Bulls Season Review - Against All Odds

The offseason started a little sooner for the Bulls; but nonetheless, it probably came later than expected given that we were not anticipated to be part of the Playoffs series to begin with…As I have mentioned on an earlier post, this season has been a roller-coaster one. Injuries to the key players culminated into a 9-game losing streak, a continue disparity in vision between Vinny Del Negro (coach) and the management which escalated into a confrontation between John Paxson and VDN, not to mention the ever present debate about not resigning Ben Gordon last offseason, and the mid season trade that offset chemistry a little for sure. All this is compounded to the pressure of the possibility that the season could be a failure.

But against all odds, we barely made the 8th seed in the East. Despite losing to King James and the Cavaliers 4-1 in the series, I thought we gave a good fight and showed tremendous tenacity – a trait that has been with the team ever since they started playing like one. As I have mentioned earlier on, it has been a feat to survive the season like in this fashion.

New Coach – The next level

As much as I like VDN, he is probably not the ideal person to bring the team to the next level. Having said that, he’s a great coach and he has demonstrated tremendous potential to becoming one given that he has maintained an 82-82 record with the current young pool of players. We probably need someone who has more experience and pedigree in the league to attract the marquee free agent(s). It's a shame that he is about to get fired, but life goes on... oh well...

SG – 2nd / 3rd offensive option


So in this offseason, we should really target an All-Star like SG player that doesn’t take the plays away from Derrick Rose. In my personal opinion, only Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks) and Anthony Morrow (Golden State Warriors) comes to mind. And yes we should trade Deng when his value is the highest now. Or even trade the 17th pick if we have to….

PF – Post up offense


Another player that we should target is probably the PF spot. As much as people are gunning for Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors), I am of the inclination that we should get Amare Staudamire (Phoenix) or Al Jefferson (Minnesota) instead. Something I learnt from management that one might not like it, but there is a need for any organization to attain human resources of different skill sets so that the organization is robust against adversities. Same applies here I guess, I believe Amare / Al brings more of a different skill set (Post-up, offensive awareness) to what Chris brings (Defense, Shooting, Leadership). For all Chris’ talents, we have a poor man in Taj Gibson.

Signing / Resigning Veterans


Players like Brad Miller should be resigned even when they are going to play less next season. The wealth of experience and back-up capabilities makes them essential for any Playoff-bound teams. We should also target players like Ray Allen (G/F), Mike Miller (G/F), Jason Kapono (G/F) or even Steve Blake (G) depending on who we trade between Kirk and Deng.

Continual development of Taj, JJ and Asik

Add bulk to JJ and Taj while getting Asik from Turkey would leave the front courts set for years. But I do think we need to trade one of the trios. Like they always say, too many cooks spoil the broth.

This offseason is gonna be so interesting…
Go Bulls !!