The shock has worn off. The depression has set in. Our two teams with title aspirations have just been dealt some serious blows… on the same day! February 24th may go down as one of the worst days ever in Chicago sports.
What to do now? You can’t just roll over and play dead, although that’s what the Bulls did in the 4th quarter last night. As fans, what can we do? I’ll tell you what I did… I headed to the UC last night to support my team in time of need.
People are funny. Derrick Rose goes down again, and the ticket prices go WAY down. Maybe the snow last night had something to do with it too, and the fact that it was Charlotte on a Wednesday night, but when you can score decent Bulls tickets for $15 a piece, you can’t pass that up; I couldn’t pass that up.
It was one of those sell outs yesterday in paid tickets only. The place was pretty dead. Plenty of empty seats, the same way I could describe the Bulls. The game was played in about 2 hours flat; a very quick NBA game. It was back and forth for most of it until Charlotte went on a 17-4 run in the 4th quarter. No response from the Bulls. Can you blame them?
With the Wolves (coming off a 20 point victory over the Wizards), Clippers, Wizards, and Thunder coming in to finish the home stand, I sense trouble. This latest blow has crushed this team’s spirit again. I’ll give them yesterday’s game to recover, but now what?
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Like I said, we can’t just roll over and play dead. As I updated my almost 3 year old son on the recent events… Derrick Rose is hurt… Patrick Kane is hurt… He replied…. and Jimmy Butler??? and Jonathan Toews??? I smiled, and told him, no, they’re OK. It’s not going to be easy, and our title hopes have taken serious hits, but we DO have other players on each of the teams. Both of these teams have been masterfully built, and hold lots of talent and depth. The question is, will it be enough to overcome the loss of two of the city’s stars?
There is no replacing them. What is the Bulls answer? Nate Robinson? Jordan Farmar? Mike James? None of them will fill that void. How about the Hawks? The one good thing is that the NHL trade deadline hasn’t passed. Yet, there is no replacing Patrick Kane. Maybe one goal should be to shore up the defense, like it was before. I think that’s even more important now. Do we still have enough offense? Teuvo will sure get a chance to prove himself now. Although the Bulls are in better position after THIS Derrick Rose injury than the previous two, I still like the Hawks chances a bit more. Although I can’t lie, I’m feeling pretty down right now about both of them.
It’s funny how things happen. The aftermath of the day the trump tower boys went down, is not pretty. First the Bears season blows up, then we’re dealt two major hits to our title hopes in the UC. One of the radio hosts, Brian Hanley, said it best yesterday… thank God Lester and Sale weren’t on the bump that day.
As I drove home from the UC last night in the cold and snow, after leaving the partially empty UC after the Bulls took one on the chin, it felt like a low point. How did we end up in this situation… again? It would be great if I could say at least we have the Hawks, but I can’t even say that right now. Even my anticipation for Spring Training has taken a hit… I just don’t feel like getting excited about anything right now. It will pass… it always does… yet I will remember this day forever. I will remember how both the Bulls and Hawks season changed for the worse on the same day. Coincidence? I have no good answers…
MK
OUCH…what a horrible day! The loss of kaner for 2-3 months is near impossible to overcome. He was the nhl leader in points, let alone the Hawks. There is no replacing his offensive prowess, puck control, and overall skill level. The Hawks Cup chances took a major blow…I hope they can hold it together longer than kaner’s recovery process!
In both cases, coaches Q and Thibs have their work cut out for them. They each need to keep their teams together, mentally and emotionally. It has to be deflating to both teams since title hopes were high. The jobs Q and Thibs do now and in the coming weeks will go a long way in how successful the Hawks and Bulls will be.
Thibs has done it before. He is a master at getting the most out of this Bulls squad as he has shown the last few years. Does he have one more left in him? Will the players respond? Who knows, but let’s hope last night was an expected hiccup and not the Bulls answer!
As for Q, he’s had to deal with and overcome injuries before as well, but none worse than this, both player and timing-wise. He loves to juggle his lines and surely will now. The Hawks get their first chance to respond tonight, and I like it a whole lot better than the Bulls. Time for the Hawks’ talent and depth to show itself so that they can stay in the Cup chase long enough to get kaner back. Play angry and take it out on opposing teams, starting tonight in florida.
It is a depressing and upsetting week in Chicago sports. If you still like the title chances of both teams, head to vegas, Im sure the odds just got a lot better for you! As for reality, we will soon see how well Q and Thibs hold their teams together and get maximum effort to make up for the huge losses. GO HAWKS and BULLS!!!
bullwinkle
again, the bulls collapse in the 4th qtr. looking like some tired puppies out there, and the defense is the 1st to go. thibs has got to realize that the people he wants in there at the end cannot continue to play over 30 minutes every game. then he expects them to be fresh and ready to play up-tempo on both ends of the court! how many games have been lost in the 4th qtr on tired legs? i don’t have that number, but i’m betting it’s a good percentage of the losses. why have a deep bench if you don’t have enough faith to rotate them in during the game while you rest the starters to keep them fresh?!