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The Chicago Bulls Shouldn’t Fix What Isn’t Broken

By
Brad Squires
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Huh? This just doesn’t seem to make sense. Last year the Chicago Bulls made a trade during the 2017 NBA Draft. The trade involved the Bulls sending away All-Star forward Jimmy Butler and the 16th pick for Kris Dunn, Zach Lavine, and the 7th pick which turned out to be Lauri Markkanen.

Many fans are expecting the Bulls to draft a big or a wing player at 7. Honestly, that’s what the organization should do. The team just invested in Kris Dunn, a 24-year-old Point Guard from Providence. Dunn was drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2016 NBA draft. In his short time with the Timberwolves Dunn did not get to see the court a lot. That’s not surprising though, considering Tom Thibodeau was his coach.

Dunn had some growing pains last year for the Bulls but, it was essentially his rookie year. The jump in numbers for Dunn was impressive in his sophomore season compared to his rookie season.

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2016–17Minnesota78717.1.377.288.6102.12.41.0.53.8
2017–18Chicago524329.3.429.321.7304.36.02.0.513.4
Career1305022.0.413.309.6903.03.81.4.57.6

 

Now, Trae Young and Collin Sexton are no slouches and will probably turn out to be good NBA players, but the point guard position for the Bulls is manned by a young promising player already.

Now to entertain the idea that the Bulls actually pull the trigger and draft either Sexton or Young.

Collin Sexton (Alabama, PG)Image result for collin sexton

SEASONTEAMMINFGM-FGAFG%3PM-3PA3P%FTM-FTAFT%REBASTBLKSTLPFTOPTS
2017-18ALA29.95.9-13.3.4471.3-4.0.3365.9-7.6.7783.83.60.10.82.52.819.2

Collin Sexton played point guard for Alabama last year and led his team to an NCAA Tournament birth. Most notably on November 25, 2017, Collin Sexton scored 40 points while playing 3-on-5 during most of the second half in a loss to the University of Minnesota. Collin has the ability to get to the rim when he wants and create havoc when he gets inside the paint.

Sound familiar? That’s because that sounds a lot like Kris Dunn.

The numbers that Sexton put up don’t scream shooter or pass first point guard. Watching his play throughout the year Sexton often looked for his own shot and did not seem interested in getting his teammates involved.

Surely this has to be a rumor, why would the Bulls waste the 7th pick on Sexton when they have a player already that plays almost identical to him? The edge though goes to Dunn, who is more of a defender and all-around point guard compared to Sexton.

Trae Young (Oklahoma, PG)Image result for trae young

SEASONTEAMMINFGM-FGAFG%3PM-3PA3P%FTM-FTAFT%REBASTBLKSTLPFTOPTS
2017-18OKLA35.48.2-19.3.4223.7-10.3.3607.4-8.6.8613.98.70.31.71.85.227.4

 

Now, to the next Steph Curry.

Calm down, it was a joke.

Trae Young has drawn comparisons to Steph Curry and many Bulls fans are excited that he will be potentially on the board at 7. There is no denying that Trae Young had one hell of a season at Oklahoma last year. Young seems to be the total package and everything an NBA franchise would want from a point guard.

Young would fit “Hoiball” perfectly considering the way he played in college. Trae looks to pass first and can destroy any team with his long-range shooting. Though questions arise how he fits in on this constructed Bulls squad.

On defense, Trae is a liability and pairing him next to Zach Lavine gives the Bulls trouble defensively. Another worrisome fact about Trae is that he only shot 36% from three from college while chucking up over 10 3PA a game.

Honestly, it seems the Bulls may have put this report out hoping that someone reaches for Sexton or Young ahead of them. While both those players are impressive in their own right, the Bulls needs lie in other areas. By the Bulls saying they may take one of the two, offers may come in from other teams to move up. Or, what the Bulls are hoping happens, the Orlando Magic take Trae at 6 leaving MPJ, Bamba, or JJJ on the board.

