Bulls Collapse In Third Consecutive Play-In Game Against The Heat

Good morning Chicago fans! I just returned from seeing family for a few days in Houston ✈ I made sure to drive by Daikin Park and thank the Astros for Kyle Tucker!

Although it was hot down there, I think Ben Johnson was throwing more heat with his first pitch at Wrigley Field. I love seeing Chicago coaches and managers together!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

W - Blackhawks 4, Canadiens 3 (SO)

Frank Nazar Magic in Montreal!

• Nazar looked elite (1g/1a), his shootout winner disappeared in the net, and the goal/no-goal call was miscommunicated

• Hawks played spoiler as the Canadiens needed a win to clinch a playoff berth

• Ryan Greene made his NHL debut and Arty beat Demidov!

W - Blackhawks 4, Senators 3 (OT)

Fly me to the moon, Frank!

• Another big Nazar moment! He scored the OT winner off a Connor Bedard assist to close out the season

• Spencer Knight had a monster game as the Hawks were outshot by a mile (37-16)

• Bedard had 2 goals and 1 assist

Star of the Week ⭐ Frank Nazar

2 goals, 1 assist, 2 game winners

Play of the Week 🎥 Frank Nazar shootout winner

My season prediction was WAY off. I expected a last place finish, but they ended up with 15 less points than my predicted 76 points. The significant jump that seemed feasible based on the veteran additions and incoming prospects completely fell apart early in the season. A coaching change, underachievement, and a roster carousel led to a dysfunctional program. After everything, the record didn’t really matter. They still landed a top draft pick in a meaningless rebuilding year. And hey, the young kids looked great to finish the season 👏

The Blackhawks finished in the top half of the NHL in Power Play (7th) and Penalty Kill (14th) Percentage for the first time since 1994-1995, as reported by Ben Pope on X 🤯 I have no clue how that never happened during the 2010s

Connor Murphy is the Blackhawks’ 2025 King Clancy Memorial Trophy nominee for the 5th straight year. The award is given to a player who exhibits leadership and makes an impact in the community.

Assigned Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov to the AHL to compete in the AHL playoffs

Frank Seravalli reported that the Hawks CIRCLED David Carle’s name as their top choice for head coach. Carle is the University of Denver head coach and highly coveted to make the jump to the NHL. Maybe the Hawks will move quickly to bring him to Chicago as a copycat move to the Bears hiring Ben Johnson!

Alex Vlasic will play for Team USA in the 2025 World Championships

SCHEDULE 📅 OFFSEASON

CHICAGO BULLS

L - Heat 109, Bulls 90

Third time’s a dud

• The Heat dominated this three-time rematch from tipoff and was clearly the more hungry team. A 71-47 1st half from the Heat deflated the United Center and any hope of a Bulls comeback.

• The recent strides on defense disappeared as the Bulls allowed way too many easy buckets in the paint and in transition

• Tyler Herro had a huge game to lead the Heat (38p on 13/19 shooting)

• The bright side of their awful performance? Another Play-In Game or a quick Playoffs cameo would have gone nowhere, and they secured a spot in the lottery.

Star of the Week ⭐ Josh Giddey

25p/4a/10r while playing through an injury

Play of the Week 🎥 Matas Buzelis buzzer beater

Fired Director of Player Development Peter Patton

• Arturas Karnisovas hired Patton in 2023 and now let him go just 2 years later

• I frequently joked about Patton’s direct influence on the Bulls’ shooting performances over the last couple seasons. One of his main roles was to improve the team’s shooting, and the Bulls actually made progress in that department. I always wondered if he had certain nights off when the team couldn’t make a basket in the ocean.

• I’m really not sure what the motivation was for this move. Patton seemed to be respected and appreciated by players and was an important hire by the executive who is still in charge.

Bulls finish in a tie with the Mavericks for the 11th best odds in the draft lottery. A tiebreaker will be used to determine 11th vs. 12th.

SCHEDULE 📅 OFFSEASON

CHICAGO CUBS

L - Padres 10, Cubs 4

Missed popup leads to unraveling

• Brad Keller relieved Jameson Taillon after a great start (5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) and gave up 2 runs when Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson watched a floater drop between them

• The bullpen after Keller…fell apart. Nate Pearson and Eli Morgan gave up 7 runs in the blink of an eye.

• Michael Busch homered in his 3rd straight game!

W - Cubs 2, Padres 1 (F/10)

Extra innings miracle hands Padres their 1st home loss

• An awful day at the plate with runners in scoring position (1-for-14) led to an unnecessary dramatic finish

• Nico Hoerner drove in the winning run with a 10th inning triple

• Two dropped foul popups during the same Manny Machado at-bat allowed him to hit a HR for the Padres’ only run

L - Padres 4, Cubs 2

First series loss since Tokyo

• Nick Pivetta shut down the Cubs offense over 6 innings (4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

• Cubs pitchers combined to walk 7 hitters, and recently recalled Luke Little and Daniel Palencia gave up the 2 winning runs in relief of Matthew Boyd (5.1 IP, 2 ER)

W - Cubs 13, Diamondbacks 11

Historic 8th inning at windy Wrigley Field!

• A 2-1 game heading into the 7th inning turned into an epic baseball game with a 16 (!!!) run 8th inning. The Cubs bullpen gave up 10 runs in the top of the 8th, and the offense responded with 6 runs in the bottom half of the inning.

• Ian Happ hit a grand slam, Carson Kelly hit 2 HRs, and Kyle Tucker hit the game winning 2-R HR in the 8th

• Cubs won vs. Corbin Burnes despite his 6 innings of 2-run ball, and Colin Rea had another great start (4.2 IP, 1 ER)

W - Cubs 6, Diamondbacks 2

Another ace beatdown!

