WEP '12, Day 43 - Chicago Bulls 2011-12

I watched the Bulls lose to the Celtics this afternoon.  For all that it was a loss, I wasn't too discouraged by the outcome.  After all, it was the last game of a nine game road trip, and the Bulls were down their single best player.

No, what I took away from it was the fact that despite being exhausted and short a star, the Bulls managed to hang in until the very end, and  with a little better shooting and decision making in the final minute could have gone to overtime or even won the game straight up.

What it means, then, is that even without Derrick Rose on hand, the Bulls are actually a pretty good team.  Unfortunately, "pretty good" only gets you a couple of rounds into the playoffs.  You need to be great to win it all, and with Rose on the bench, the Bulls just can't make it to greatness.

So despite tonight's close loss and the Roseless Bulls' easy win Friday night against the hapless Charlotte Bobcats, it comes down to what we already knew....the Bulls will go as far as Derrick Rose can take them.  And if by playoff time he doesn't come back from his back injury, or even is kind of  hampered by it, the Bulls will make the playoffs but won't be able to win it all.

Rose is that important.  Which means that I approve of coach Tom Thibideau keeping Rose out of the game.  Losing regular season games is less important than winning in the playoffs, so doing whatever he can to preserve Derrick for June is fine by me.  Just win enough without him to get in to the playoffs and I won't complain at all if we don't see Derrick until the tournament starts.

Write Everyday Project #15, Chicago Sports and Labor Problems

Is it just me or do the Chicago teams suffer disproportionately from labor problems in their respective sports?  Look at the history:

1986 NFL Strike - The '85 Bears had won  the Superbowl in a rout and everyone expected a dynasty to compare with the Steelers and Raiders of the '70s.  Instead, the Bears were one and done.  Why?  Part of it was certainly the departure of defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan and the subsequent weakening of the Bear's defense.  Another was the sudden rise of the New York Giants and the "Big Blue Machine" in 1986.  But perhaps the nail in the coffin was the 1987 NFL Strike, and the Bears' handling of it.  The Bears embraced the idea of replacement players with company man Mike Ditka saying "These are my players now!"  Many Bears players from the '87 team have said this "betrayal" hurt team morale, and the Bears haven't won a Superbowl since.

1994 NHL Lockout - The Blackhawks won their division in both 1991 and 1993.  Guess what happened next?  The Hawks wouldn't sniff the division crown, or go deep into the playoffs, until 2009 when they won it all.

1994 MLB Strike - On August 12, 1994, the White Sox were leading the American League Central with a record of 67-46.  That, however, was the last day of the season, because the '94 strike wiped out the rest of it, including the playoffs.  It wouldn't be until 2000 that the Sox would win the division again, and not until 2005 that they would win the World Series.

2011 NFL Lockout - This one is somewhat fuzzier, but given the Bears's record before the lockout was 11-5 and included a trip to the NFC Championship where they lost to the eventual Superbowl winners.  This season, they're 2-3 and sliding fast.  One of the things that's hurting the 2011 Bears is a barrage of injuries to crucial players.... injuries that might not of occurred had there been a full off season and training camp that got canceled because of the lockout!

2011 NBA Lockout - And so now the NBA is locked out. Bulls players are scattering to play across Europe, and the young core of the Bulls can't talk to coaches to learn the system or practice together.  Maybe they'll put it together in the end, but I can't help but feel pessimistic about the season...if there even IS a season.

In short, Chicago keeps getting screwed whenever there's labor troubles in sports, and this year seems no different.