Anything is possible in the NBA, but this just seems to hard to believe considering the Bulls needs, and what they already have invested in.

Trey Burton Explains How the Bears Offense Will Be Unstoppable

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears running backs
Credit: AP

Part of what makes the NFL great on the field is it’s always changing. What may have been the standard 50 years ago just doesn’t work anymore. That’s the beauty of the game. Beneath the simple faceoff between offense and defense is an intricate chess match using personnel and formations to find weaknesses in each other. The Chicago Bears haven’t been at the forefront of an offensive innovation in many decades. Trey Burton and other newcomers feel that’s changing.

One innovation that is starting to sweep the league is the advent of college spread offense, specifically the utilization of the run-pass option or RPOs. It was first made famous in San Francisco by Alex Smith and then Colin Kaepernick during their great playoff runs between 2011 and 2013. Since then other teams have incorporated it more and more.

The reason is simple. Defenses to this day are still having a hard time stopping it when executed properly. Burton has a deeper understanding of this offensive

style than most, having come up in it over the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. He told JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago why the RPOs are gaining so much popularity.

Trey Burton feels the run-pass options can’t be stopped if done right

“They’re unguardable,” Burton said. “The RPOs, when we get to the line of scrimmage and are able to check to certain plays based on coverages, man, you make it unguardable. The old way of NFL, you line up and you run this play no matter how many guys are in the box, no matter what coverage it is. So we’re kind of evolving the game and the defensive guys can never be right no matter what they do.”

The offense is at its most lethal when it has a smart quarterback running the show. If he’s able to recognize what a defense is doing before the snap, he’s free to check the play into something that will take full advantage of it. He can hand it to the running back. He can keep it himself on a QB draw or he can drop back to pass. This can cause utter confusion and hesitation by defenses who can’t diagnose quickly.

This is what made Nick Foles, a backup quarterback so lethal during the final stretch of the Eagles’ season.

The trick to making the run-pass option work are two keys. It must have an athletic quarterback who can throw accurately and a good running back that defenses have to respect. With Mitch Trubisky and Jordan Howard checking both of those boxes, it’s little wonder Burton and others feel so optimistic about the coming season.

Trubisky ran quite a bit of RPO during his starting season at North Carolina. Howard has proven highly effective running out of shotgun formations. All the Bears needed was an array of wide receivers that wouldn’t allow defenses to crowd the line of scrimmage. The arrivals of Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Anthony Miller fulfilled that mission.

Throw in a versatile target like Burton who knows the system already? This team could end up doing significant damage.

What You Need To Know About New White Sox Prospect Nick Madrigal

By
Emmet McClain
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Well, after months of speculation and mock drafts, the White Sox made their long awaited pick at No. 4 overall, selecting 2B/SS Nick Madrigal out of Oregon State. Considered by many to be the top hitter in this year’s draft, Madrigal absolutely rakes at the plate. Pair that with an absurd batter’s eye and you get stats like this.

Slashing .406 after breaking his wrist earlier in the season is just absurd. Furthermore, scouts have raved about his defense at second base and many peg him as a future gold glover at the position. He can also play short stop, although the Oregon State Beavers boasted the best defensive short stop in the country, so Madrigal spent the majority of his time at second. He has been compared to Dustin Pedroia and Jose Altuve.

Madrigal uses a line drive approach at the plate to drive balls into the gaps. While he will probably never be a true home run threat, he will rack up doubles and triples thanks to his elite speed, which some scouts have graded as high as 65 on the 20-80 scale.

At the end of the day, Madrigal is a hell of a ballplayer. He should get on base at a very solid clip and can wreck havoc on the base paths with his speed. The biggest concern that White Sox fans will have is the fact that the 2 positions he plays are currently occupied by Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada.

