Bulls Lose 5th Straight Against Weak Competition

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you’re all surviving the cold and sickness-ridden season. My daughter and I were sick, so it was a tough week. If anything can lift my spirits and provide a peek towards summer, it’s Sammy Sosa with the American flag at Cubs Convention:

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JUMP TO YOUR TEAM

• Blackhawks

• Bulls

• Bears

• Cubs

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - Flames 5, Blackhawks 2

Another no-show against the physical Flames

• Flames controlled play and outshot the Hawks 36-25

• Martin Pospisil continued his antics as he was ejected for boarding Taylor Hall who got a black eye as a souvenir

• Connor Bedard scored a goal to pick up his 100th career point 🥳

L - Predators 3, Blackhawks 2 (SO)

Late lead slips away to extend the losing streak to 4

• Filip Forsberg scored with 3 minutes remaining to send the game to OT

• Arvid Soderblom stopped 39 of 41 shots and saved a ton of point blank looks in OT

W - Blackhawks 5, Golden Knights 3

Impressive win at the United Center!

• Seth Jones showed up with a 3 point game!! (1 goal, 2 assists)

• Tyler Bertuzzi had 2 goals and continues to be a force down low

Star of the Week ⭐ Tyler Bertuzzi

2 goals, 2 assists (4 points)

Play of the Week 🎥 Lukas Reichel goal

Traded D Isaak Phillips to the Winnipeg Jets for D Dmitry Kuzmin

• Swap of AHL defensemen

• Phillips was stuck in the 7th defenseman / Rockford shuttle group and didn’t have a clear path to a larger role. Hopefully the change of scenery gives him a better opportunity down the road.

• Kuzmin is a lesser player than Phillips. His friendship with prized prospect Artyom Levshunov was the main motivator behind the trade. They played together for Team Belarus in the World Juniors and train together during summers!

Cole Guttman was added to the AHL All Star roster to replace Frank Nazar who will not participate as a current NHLer

Bertuzzi-Bedard-Nazar has been electric as the 1st line in the last couple games

CHICAGO BULLS

L - Pelicans 119, Bulls 113

Bulls buried in ugly 4th quarter vs. Zion and company

• 86-86 game headed into the 4th quickly turned into a 112-96 Pelicans lead

• Zach LaVine’s (25p/5a/7r) streak of 30-point games ended at 6

• Pelicans scored 28 points off of 15 Bulls turnovers

L - Hawks 110, Bulls 94

Ayo’s return spoiled as shorthanded Hawks dominated

• Trae Young, Zaccharie Risacher, De’Andre Hunter, and others did not play as the Hawks were missing 82 points per game of scoring due to injury

• Bulls shot 6/27 (22.2%) from 3PT and had 20 turnovers

• Rookie Keaton Wallace went off for the Hawks with a season-high 27 points

L - Hornets 125, Bulls 123

LaMelo wins the Ball brother showdown

• Bulls missed 3 shots on their final possession with a chance to tie or take the lead

• Nikola Vucevic put up 40 points and 13 rebounds on 17/25 shooting 💪

• The Bulls defensive effort was missing all night, and the Hornets rattled off a 12-0 run to start the 4th quarter

L - Trailblazers 113, Bulls 102

Embarrassing 5th straight loss

• Bulls actually started fast for once (34-22 1st quarter) before the bottom dropped out

• Scoot Henderson (25p/8a/7r) had a big game for the Blazers

• Bulls shot 8/29 (27.6%) from 3PT, only had 21 assists, and were outrebounded 50-36

Star of the Week ⭐ Nikola Vucevic

23.3p/4a/13.8r per game, 4 double-doubles in 4 games

Play of the Week 🎥 Josh Giddey behind the back pass

If you’re surprised to see the Bulls on the schedule for tonight, you have a good eye. The game in LA against the Clippers was rescheduled from tomorrow to accommodate other schedule changes.

In the midst of Patrick Williams’ struggles, I decided to walk down memory lane and compare his career numbers to another #4 overall pick you may know:

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

Coaching search:

Mike McCarthy will not return as the Cowboys head coach, and the Bears interviewed him AT Halas Hall on Wednesday

The Bears reportedly called the Pittsburgh Steelers about potentially trading for head coach Mike Tomlin 👀

NFL legend and current Tennessee State University head coach Eddie George interviewed at Halas Hall yesterday

Many candidates lost in the playoffs this weekend, so expect a number of in-person interviews this week as the Bears narrow their search

So when the Bears beat the Packers and almost beat the Lions and Vikings this season, it was because…the NFC North was full of frauds? The Lions were just upset at home by the Washington Commanders, so all 3 playoff teams in the division lost their first game.

