casual Bulls fans would remember watching.
Bears:
The Bears are officially in the hunt. They’re 5-6, but both the Vikings and the Rams (two teams immediately ahead of them in wild card standings) have tough remaining schedules. If the Bears were tied record wise with the Vikings by Week 17, they could have a winner-take-all match-up in Minnesota for a playoff spot. If the Vikings lost two of three of these games—Packers at home, Seahawks on road, Chargers on road—then they’d have 5 losses heading into the match-up with the Bears. The Rams have four losses and still have to play the Seahawks, 49ers, and Cowboys. The Bears still have a chance to do this thing—one week at a time.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Everyone put your goddamn pants back on.
I watch every Bears game in its entirety because 1. that’s just what I’ve been trained to do and 2. I have an obligation to the people. I get as excited about a Bears win as anyone else. It’s why I have no problem with the Bears opening Club Dub after non-consequential wins. It’s hard to win in the NFL, and dancing is good for you. If you want to swag surf after beating one of the worst teams in the NFL, go for it. I don’t care. At least you’re not the Eagles posing for a picture in the end zone down two scores in the fourth quarter.
But what I can’t do is sit back and let all of you get sucked back in. Trust me, after the Lions game I was staring at the Bears schedule and finding ways for them to make the playoffs. I was banking on Nagy having a medical emergency operation to pull his head out of his ass. I was hoping Mitch would find his stride. I was betting that Cody Whitehair would move back to center and the offensive line would be competent again and that he’d eventually stop snapping the ball like my buddy when he’s over-served at a pregame and wants to relive the glory days with some live drills.
But I can’t let you well-meaning SGCTChicagoans do it again, not now. Not on my watch. Hope is a good thing until it lends itself to delusion. The Bears have beaten one team with a winning record this year (Vikings). They just reached 300 total yards in a game for the first time all year. They lead the league in three and outs. The offensive line has forgotten how to block. The purported 2018 Coach of the Year looks more like a bottom-five coach. Mitch is Mitch, and even when Mitch is MITCH, our receivers drop the ball or there’s a penalty flag thrown. The two pass-catching tight ends we have are Ivy League graduates. They played in the same college conference that allowed like 12 kids protesting with a shitty banner stop a game in the middle of it, and now we’re blaming Ben Braunecker for dropping passes at Soldier Field.
If you think this team—that has earned 80 percent of its wins by way of the Lions, Giants, Broncos, and Redskins—is going to beat the Lions, Chiefs, Cowboys, Packers, and Vikings to round out the year, we can talk it out in this week’s thread—pro bono.
Game notes:
Add the “hands to the face” call against Charles Leno Jr. to the litany of awful instances in which the Bears have been wronged by the referees this year (not an excuse). You just can’t make that blatant of a mess up on a play that big. I think part of the problem with the officiating in the NFL is that the position draws people that are full of themselves for some reason. They want to make big calls in big moment, even when they aren’t necessary or just. They want to make the game about them and not the players on the field.
Speaking of that play, WITHOUT it, Allen Robinson had 6 receptions and a touchdown for 131 yards. With it, he’d have been close to 2 bills. The dude is just a flat-out professional. Attention to detail. Great routes, great hands. Never complains or has bad body language, even when I wouldn’t fault him for it.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Anthony Miller, who was the reason for Trubisky’s first interception, as Chris Spielman explained. He can’t run the right route for his life. It’s become so bad that the coaches don’t even protect him in the postgame anymore. It’s every week with this guy.
There’s no reason that Riley Ridley and Javon Wims shouldn’t be getting snaps and a chance to prove themselves. The season is effectively over and we have Miller, who has proved that he doesn’t deserve to be an NFL wide receiver, and Taylor Gabriel, who has been awful these past few weeks. Let’s use the rest of the season to develop players that will be a part of the future here.
Anyone who watches the Bears week in, week out, knows that the play calling has been bad this year. The Bears have scored on the opening drive ONCE this entire year. That’s when offensive coaches generally show their worth, considering that they have the entire week to prepare set plays and the defense cannot immediately adjust. But what’s even worse than the play calling is the general sloppiness. Well coached teams don’t use precious time outs with 16 seconds left in the first half in the red zone because they can’t get their act together. Well coached teams don’t rack up two penalties on an extra point try and eventually miss a 48-yarder because of that. It’s embarrassing and also cost a lot of SGCTChicagoans their hard-earned money on that -6 line.