Listen, when teams are rebuilding like the White Sox are, they need to always take the best player available regardless of the position. No one can predict what will happen in the future, so it is never a bad thing to have depth at numerous positions. Hell, look at Jake Burger. After two Achilles ruptures just a few months apart, no one knows how he will bounce back.

White Sox fans should frankly love this pick. What he lacks in size (he stands at 5’8) he makes up with his elite speed, incredible feel for the strike zone, and his ever so dangerous bat. This kid isn’t the freak athlete the White Sox are so accustomed to drafting. He is a baseball player. He has the potential to fly through the system If he does, it will be another great problem for the White Sox to have.

VIDEO: Security Guard Demolishes Fan At White Sox Game

By
Aldo Soto
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I understand why they don’t show fans running on to the field during sporting events on TV, but selfishly I want to see them for the entertainment factor. Oh and you know, the chance to see someone get demolished!

That’s what happened during Sunday’s game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox, as one lucky fan got flattened by a security guard at Guaranteed Rate Field.

And here’s a better view of the tackle.

That was pretty good, but I do wish there were more Angel Pagans.

Current Blackhawks To Play In Chicago Pro Hockey League (CPHL) This Summer

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
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MB Ice Arena, the practice home of the Chicago Blackhawks is set up host to a professional summer hockey league in July. The CPHL (Chicago Pro Hockey League) will include elite developmental players and professionals from the ECHL, AHL and NHL.

The CPHL will not be short on current, future and former Blackhawks players. Names like Alex Debrincat, Vinnie Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz, Jordan Oesterle, Henri Jokiharju, Ryan Hartman, Tommy Wingels and Brandon Bollig are projected to play.

Anders Sorensen and Brian Keane are the player development and skills coaches who envisioned the CPHL. They work with professional and elite amateur hockey players and decided to capitalize on the large amount of players who train around Chicago in the summer.

For more information you can check out the full press release here from prostockhockey.com, the official sponsor of the CPHL.

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks and general hockey musings.

Here’s The Craziest Stat From Luke Farrell’s Hero Performance Against The Mets

By
Aldo Soto
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Eddie Butler, remember Eddie Butler, had a similar performance that was actually seven innings, but that ended in a terrible extra-inning loss. Luke Farrell pitched five shutout innings Saturday against the New York Mets and boy did it save the Chicago Cubs bullpen.

The offense finally broke through in the 14th and scored six runs. Brandon Morrow got the last three outs and the Cubs won 7-1. Yes, Mike Montgomery deserves a lot of credit as well for going toe-to-toe with Jacob DeGrom, but Farrell was the hero of that Saturday night game.

The bullpen was down to three pitchers and Morrow was only used as an emergency, but starting in the ninth Farrell shut down the Mets. There weren’t many hard hit balls and in the 13th, he got out of his only big jam, getting a ground ball with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Overall, Farrell pitched five innings in relief, allowed two hits, walked two and struck out seven batters.

In the past 40 seasons, only one other pitcher accomplished what Farrell did on Saturday in the National League.

OK, maybe Randy Johnson striking out 16 and allowing only one hit in seven innings of relief was slightly more impressive, but how about Luke Farrell being able to say he was in the same category for at least one game with a Hall of Fame pitcher.

Here’s the thing about Johnson’s relief outing. He was basically starting the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks were playing the San Diego Padres on July 18, 2001, and there were two electrical explosions that knocked out a light tower at Qualcomm Stadium. The game was delayed and didn’t resume until the following day and that’s when Johnson replaced the previous day’s starter Curt Schilling.

So yes, what I’m saying is Luke Farrell’s relief performance was more impressive because it was more of an actual relief situation.

Guys, I’m joking, settle down.

The important thing is that Farrell stepped up and not only kept the Cubs in it until they scored, but the bullpen was saved and thanks to seven more shutout innings by Jon Lester on Sunday and a day off today, the bullpen should be fully rested as the Cubs start a home stand Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

But hey, Randy Johnson and Luke Farrell all alone is still pretty impressive.

