Pau Gasol (Photo : Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls were supposed to be the biggest challenge to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They have the only MVP in the East not named LeBron James and they also have a two-way franchise player in Jimmy Butler. The coaching change is was supposed to revitalize the offense that staggered during the Tom Thibodeau era, but now the team may not even make the playoffs.
Yet, the Bulls will probably not fire Fred Hoiberg and the front office seems to admit that they made mistakes not just with the moves that they made but more on what they did not make.
In the Jalen and Jacoby podcast on ESPN Radio, Rose mentioned that the Chicago Bulls do not want to make the playoffs. He also suggested the T-A-N-K word.
It's hard to reconcile the Bulls, a franchise with talent and pride to be involved in tanking. But Hoops Habit also mentioned that the Bulls are "looking towards next season."
It can be seen in how they play. "For starters, the Bulls have dropped 14 of their previous 20 games, including four consecutive losses in the last week," HH's James Tillman stated. "That equates to a 30 percent winning percentage over that stretch for those of you who care enough to do the math."
More than that, the team has lost its identity, or at least until they establish a new one. They used to be the hard workers on defense whether they won or lost. Now, "there have been 10 instances in which the Bulls have allowed an opponent to score 60 points in a half."
The team does not have a heart or a driving force anymore, and Pau Gasol has just expressed it on CSN Chicago. Even when the team was struggling with injuries before, they always seemed to draw strength to compete.
Now, Gasol, whom the team was allegedly trying to trade before the deadline, says the team is nothing more than a .500 team slipping out of the playoffs. They failed to make trades at the deadline and they can't adjust to the Hoiberg system with the roster that they have.
"I think your record always shows who you are," Pau Gasol said. "I don't think we're better than what our record is. I think at the end of the day talent doesn't win games, sometimes it's more the little things, the togetherness, the experience and doing the right things on the floor."
The Bulls are their record, and that doesn't look very good..not even playoff good. It is time for a rebuild-something they should have done before they hired a coach with a completely different philosophy from Thibodeau.
