Implosion In Arizona For The Aimless Bears

Cody Bellinger opts in, Bulls comebacks, Ryan Donato catches fire, and more

Author

Kyle Baum
November 04, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes

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Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you had a great Halloween! Since you’re a Chicago sports fan, I know Blackhawks/Sharks was your scary movie of choice on Halloween night. And the Bears loss yesterday probably made you see ghosts of Bears coaches who have been down this road before. But never fear! You can call Matas Buzelis:

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RESULTS

L - Cardinals 29, Bears 9: Complementary BAD football all the way around

  • 8/8 in slow starts 🙄 The Cardinals took an early 7-0 lead after the Bears punted twice.

  • The wheels fell off late in the 2nd quarter when Gervon Dexter was called for a leverage penalty on a made FG for the Cardinals. They took the free first down and scored a touchdown on that drive to take a 14-6 lead.

  • If you face the Bears, you ONLY want to be near the 50-yard line with less than 10 seconds on the clock! ANOTHER ugly end-of-half play as Emari Demercado ran for a 53 yard TD on 3rd & 5 as the Bears sent a nickel blitz against a theoretical pass play.

  • After 2 excellent games, the offense had a 2nd straight no-show. How did they revert back to youth football level offense??? The gameplan didn’t work, penalties ruined drives, timing was off, and the Cardinals blitzed Caleb Williams into oblivion like every other team has this season.

  • Caleb Williams (22/41, 217 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 6 sacks) had no chance in the ineffective scheme and never got into a rhythm

  • Bears running backs combined for 64 yards on 19 carries 🤢

  • Rome Odunze outdueled fellow rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. and was the only redeeming factor on the offense with 5 receptions and 104 yards

  • The defense had their worst game of the season by FAR. They allowed 6.1 yards per play and 213 rushing yards…they got pushed around all day.

  • The Bears needed a bounceback game after the Hail Mary play, and they decided to stay on the bus instead

  • Dominique Robinson and Reddy Steward (who forced a fumble) got a lot of playing time due to injuries

  • Sweat, Brisker, Gordon, and B. Jones were inactive with injuries AND T. Smith, Wright, J. Jones, and Billings left early with injuries

  • How weird can a Bears game be??? Leverage penalty on a field goal, cut block in the end zone gave the Cardinals a safety, tried an onside free kick after the safety, Odunze and Allen both had a drop, 53 yard TD allowed at the end of the half, won the turnover battle 2-0

SEASON RECORD: 4-4 (Last place, 3 GB)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Rome Odunze

The only Bears player who surpassed 40 receiving yards had a couple big plays!

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Reddy Steward peanut punch

NEWS & NOTES

Placed Bill Murray on IR, activated Larry Borom from IR, signed OL Austen Pleasants to the practice squad, released LS Jake McQuaide from the practice squad

Opened the 21-day practice window for OL Ryan Bates

Velus Jones Jr. signed with the Jaguars. The 3 year experiment is officially over. I guess he won’t end up becoming the best running back in the NFL like RB Coach Chad Morton wanted…

In the midst of the loud rage all over the internet against the coaching staff, Albert Breer reported on ESPN1000 that Lions OC Ben Johnson was interested in the Bears head coaching job last offseason if it became available 😲

Former OC Luke Getsy ALREADY got fired by the Raiders as their OC

I love the maturity of Caleb Williams:

Two more takeaways as we near the halfway point of the season! (17 game seasons make it weird…)

Next up ➡ 2-7 Patriots. Another battle of rookie quarterbacks as the struggling Bears defense will have to deal with the promising Patriots QB Drake Maye. This SHOULD be a “get-right” game for our team…should…

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Blackhawks 5, Avalanche 2: The end of the losing streak!!!