Ozzie Guillen Doesn’t Regret Saying What He Did About Fidel Castro

By
Matt Enuco
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Ozzie Giullen defends his respect for one of Fidel Castro's qualities in a teaser for his new series The Book of Ozzie.

Let’s be clear about this. Ozzie Guillen, beloved manager of the White Sox in 2005 and maligned villain of Miami, stands by his comments he made about Fidel Castro in 2012. On Monday, a teaser for the first episode of The Book of Ozzie was released by La Vida Baseball and Guillen keeps ripping into his defense.

But first, a little context. He had only managed the Fish for seven days before he made headlines for saying:

“I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? Because many people have tried to kill Fidel Castro in the last 60 years, yet that [SOB] is still there.”

There is not a worse place to whisper a pro-Castro sentiment than Miami where a section of town is named “Little Havana.” Generations of Cuban refugees settled in Miami after washing ashore and escaping Castro’s heavy hand. Many ballplayers know the dangers associated with defecting from the island. In fact, Yasiel Puig’s story is rumored to be in production for a Hollywood movie. And the White Sox’s own Jose Abreu scarfed down a phony Haitian passport — washed down with a Heineken — to escape Castro’s dictatorship.

Guillen is known for his irreverence, something every White Sox fan fell in love with. He broadcasts every thought that crosses his mind without filtering it through a vetting process of any kind. It just blasts its way into the world. And doing so amplifies the consequences.

Next, Ozzie stumbled through an apology:

“I’m against the way he [Castro] treats people and the way [he has treated] his country for a long time. I’m against that 100 percent,” he said. “…The way this man [has been] treating people for the last 60 years.”

Ozzie echoes that statement in his most recent video and tries to explain what he meant by his comments.

He certainly says a lot in this snippet, but what most people will take from this trailer is that he admires a man that presided over evil for 60 years for his unalloyed arrogance. What Guillan praises most is Castro’s unflappable ignorance towards self-awareness.

Look, coaches try to inspire their teams in many ways. Relating the confidence to ignore the haters in pursuit of greatness in athletics is not analogous to staging a coup, committing human atrocities, but still jumping in photos with fans and haters alike. Ozzie could have found myriad other ways to send that message and he would probably still have a job (although I don’t think he could’ve saved the Marlins from Derek Jeter).

Time heals all wounds and Guillen deserves a helping of forgiveness. I mean, he wasn’t beating the drum for Castro — merely using him as a prop in a story.

Living the Dream: From Desert Destination Into ‘Hockeytown West’

By
Derek Stafford
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The day before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, I met a guy from Los Angeles who grew up in D.C. We met at The Armory at T-Mobile. He was buying Stanley Cup shirts, I was buying hockey pucks. He was going to Game 2 the following day. We made amicable small talk and one of the questions he asked me was — what has been your favorite part of this first season?

So many of my favorite moments have come from the Golden Knights and the Golden Misfits themselves — Shea Theodore’s last second game winner, Dec. 19th, against Tampa and “Wild Bill” Karlsson’s between-the-legs game winner against San Jose to clinch the division both come to mind.

My favorite part of this first season has been the fans. The people I have met. The connections. The new friends I have made from buying and selling tickets, trading hockey pucks, attending practices, taking my son to skating lessons, and just random small talk from people out in this burgeoning hockey community.

The best part is the inclusivity within the hockey community. People from all walks of life, coming together, for one common goal. It’s when we are at our best as humans and, with 1 October still fresh on our minds, our community found the perfect storm to rally back.

My contact list has increased by 57 with the new acquaintances I have met since September when the season started. My first game was Oct. 17th, when the Golden Knights hosted the Buffalo Sabres. I met an older couple during the first intermission. Older couple, retired, enjoying the Las Vegas fall weather, which is damn near perfect.  I told them how my family is from Buffalo, and they bought me a beer. Great people.