The running game was non-existent again. The offensive line is to blame for a lot of that, but the lack of creativity in the game plan also shows. David Montgomery is damned from the start on most of his carries. I’m surprised the Bears punched it in after having 1st and goal from the 4, which is a sign of the times.
If you find yourself still considering the playoffs after this game, please enter the thread. We might have to get a professional psychologist to enter the chat in the coming weeks, especially after some of last week’s comments.
Here’s this week’s thread: Comment here. If you think the Bears can make the playoffs, show yourself.
Record: 5-6, 3rd in NFC North
Trivia answer:
Craig Krenzel—Ohio State, Todd Collins—Michigan, Brian Griese—Michigan, Brian Hoyer—Michigan State, Kyle Orrin—Purdue
Bulls:
zAcH LaVinE! ToLd yOu He wAs a BaLleR bRo!
Shut up. No one ever said Zach LaVine wasn’t a talented basketball player. Him catching fire from three (13-17, one shy of Klay Thompson’s record) and beating the Charlotte Hornets by one point is not evidence that Zach LaVine is a franchise player. It’s evidence of what we already knew: He shoots a lot and there’s this thing called variance—sometimes shots fall and sometimes they don’t, and often those misses and makes come in bunches (he scored 5 points on 2-11 shooting against the Pistons on Wednesday).
LaVine’s 49-point outburst and game winner is either the best or worst thing that could’ve happened to the Bulls. Because our organization is incompetent, I’m going to assume that it will be the worst thing. LaVine will take this game as proof that he’s right and Jim Boylen is wrong: That he should get the ball whenever he wants it, that his defense isn’t a problem, and that he doesn’t totally disrupt the Bulls’ offense.
The best case scenario would be for the Bulls to use LaVine’s 49-point game as leverage to trade him to a dumb team willing to give away talent for his services. Getting rid of LaVine would help the defense (defense is over 15 points better per game with him off the floor), the offense (the offense running through an inefficient LaVine is a disaster), and the rest of our young players (having a ball-dominant guard like LaVine prevents players like Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. from developing). But they won’t do that, and instead they’ll leave their coach out to dry while his players ignore his instruction.
Instead of this ridiculous, come-from-behind win galvanizing the team and helping them win games moving forward, it instead resulted in this god-awful visual of Jim Boylen trying to celebrate with his players to no avail.
This is just so embarrassing for everyone involved. Boylen is an awful coach, and should’ve never been given the job in the first place. But it’s not his fault that he’s in the position that he’s in. In an alternate universe, where GarPax wasn’t searching for a puppet to run the show, Jim Boylen is a Still Gotta Come Through Chicago guy. He works hard. He loves Chicago. He’s a good man. But he’s in way over his head and now everything will be blamed on him, even when the problems are not his alone.
Boylen was right to take out LaVine in the Heat game, when the Bulls were down 15-0 before I turned the television on. He’s a defensive liability and has no interest in getting better at it, clearly. He’s been in the league six years and has shown no signs of improvement. But because Boylen is Boylen (a bad coach), it turns into a binary narrative: Whose side should we take, LaVine’s or Boylen’s?
It’s just not that simple. They’re both bad for the progress of this organization. LaVine thinks he’s Steph Curry, when he’s closer to Lou Williams. The difference is that Williams knows his role and that’s why he’s won Sixth Man of the Year multiple times and not tried to arrange mutinies against his head coaches.
Using LaVine’s 49-point game as evidence that he’s a star and not one of the Bulls’ main problems moving forward is like taking Trubisky’s six touchdown game against the Bucs last year to prove why he’s a top quarterback. Talented players sometimes have ridiculously good games—and there’s a lot of reasons for that.
Regardless, the good news is that the Bulls won a game that they absolutely should not have won and that puts us back on track to hit the season over for the win total. The East is also so bad at the bottom half that the Bulls have a legit shot at making the playoffs (so help me God).
But before I get you going again, remember that Jim Boylen has not beaten a team over .500 this year, and has only done so five times total in his entire NBA head coaching tenure.
If you want to fight with me about Zach LaVine, I beg you to do so. I’ll be here all day.
Here’s Jim Boylen in a defensive stance, when no one else is, as Eric Bledsoe shoots a wide open three-pointer:
P.S.
