This appears in the Monday, May 16, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.
Summoning ghosts of Bulls past
by rick olivares
Eight months ago, I was hoping that Dwyane Wade would suit up for his hometown Chicago Bulls. Imagine that – the Flash and Derrick Rose in one team. Only it never happened as they opened a future Hall of Fame wing in South Beach.
I honestly didn’t expect much from the Bulls this year even if they landed Carlos Boozer. Of course, I knew that he wouldn’t be another Ben Wallace because Boozer could score some. But there was something lacking I felt. Maybe another star?
Marv Albert once narrated that when the Chicago Bulls drafted a junior out of North Carolina in the summer of 1984, Chicago basketball would be weary no more.
And for 15 years, they were the greatest basketball show on Earth. Beatles in hi-tops and everyone came to see the play. After the Show went away, the rebuilding came. And I actually thought that Jerry Krause got the job done. They drafted some pretty good players and brought in some new talent but they never seemed able to get over the hump.
There were fleeting glimpses and highlights of course. They had Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Kirk Hinrich, Tyson Chandler, and… Jannero Pargo! Really. There was that painful exit courtesy of the Washington Wizards and their incredible sweep of the Miami Heat.
Luol Deng was now the team’s senior citizen. The lone holdover from the team that I thought was going to bring the Bulls back to greatness.
Now 13 years later, they have a chance to resurrect old glory. There’s no new model of Air Jordan and the Jordanairres. It’s a new generation. A team finding it’s own identity. San Antonio is gone. Los Angeles is done. So are the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. But in their stead lies the formidable Miami Heat that has found a way to blend its talent and win.
I of course, cannot tell how this series will go but I do hope the Bulls win. And so I try to look for signs (as if it can be won on paper).
I once read an article in Street and Smith where the writer postulated that every NBA champion had a player who went to the NCAA title game (never mind if he lost). The write argued that making the NCAA Finals wasn’t easy given the level of competition and the many games one had to play.
There was a caveat, he said if one pointed out to the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers. They had Moses Malone who never went to college. So I religiously followed that and noted that the recent champions LA Lakers and Boston Celtics had players like Kobe Bryant, Paul Gasol, and Kevin Garnett who never played college ball.
Should I take comfort that Joakim Noah won two titles with Florida? And that Derrick Rose led Memphis to the NCAA Finals (where they lost to Kansas)?
I can’t because LeBron James never went to college so he’s a wild card too.
Should I take comfort that every team that has ousted the Celtics while holding them to less than a 100 points per game in every game never won an NBA title?
Nope, because records, even dubious ones, are meant to be broken.
Does beating the Heat three times in the regular season mean something? Sure it does but it’s no guarantee. The NBA’s second season is altogether different.
During the dog days of the 82-game sked, the Boston Celtics decided to rest their starters and to not try and catch the Heat in the standings. Their homecourt advantage didn’t do much since the Heat took a match their parquet. But now in the finals, that is every bit crucial.
The Bulls need their two stars – Rose and Boozer – to play big and match up if not surpass the output of Wade and James. They need Kyle Korver to be the new John Paxson and Steve Kerr. They need Taj Gibson to be Jason Caffey and Scott Williams. They need CJ Watson to hit some big shots like BJ Armstrong once did. They need Deng to be like Kukoc.
They need Rose and Boozer to channel MJ and Pip if they want to end those dreary days of Chicago basketball.
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photo by David Dow/NBAE
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