I’ve met and become friends with people from British Columbia, Winnipeg, Calgary, Detroit, Chicago, Boston and Philly. More so, I’ve been truly impressed with the fans, their class, knowledge of the game, friendliness and overall kindness. I’ve been to several NFL tailgates, plenty of baseball games, and a few SEC football games, and never have I been more impressed with the clientele of fans as the ones in the NHL.

Obviously, this year has been the dream season. Next year, the future, who knows what will happen with hockey in the desert. There’s no guarantees in sports and it is inevitable that the Knights will eventually have down years, but I will never forget this season and the friends I have made along the way.  Go Knights Go!

Matt Nagy Keeps Impressing With This Unreal Classy Gesture

By
Erik Lambert
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matt nagy

There was a quote from an underrated movie once called “The Junction Boys.” In it the coach told the father of a player that “football is war.” The father calmly looked at the coach and replied, “Coach I’ve seen war. Football? It’s a sport.” Sometimes it’s important to keep that sort of perspective. At the same time, this sport means so much to people and can offer men a chance to give back. Matt Nagy has embraced this chance from the outset.

Most of the coverage around the Bears lately has centered on Nagy’s work on the field. No surprise since that’s where he gets the most attention. He isn’t the type to seek out the spotlight for what he’s doing away from work. Yet sometimes the job presents him opportunities to send a positive message.

One such moment came up recently. According to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears rookie head coach took some time to attend the funeral of a deceased Chicago firefighter named Juan Bucio.

Bucio was a 46-year old veteran diver of the Chicago Fire Department. He perished a week ago trying to rescue 28-year old Alberto Lopez who’d fallen into the south branch of the Chicago River. The funeral was reportedly attended by hundreds and it appears Nagy wished to pay his respects. Not a lot of coaches would do something like that. It speaks to the kind of man he is and also the kind of message he wants this organization to send moving forward.

Yes they’re about winning, but they’re also about representing their city the right way.

Bulls Working Out Prospect Duo Today

By
Patrick Mooney
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Villanova forward Mikal Bridges and Duke center Wendell Carter Jr. will be working out for the Bulls at the Advocate Center today. These pre-draft workouts only tell us so much, but at the bare minimum, they tell us that there’s interest in the players from the organization.

So, there’s interest in Bridges and Carter on the Bulls end, but how much? If the answer is “a lot” should we be excited or upset?

I don’t think excitement or anger would be the proper reaction to the Bulls drafting either player. I just think it would be boring.

Bridges busted on to the scene for the national champion Villanova Wildcats last season, but he’ll turn 22 later this summer.

Bridges profiles as a pretty darn good 3&D guy, which is a role becoming more important every year. But, at 22, you’d hope he’d be more developed offensively. Here is what Sports Illustrated’s Rob Mahoney had this to say about Bridges’ offensive game:

The big question: How effective could he be as a secondary ball-handler? Bridges can do a little of everything against college competition, but in the pros he’ll encounter more opponents his size (or bigger), and more athletes at his level (or better). There will be even less room for error when it comes to creating offense—something Bridges doesn’t appear fully comfortable doing as it stands.

It’s no secret that the older the prospect, the less likely they are to take their game to the next level in the NBA. Bridges seems to fit that finished product mode, and that’s boring.

As far as Wendell Carter Jr., well, he did have a solid freshman season averaging 13.5 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks a game.

However, he was just fourth on his team in field goal attempts per game. The hope with this pick is for the Bulls to find a top-3 player for next year’s team, how likely is Carter to be that guy if he wasn’t even a top-3 player on his college team?

Also, how many big men are we supposed to be excited about in this draft? Deandre Ayton, Mo Bamba, Jarren Jackson Jr. and Carter’s former teammate Marvin Bagley are all considered to be better prospects. With how guard heavy the NBA is now, how much value does the 5th best center in the NBA have? Could the casual fan even name five centers?

With Carter, we aren’t talking about a future top-5 center in the league. We’re talking about a top-5 center of this class. That’s boring.

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