Later on Sunday, LaVine responded to BBALL BREAKDOWN’s video on Twitter, which was filled with cherry-picked talking points defending LaVine in the feud with Boylen by saying “Thank You”. Given that the video is basically an explicit criticism of Boylen, it’s pretty interesting (and also dumb) that LaVine responded to it on social media for all to see. He later deleted the tweet.
Record: 6-11, 11th in the Eastern Conference
Where do you stand on the feud? Comment here.
Blackhawks:
God, I’m fired up today (Speaking of Fire, are the Chicago Fire any good?). Just when I declare myself a Blackhawks guy and Blackhawks guy only moving forward, they lose three straight.
They sleepwalk against the Hurricanes for two periods, go down 3-0, then score two goals in 70 seconds to go down 3-2, and then can’t capitalize on a power play to tie the game up.
They ruin the opportunity to beat the Lightning on a night when they’re missing their starting goalie.
Then they lose to Dallas on Saturday in a shootout.
Jonathan Toews, yes Jonathan Toews, even questioned Head Coach Jeremy Colliton’s decision making in regards to line play and substitutions this week. As Colliton struggles to find his footing, Joel Quenneville just reached 900 career wins with the Florida Panthers, who are off to a great start (12-7-5), with far less talent.
Record: 9-9-5, still just 3 points out of a playoff spot
Baseball:
The experience of a White Sox fan in this city is very similar to the experience of a Bulls fan. That’s probably because the teams share an owner. The result of that is a near-vindictive fan base, one thats always is forced to see the bad in the good.
For instance:
The Sox signed Yasmani Grandal to a 4 year, $73 million deal this week. It was a huge step. Grandal had double the walks that the Sox leading walker did last year. He’s a top-5 framer in the league by some metrics. He’s perfect for a budding pitching staff with a lot of young arms. It takes the pressure off of James McCann, who will absolutely regress as a hitter this year, but is also a pseudo personal catcher for ace Lucas Giolito. The deal is the biggest contract in White Sox history…
Huh?
And here comes the warranted pessimism. How, in 2019, is a 4 year, $73 million deal to Yasmani Grandal the largest White Sox contract ever? You’re happy they made the move, but also frustrated by that at the same time. It’s like when the Bulls sign Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young in the offseason. Good moves? Yes. Is it embarrassing that we’re in a top market and those are the free agents we target? Also yes.
Either way, the Grandal signing already makes the Sox markedly better in 2020, for myriad reasons. He also said he’s willing to recruit other free agents this offseason. As a White Sox fan, you’re excited by the signing, but also hopeful this is just one of many steps in one of the biggest offseasons in recent memory.
They also took care of Jose Abreu, who was one of the four stars of the week. Abreu is a polarizing subject. He got his $50 million off of past performance and because the front office (and particularly Reinsdorf) loves him. The Sox were competing against themselves on this one. They could have offered Abreu food stamps to stay in Chicago and he would have. That may be frustrating. But some fans are glad he got paid after years of production on a shitty team. I understand both sentiments, and don’t think those two thoughts are mutually exclusive.
If the Sox are thinking they already committed over $120 million this offseason, and thus fans should be happy, that’s trouble. But if they just took care of Abreu and are ready to make another splash, no one should have a problem with it. I personally think Abreu’s production is due for a major drop off over the next three years. I also don’t have a problem with SGCTC guys getting their money. Abreu will only make $11 million in the first year of his deal, so that theoretically gives the Sox more spending room in 2020, but it doesn’t really matter. The Sox aren’t near the luxury tax line.
All in all, I’d chalk this week up as a major W for the White Sox.
White Sox fans, what do you think of these moves? Comment on this week’s thread.
Historical perspective:
The Bears were represented well on the NFL’s All-Time running back team, which was released this week. Both Gayle Sayers and Walter Payton made the list of 12 players.
Oh, and so did O.J. Simpson.
Betting pick: Easy win last week on the Knicks. Record: 16-9.
No official pick this week. Rams +3.5 tonight is a lean. I’m not seeing the NBA board clearly. I’m just not!
Thanks for reading, as always! Enjoy your thanksgiving, and don’t forget to tell your friends and family to subscribe to Still Gotta Come Through Chicago during the festivities this week. Next week’s should be the best one yet!
I’m thankful for you all… STILL GOTTA COME THROUGH CHICAGO!