January 15, 2022: Trounced

Well, these last 2 games for the Bulls, these “tests”, didn’t quite go as expected. I’m not sure you can flunk more miserably. After the Nets crushed the Bulls in the 3rd quarter, and ran away with an easy victory on Wednesday night, surely there would be a better effort Friday night at the UC against the Warriors. Glad I didn’t bet on this game. The Warriors absolutely trounced the Bulls on their home court; it was the second of back to back butt kickings on national TV. We have officially been brought back down to earth, in crashing fashion. Oh yeah, then Zach got hurt…

Did you see the injury to Zach? Yeah, me either. It was a really mysterious deal. After he innocently grabbed an offensive rebound, then threw the ball away, he left the court, and went straight to the locker room. We would get an update later in the game that it was his left knee. After watching replays, he did appear to tweak something; I can’t imagine it would be serious, but an MRI will prove that. Either way, Zach was out of the picture for the rest of the evening; it sure felt like the Warriors smelled blood in the water. They were relentless. I know the Bulls are still number one in the East. Regardless of the last two results, I still love this Bulls team, and do think they have a shot to be special. The Nets looked great on Wednesday; they will be a force to be reckoned with no doubt. But what I saw from the Warriors on Friday night… and that was without Klay Thompson… it’s hard to not say they are the best team in the league. It sucks. I already hate the Warriors because they broke the Bulls 72-10 record back in the day. LeBron, out of all people, did us a huge favor winning that year in the Finals against them, because if you recall, it don’t mean a thing, without the ring. I really like Steve Kerr; Steph Curry doesn’t bother me… except when he said that those Warriors would beat the 95-96 Bulls… HA! What else could he say though…

The next title won by either the Warriors or the Bulls will be their franchise’s 7th. This would break the tie for 3rd most successful franchise of all time. Safe to say, I do not want the Warriors winning it all. They didn’t win it all on this night, but they certainly sent a message. Yeah, Zach was out and all… and yes, for the 2nd straight game, the defense would have certainly been helped by Caruso and Green, but… no fricking way should we have been embarrassed like that on our home court; I don’t care who we play… I don’t care who we have out. If the Nets game was a punch in the face, this was a kick in the nuts; it was adding insult to injury. At this point, all we can do is see how this Bulls team responds to this 1-2 midseason knockdown.

I’m not completely worried at this point. I know the Bulls have a really good team. But I can’t help but be a little worried… not about making the playoffs; that’s in the bank. But about how we’ll fare when we get there. With the performance thus far this year, the bar has been raised on the expectations. Making the playoffs will not be good enough. We need to win a series, or two, at least, to make this season a success. So anything less than the Conference Finals would be a disappointment? Hmmm… let me think about that. Well, yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying. This Bulls team has the city buzzing, no doubt. We are expecting big things; nothing wrong with that. My faith has been shaken, but certainly not broken. Looking forward to the Bulls bouncing back; they’ll get their chance on Saturday night in Boston. Although after our embarrassing comeback victory against them on their home court earlier in the year, and without Zach, we may have to wait another game for that bounce back… Go Bulls.