No Clever Moniker wrote:
I wouldn't doubt that there are a few here who could label Tim Duncan negatively, if they gave a moment's interest.
What strikes me about the past two columns by the Señor Columnist is that in two balky stabs he proves he really knows little about the game, and isn't really sure of his convictions. The Spurs won by playing a superior brand of team ball in a team sport. The Señor Columnist proclaims that the local team should be more like the champions. The next column has him running back to the other side of the yard, the game's greatest player is worth sacrificing any notion of team in order to acquire him. The irony of this is that the champions built their team with a conservative and steady approach, holding onto their own and acquiring talent that would fit them best. They go 7 years between championships with essentially a fixed core and the timely maturation of new additions.
The Bulls are built and operate in a similar fashion as the Spurs: an emphasis on the sum of their parts, a coaching emphasis on tenacious defense, and a blue collar ethic. Its why I laughed at the "Be Like The Spurs" column because in so many aspects that is exactly how the Bulls are trying to be. The latter column has a critical flaw so immense that it belies the author's basketball ignorance. Lebron James may be the best player in the game, but his presence on a team doesn't guarantee winning. James is beatable and has been beaten, again.
I forget the name of the long time "Monsters" listener who once expressed that "the Cubs don't have to get that much better, just let the division come back to them." The Bulls, as with most other teams in the eastern conference, don't have to get that much better, they just have to let the Heat inevitably slide back to them. It could easily be argued that said slide now has inertia, and it would be easier to add the final piece to what teams have been building towards as opposed to blowing it all up to get a player who's presence cannot guarantee a championship.
Finally, what makes Chicago so attractive? The list of what makes Chicago appealing by the Señor Columnist is woefully short, both in comparison to Miami as well as most other realistic suitors. The statue on the east side of the United Center is too big and too much to ignore, and would then put on James even more unrealistic expectations. Short of winning them all in his years here he'd still be considered a douchebag by some, possibly by even those who thought that of Jordan before the statue was erected.
IF the Bulls were healthy I don't believe the Heat would have won a championship.