Chisoxfn

I just want to point out, in terms of on the field production, I find it highly unlikely Harper lives up to the deal. But hopefully he can create lots of revenue, excitement and TV deals that increases the Sox ability to spend money and regularly field highly competitive teams (and obviously Harper would be a critical piece in terms of on the field performance).

Do the Bears clinch playoffs with a Vikings loss? Or is there magic number 1 for the division and a playoff birth? Just curious?

I do think if the Bears had Cousins (near term...ignoring salary cap...but just his play), I would be more confident stating Bears might be a super bowl team. That is more just a component that the Bears don't need tremendous play out of their QB, but above average to good play is probably enough. I do think Trubisky could be more than that (he certainly could be less than that as well). His accuracy (or lapses there of) will have to improve over the off-season and as he continues to refine his game. I expect that will happen as accuracy was one of his strenghts and its something he's flashed at many points in time of the season. That said, while Lombardi's comments were absurd, I certainly understood where he is coming from. Mitch has had his fair share of extremely inaccurate passes (all QB's have him, but I'd say he's had more "bad misses" than many QB's). I happen to think those should not be expected from a young QB who is rushing everything.

Question...I read somewhere that Trubisky had seperated/disclosed his shoulder (vs. what had originally been reported as a bruise). Is that actually the case?

By the way, I very much believe how the franchise responds to this will be a very defining moment. This could get insanely ugly in a hurry or it could turn into a galvanizing moment. It is also the type of thing, that if it turns into a disaster that will cost Gar/Pax their positions.

I figured 100% that it was Lavine who pushed the revolt. You saw a microcosym into how he emotional his responses can be based upon his twitter comments during the free agent window.

I meant it in the sense that the Bears big defensive plays, were largely because the Bears made plays, not because the Rams were just terrible. I never was watching the Rams game going, wow, Goff is terrible and giving the game away, I watched it and thought, wow, the Bears D is freaking everywhere tonight. On the flipside, all but the pick at the end of halftime, was completely on Mitch (and while I will give credit to the Rams D for catching the ball...the passes were just awful).

My big issue last night was the Bears left points on the field last night. I don't think the Rams did. I think Mitch played worse and it wasn't because of the Rams playing great defense. Not to take anything away from the Rams D, but Mitch's picks were almost all on drives where the Bears were moving the football and where he was missing an open receiver. There is no way to sugarcoat it, he played a lousy football game. I'd say it was his worst game all season, by far. Hopefully it was a combination of rust, cold, and just coming back from the shoulder, but he just wasn't sharp. I've said it before but I think next year will be where he takes another step forward, as he has mechanical stuff he has to clean up, and the game is still slowing down for him. Both of those things matter when it comes to consistently being accurate.

I wouldn't mind adding him into the Bears front office. He's a good talent evaluator. I presume he goes to Green Bay or Cleveland.

I also think it concerns me that it almost got to that extent (from the players perspective). I was glad to here Lauri was like, STFU, get here (as was Lopez). I'm guessing Lavine was like...I'm not showing up.

Yes...this. I agree with everything you said. I literally thought I might wake up on Sunday to the Bulls hiring another new coach. Maybe they can turn this all into a positive...who knows...but man, it is not good to have that sort of toxicity around a young team.

Wow awesome win. Mitch get that footwork and mechanics cleaned up. You had one bad pick (decision wise) and a number of just bad throws (to open guys nonetheless).

Yeah...this might be a hot take but after seeing some clips of his post game press conference...he might have just lost the lockeroom and his job. Basically Said the benching saved those guys from further embarrassment. And then went on from there.

Yes the second time he did it was not a good look. The first time was completely deserved. That said the starters were pathetic. Crazy cause the whole team played really well against the Thunder. Like really well.

I don’t even know what game you were watching if you thought the starters got good looks. That was one of the worst offensive stretches of basketball I’ve ever seen. God awful ball movement, god awful shots. It looked like a high school team vs an NBA team. Literally I’ve never seen a team look so shut down on offense than the start of that game. Awful performance. Boylen might have taken things too far, but he obviously thinks this is a soft team that needs to toughen up and he’s making a calculated bet that the message he sends will motivate and not cause the players to quickly tune him out.

Iowa needed that!

