The Chicago Bulls are on fire. Not in an “oh wow they’re really hot right now! They’re on fire!” way. In an “Uh oh, that car probably shouldn’t be on fire, that’s going to explode” kind of way. The Bulls have been a dysfunctional mess ever since the legendary* “Three Alpha” era began. The players, management and coaching staff have been constantly under fire from critics as the Bulls have dropped five consecutive games. Dwyane Wade defended head coach Fred Hoiberg, who currently sits at a 73-75 combined record as an NBA coach. From Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times:
“A lot of people have a lot of things they can say about Fred as a coach,’’ Wade said. “I will defend him on this: This is a tough situation he’s put in now. That’s why sometimes I’m glad I’m on this side of the coin and got a jersey on. I don’t have to make certain decisions because it is tough.
“No one is going to really care too much. Fred gets a nice paycheck. I get a nice paycheck. Jimmy gets a nice paycheck. People don’t care when you get paid good. We’re all in this together.
“It’s on us.’’
Wade is right that Hoiberg is in a tough situation. At Iowa State, Hoiberg was known for running a fast-paced offense with plenty of shooters. The Bulls have the absolute worst personnel in the NBA for that sort of system; they rank dead last in three-point attempts, makes and percentage.
Wade also said that the management should be answering questions, not the players:
“I wish upper management could be answering these questions,’’ Wade said. “Because I’m tired of answering the same ones every game. I wish I had the answers. But I don’t. I don’t want to say too much. I don’t want to say the wrong thing. I want to get out there and try to play and try to lead. Find a way for me and Jimmy [Butler] to be better to help these guys.’’
Wade, again, is spot-on. The Bulls are doing what they can with the roster that Gar Forman assembled. This roster just isn’t a good one. There’s some decent talent on it, but it’s redundant and not at all cohesive.
* Not actually legendary