• Cubs hitters jumped all over Zac Gallen (6.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER) with back-to-back HRs in the 2nd inning

• Ben Brown (4 IP) and the bullpen combined for an impressive 4-hit day

L - Diamondbacks 3, Cubs 2 (F/11)

Potential sweep washed away by the rain

• Taillon outlasted 2 rain delays and had a strong start (5 IP, 1 ER)

• Cubs offense squandered a ton of opportunities and a quality bullpen day by hitting 2-for-13 with RISP

• A Busch check swing RBI single in the 1st inning was the Cubs only run until the 10th

Star of the Week ⭐ Michael Busch

8-for-25 (.320 AVG), 2 HRs, 6 RBI

Play of the Week 🎥 Kyle Tucker game winning HR

How wild was Friday’s 13-11 slugfest???

Optioned Matt Shaw and Nate Pearson to AAA, placed Eli Morgan on the 15-day IL with a right elbow impingement, activated Vidal Brujan from the IL, recalled Luke Little and Daniel Palencia from AAA

• Shaw struggled at the plate after earning the Opening Day 3B job this season (.172 AVG, .536 OPS). Sending him down gives him a chance to work on his approach and regain some confidence. On the other hand, the other options for the Cubs at 3B (Jon Berti, Justin Turner, Vidal Brujan, Gage Workman) have not produced much either. They need Shaw to make a quick return!

Later recalled Jordan Wicks from AAA and optioned Luke Little to AAA

Prospect SS Christian Hernandez won the Midwest League Player of the Week award in High-A

SCHEDULE 📅 T/W/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

🚨 Signed TJ Edwards to a 2-year, $20M extension 🚨

The most violent tackler on the defense is staying in town as Ryan Poles locked up another key defender after extending Kyler Gordon last week.

Edwards’ story has been incredible as an undrafted hometown player. He was an underrated free agent signing in 2023 and has outplayed every dollar. His football speed jumps off the screen on Sundays, and there’s a reason Matt Eberflus called him “The Hitman.”

155 and 129 total tackles in each of the last 2 years finished 1st and 2nd on the team. He has also racked up 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 fumble recoveries in his 2 seasons with the Bears. For an organization so proud of their linebacker history, Edwards plays up to the standard. His football IQ is very high, and he punishes people on every play. Can’t wait to see him in the new defense this season!

NFL Draft is this Thursday through Saturday!!!

Bears have 7 total draft picks:

1st round: 10th

2nd round: 39th and 41st

3rd round: 72nd

5th round: 148th

7th round: 233rd and 240th

NFL Insiders seem to be all over the map regarding the Bears’ draft plans this season. Some believe they want to take an offensive skill player at #10 (Ashton Jeanty, Tyler Warren, or other), and others believe they want to continue their overhaul of the trenches (Will Campbell, Kelvin Banks, Mykel Williams, or other). The possibilities are endless, especially with a new coaching staff and a talented group of free agent signings.

Be on the lookout 👀 for an in-depth Bears draft preview on windyconditions.co!

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Ian Happ

After the defensive miscue that led to a bullpen beating against the Padres, Happ held himself accountable for the play.

With a Gold Glove SS in Dansby Swanson ranging back towards the ball, it would have been easy to chalk it up to miscommunication or call it a team error. Instead, Happ took all of the blame for letting the popup fall and said he should have run straight to the ball to make the play.

Hear more of his interview on 670 The Score here:

MILD TAKE

The Cubs offense is not as elite as the numbers show.

Early returns on Jed Hoyer’s offensive bets have been overwhelming positive:

• Kyle Tucker has been a superstar as advertised with a 1.019 OPS and 23 RBI in the first 24 games

• The Carson Kelly addition at catcher has exceeded expectations with his eye-popping 1.502 OPS and 320 wRC+

• Another season of development for Michael Busch (.994 OPS and 5 HR) and PCA (.772 OPS) has been encouraging

Through about 15% of the season, the Cubs offense is 1st in MLB in OPS (.785), 1st in BB (97), 3rd in SB (31), 3rd in HR (34), and 1st in runs (145). Their +41 run differential is the best in the league. In what tends to be a cold and slow start to the year, Cubs hitters have been SLUGGING.

Although I am convinced that the presence of a star and the marginal upgrades at catcher and on the bench will result in a better offense over the course of this entire season, I still have concerns.

They have scored 10+ runs in 6 games. Yes, those games count, and every run matters. But they scored 77 runs in those 6 games alone. If you exclude those runs, the Cubs have only scored 68 runs in the other 18 games. That’s a 3.78 runs/game average instead of a 6.04 runs/game average.

There are still massive inconsistencies. It’s a streaky sport, but the entire goal of this season from a hitting perspective was to avoid the dreadful months they mysteriously endured each of the last 2 seasons. Ups and downs are normal, but don’t let them drag on too far.

Too many games have been a no-show. As the schedule lightens up, the warmer weather returns, and the early season blowouts are in the rearview mirror, we’ll see what this offense really looks like.

HITTING THE LINKS

Sam Smith - "Stubborn" Coby White credits his faith for his growth as he leads Bulls into Play-In (bulls.com)

Scott Powers - Ryan Donato’s 31-goal season for Chicago has surprising assist: One week in Florida (The Athletic)

Joe Cowley - Coach Peter Patton's firing results in questioning of Bulls' leadership (Chicago Sun-Times)

Sahadev Sharma - The Cubs may have the best offense in baseball. How are they doing it? (The Athletic)

Scott Powers - Connor Bedard ready to ‘attack’ offseason after two goals in Blackhawks’ season finale (The Athletic)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

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Thanks for reading! Have a great week! Let’s leave the embarrassing hockey and basketball seasons behind and watch 3 days of the NFL Draft.