Putting out the Heat (so far)

With the NBA playoffs and MLB regular season in full swing and the NFL draft this weekend, I thought now would be an appropriate time for some random thoughts.

1---I said it last season when Miami was up 2-0 on the Bulls, so to be fair, I might as well say it now; a playoff series doesn’t really begin until a home team loses a game. (Check the April 25, 2006 post for proof) But with that out of the way, as a Bulls fan, I am loving how the first two games at the U.C. have played out. Loul Deng looks like the second coming of Larry Bird, only with better defense. Ben Gordon has been a key to victory as both a passer and scorer and rookie Thabo Sefelosha is doing the job of his lifetime in shutting down Dwayne Wade. And the good news for Bulls fans is that it can still get better. Kirk Hinrich has played two horrible games, and he should improve and Ben Wallace had more points than rebounds in game two, something that usually is bad news for Chicago. Of course, Miami can play better also. Wade still doesn’t look 100 percent and his jump shot will most likely start falling back in South Florida. Shaq will have the crowd behind him and come out hungry. And then there’s the fact that the Bulls still have yet to win a road playoff game since June 14, 1998.
But I picked the Bulls to win the series a week ago, and I have no reason to change my mind now.

2---Kobe Bryant must feel so lonely. When he’s on the court, he has all 20,000 opposing fans booing him. He has all five defenders watching his every move. And none of his teammates can help him out. In my playoff picks, I said that the Lakers-Suns series would go six games. When I made that pick, I assumed that Kobe would be able to win a game or two by himself and maybe get some help by Andrew Bynum, the man LA wouldn’t give up to get Jason Kidd or Lamar Odom, the player Miami gave up in exchange for Shaq. Yet in the first two games in Phoenix, nobody stepped up to help #24. True, Kobe didn’t do much himself, but it can be pretty tough when nobody is there to bail you out. Phil Jackson’s triangle offense works when a team has a star scorer, good passers and reliable three-point shooters. The Lakers lack two of those. And unless they can find them in the next few days, Kobe’s crew is going to have an early off-season.

3---Elsewhere in the playoffs, I am interested to see if the Warriors and Nuggets can take another game on the road and really take control of their respective series’. Golden State actually used defense in their game one win, limiting the high powered Mavs offense to only 35 percent shooting, 31 percent from three-point range. I doubt Avery Johnson will go back to using a small lineup (Dallas started Dirk Nowitzki at center in game one) and instead make G.S. adjust to his team. Denver also used impressive D, but added to that two high-scoring superstars. Allen Iverson and Carmello Anthony combined for 61 points, 17 more then the Spurs top duo put up. If the two All-Stars can keep it up, I like Denver’s chances of pulling the upset over San Antonio.

4---Moving on to baseball, and I am getting sick and tired of the Cubs constant lack of effort. It seems that at least twice a game there are plays that certain guys just give up on, leading to either wasted opportunities at the plate or runs allowed in the field. I keep telling myself that this is just rust, and that when everybody gets into a groove, the team will start to roll. But unfortunately, I don’t see when that will happen. Alfonso Soriano has been horrible waste of money, with only one stolen base and no home runs. The starting pitching, which coming out of spring training was supposed to be the question mark, has actually been OK. But the bullpen, the part of the staff that was supposed to be rock solid, has been horrible. On Sunday afternoon, I knew the Cubs were going to lose once the game went into extra-innings because the ‘pen just doesn’t get people out when it matters most. Sweet Lou better work his magic quickly or I’m about ready to call this season off.

5---It’s NFL Draft weekend, two of my favorite days of the year. (Yeah, I know I say that almost every weekend, but work with me here. I just have a lot of favorites.) As a fan of both college and pro football, it is exciting to see where players that I’ve followed for four years will wind up and make a living. It is fun to see what kind of trades different teams will make to get the player they want. And most of all, it is fun to see what teams like the Jets, Vikings and Texans, notoriously bad drafters, will do to make everybody in football laugh at them.

Looking at what the Bears will do, I have seen three key positions that most so-called ‘experts’ think the team will go after. The most common is offensive lineman. Last seasons O-Line of Tait, Brown, Kruetz, Garza and Miller did a great job, but they are getting up there in age. If a good-looking guard or tackle falls to pick #31, I would agree that it would be a wise choice. The next position that is mentioned a lot is wide receiver. Mushin Muhammad, Bernard Berrian, and Rashid Davis are all nice players, and there is still the un-known potential of Mark Bradley. Yet adding another piece, like maybe a Dwayne Jarret from USC or Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio State, might no be a bad idea. Or how about a tight end that could replace Desmond Clark in a year or two? The third position of “need” for the Bears is supposedly linebacker. This is assuming that Lance Biggs is gone from the weakside and there is nobody to replace him. I don’t like this idea as much. As shown by Briggs, a good linebacker can be picked up outside of the first few rounds. If there is a third position of need on the team, it’s the interior of the defensive line, where Tank Johnson is suspended and Tommie Harris is a question mark after his injury.

So to review, I would say the Bears needs look like this:

1) Offensive line depth
2) Defensive tackle
3) Wide receiver/Tight end
4) Linebacker



Sunday has Bulls/Heat game 4 at noon, Cubs/Cardinals at 7 and the NFL Draft all day. (And ‘Entourage’ at 9)Should be a great day. Enjoy.