In a short year and a half, the Commanders got a new owner, hired a new GM, hired a new head coach, drafted a new quarterback at #2 overall, and find themselves in the NFC Championship. The Bears, however, are still stuck with the same owner. And they are stuck in the same cycle every single year. Fortunes change quickly in the NFL, but not in Chicago.

Ian Cunningham did NOT land the Titans GM job and will remain with the Bears. The Titans hired Chiefs Assistant GM Mike Borgonzi.

Parted ways with Director of Football Analytics Krithi Chandrakasan

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

Cubs Convention was this weekend!

Sammy Sosa was the STAR of the show:

Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki signed with the…you guessed it…Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs were not even one of the 3 finalists (Dodgers, Padres, Blue Jays).

Lefty reliever target Tanner Scott signed with the Dodgers on a massive 4-year, $72M deal. The Cubs reportedly offered 4 years and $66M and were the runner-up in the process. Another potential lefty AJ Minter signed with the Mets. Who do they turn to next???

Agreed on a 1-year, $16.5M contract with Kyle Tucker to avoid an arbitration hearing

Traded UTIL Miles Mastrobuoni to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations after DFA’ing him last week

Traded RHP Michael Arias to the New York Yankees for cash considerations after DFA’ing him

Cubs revealed new alternate uniforms for this season that pay tribute to the musical history of Chicago:

Finalized their international signings, including 2 of the Top 50 international prospects: SS Juan Cabada (10) and SS/3B Wilfri De La Cruz (13)

Derrek Lee and Sammy Sosa are the 2025 inductees for the Cubs Hall of Fame

Jed Hoyer continues to state bullpen and bench bats as their focus for the remainder of the offseason. It makes sense because they only have so much money to play with in their self-prescribed budget. Ideally, they will land two veteran late-inning relievers and bulk up their bench options.

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Rome Odunze

Rome continued serving the community when he visited the Boys & Girls Club of Lake County:

MILD TAKE

If the Cubs only add to the bullpen and bench, I’ll be disappointed in the offseason.

They were reportedly fixated on improving their starting rotation as recent as a few weeks ago, but they now seem to be content with Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea as their only additions.

Steele/Imanaga/Taillon/Boyd is a quality Top 4 with a viable group of Rea/Assad/Wicks/Brown battling for the 5th spot and even splitting innings.

Acquiring a proven starter to move Boyd into the lower grouping would be a much sturdier starting place heading into the season. They even said they ‘hope’ for 120 innings out of Boyd. I’m not sure relying on 3 pitchers for a full workload is a smart strategy.

There’s also merit to their plan of leaving 3rd base open for Matt Shaw. Prospects have to play eventually, and they have to start if they’re in the big leagues.

I like Shaw, and he can legitimately have a good rookie season. I just didn’t expect the Cubs to enter 2025 with a rookie at 3B. They wanted to add wins to the roster. They upgraded in RF and then left a vacuum at 3B.

IF Shaw has a good year, he could get close to what Isaac Paredes would have produced in that spot. That means they only improved at one spot on the diamond 🤷‍♂️

Sure, the Dodgers stole Roki Sasaki and Tanner Scott while printing money over in LA. But dreams of Luis Castillo, Walker Buehler, Jesus Luzardo, Jack Flaherty, Alex Bregman, or other potential acquisitions the Cubs were linked to are now dead.

HITTING THE LINKS

Kalyn Kahler - How agents impact coaching searches, and why the NFL cares (ESPN)

Ben Pope - First question of the Blackhawks’ coaching search: David Carle or someone with NHL experience? (Chicago Sun-Times)

Sahadev Sharma - With Kyle Tucker signed, Cubs’ Jed Hoyer will turn his focus to the bullpen (The Athletic)

Julia Poe - Patrick Williams is struggling. Again. (Chicago Tribune)

Scott Powers - Seth Jones’ struggles hit new low as Blackhawks cut his ice time. Now what? (The Athletic)

St. Brown Podcast - Caleb Williams interview (YouTube)

David Kaplan’s “The REKAP” - Jed Hoyer interview (YouTube)

David Kaplan’s “The REKAP” - Tom Ricketts interview (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Have a great week. Don’t let the Bulls’ sad brand of basketball make you sick.