I must have missed it in all the Hoiberg/Boylen discussion, but Randy Brown stepped down as an assistant yesterday. https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/bulls-announce-changes-coaching-staff

Exactly. Holiday in isolation is not necessarily a bad basketball player, but on a team focused on getting other guys more touches and development, he might not be the right guy. Holiday would actually be a pretty good fit on the Lakers. He'd be a pretty solid floor spacer next to LBJ.

Holiday is really the most interesting guy. He hasn't been bad this year, but he takes a lot of difficult shots and his fit on the roster is just not good when you are trying to get development of others. Lavine and Parker have both tried to be distributors. Parker is actually a pretty good distributor and would do better if we had more weapons on the floor. Lavine has been trying but you can tell being the primary "distributor" is not his talent and it has caused turnover issues. That said, the opportunity and all the doubles he's experiences should be good learning opportunities for him to improve. I think things will pick up a bit with Dunn and Lauri coming back. Portis makes them better and he's a solid player, I just don't think I can really get very excited tying up cap space to him. He isn't ever going to be a difference maker and thus I think he's a guy you hope comes back and plays well and maybe you can creatively move and get other assets (this is an absolute area that Gar/Pax have done a poor job at...maximizing their assets).

Yes...I don't disagree with anything you state. I think the decision had to be based a lot more on what was happening in practice and within the lockeroom vs. the in-game performance. In-game this team was going to be bad, given who has been out.

I will say...I think I was literally the biggest critic of Fred in that first season. I thought he was a disaster and literally was calling for him to be dropped in that first season. It didn't really get much better then 2nd season, however, last year I didn't really have any major negative in terms of Fred. I don't know that I had a major positive, but maybe I just got so used to how lousy he was that my expectations were so low. His first two years, I regularly thought we had one of the worse coaches in the league and the front office is absolutely responsible for that move. I'll also say that Fred is the type of guy that I'll root for wherever he lands next. He truly seems like a great guy and his personality is just a much better fit for the college game, imo.

Oh yeah, I was purely commenting on Blakeny. I used to yell at the TV pretty regularly to pull him...very rarely would he, but the guy just never takes good shots. I will also say, many times I yelled at him, he'd end up making the shot, but I don't think that necessarily makes it better. Personally, I don't think Pax was ever that enamored with Hoiberg, however, their was probably some point in him being a "nice guy" (post Thibbs) and a strong communicator (or so they thought) who they could develop a strong front office relationship with that lead Pax to getting on board with the move. Its like anything...when you break up with one coach, often times teams end up going the exact opposite direction with the next hire. Thibbs and Hoiberg couldn't have been more opposite (literally the fullest extremes possible to be honest). I'd take Thibbs over many coaches in the league, but you can see based upon what happened in Minnesota that he wasn't going to work well with others.

Blakeney frustrates me. The guy who thinks he's the best player in the league. That said, he's the type of guy you don't mind coming off the bench when you are done and need a spark off the bench (losing big, momentum not on your side) who you put out. In the first minute or so you'll know if he will lead you back and create a spark or if he'll just make the hole worse (which at that point isn't a big deal). Play him too often and it won't work as he just doesn't get his buckets in the conframe of an offense.

Separately, I should have a made a post about it at the time (or maybe I did and just don't remember) but I thought the quote from Carter calling out a lack of leadership was really interesting (happened like a week ago). I have to imagine there was more to that comment then just a rookie airing frustration. On a sidenote, did something happen with Blakeny and Fred?

I almost didn't make my post cause I know I'm on an island with my stance. Haha. I've also said, I have zero problem if the Reinsdorf's go another direction either, but I think under Pax we will see this team as an eastern conference contender in the next 2-3 years. That said, if the chemistry all blows up and they miss badly in the off-season, things could change pretty quickly. I'm presuming Boylan could be the last coach they hire, depending on how everything goes. Or Boylan could be the transitional guy (but that means the roster is doing its thing and they think there is the right long-man to gain new guys. I haven't really paid much attention to Boylen other then noticing he was always very engaged on the sidelines and usually yelling or smiling. I remember when Hoiberg hired him as his top assistant I was impressed at his resume (but a resume is purely a resume). He's worked with some all time greats so for now I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.