  • Petr Mrazek took a hit and played strong against the Avalanche’s elite speed

  • Blackhawks won a chaotic 1st period 3-2, then both teams were held scoreless until 2 empty netters

  • Ryan Donato had 2 goals and 1 assist

L - Sharks 3, Blackhawks 2: Demoralizing loss to one of the worst teams in the NHL

  • In a week where a player named Will Smith won a World Series for the 5th consecutive year, 2023 4th overall pick Will Smith scored his first 2 career goals

  • Donato scored his team-leading 6th goal

W - Blackhawks 4, Kings 3 (SO): Late comeback and shootout win!!

  • Blackhawks came back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits and sent the game into OT on a Tyler Bertuzzi goal with 31 seconds left

  • Bedard/Teuvo/Donato scored in the shootout

W - Blackhawks 4, Ducks 2: Great win to finish a 3-2 road trip!

  • The Hawks were outshot 39-29 and allowed the most scoring chances (54) in a game since 2019…and had a comfortable victory

  • Arvid Soderblom earned his first win of the season with 37 saves!

  • Connor Bedard had 3 assists

SEASON RECORD: 5-7-1 (11 points)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Ryan Donato

What a hot streak! 4 goals, 2 assists (6 points) on 14 shots this week

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Ryan Donato shootout winner

NEWS & NOTES

Reassigned Drew Commesso to the AHL, recalled Isaak Phillips to the NHL

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Bulls 126, Grizzlies 123: Huge comeback in Memphis!

  • An embarrassing defensive effort led to an early 20 point lead for the Grizzlies

  • Bulls tied a franchise record with 25 made 3PT (25-53, 47.2%)

  • Zach LaVine (30 points, 5-12 3PT) and Desmond Bane (30 points, 6-10 3PT) traded punches as both teams scored at will

W - Bulls 102, Magic 99: Second straight comeback with Joakim Noah in the crowd!

  • Magic dominated the 1st quarter 33-18 and the Bulls ended up coming back from a 20 point deficit for the second consecutive game

  • A high scoring game took a strange turn when both teams combined to miss their first 24 shots of the 4th quarter - Ayo Dosunmu made the first with 4:53 remaining in the game

  • Josh Giddey (2nd straight), LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic (4 in 5 games) each had a points/rebounds double-double

L - Nets 120, Bulls 112: Big letdown in the 4th quarter

  • The Bulls made ANOTHER comeback from 17 points down but let the Nets gain momentum at the end of the game

  • Nikola Vucevic (28p/11r) had a stat line only ever accomplished by Nikola Jokić and Larry Bird in NBA history (25p/10r/3a/1s/1b on .900 FG% and .750 3FG%)

SEASON RECORD: 3-3 (5th place in East)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Josh Giddey

14.3p/7a/10r per game with 2 double-doubles and 6-12 (50%) from 3

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Josh Giddey inbound pass to Zach LaVine

NEWS & NOTES

Lonzo Ball sprained his wrist against the Grizzlies and will be re-evaluated towards the end of this week. He played great basketball in his return. I can’t believe he has to deal with another injury!!

Zach LaVine sprained his left AC joint in his shoulder against the Magic but still played against the Nets

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Cody Bellinger opted into his contract for next season!

  • I did NOT expect Belli to opt in. I thought he could make more money on the open market as a full-time CF for another team

  • He should slot in as the starting RF for next season, which is where he played to end 2024. Seiya Suzuki is expected to be the full-time DH moving forward.

  • I’m glad he likes Chicago, I think he’s a winning player, and he’s a solid left-handed hitter and teammate to have around. On the flip side, the Cubs REALLY have no open spots in the field. Jed Hoyer will have to get very creative this offseason (see offseason thoughts below).

  • He still has a player option available for 2026, so roster projections will continue to be interesting in the future

Ian Happ won his 3rd consecutive Gold Glove Award!!! 🥇

Hired Quintin Berry as their new 3B coach. He was on Craig Counsell’s staff in Milwaukee and is considered a baserunning expert. He actually appeared in 8 games for the 2015 Cubs!

Declined the 2025 $10M option for Drew Smyly

The White Sox hired Will Venable as their new manager! Venable used to work in the Cubs organization as a special assistant to Theo Epstein and later as their 1B and 3B coach.

OFFSEASON THOUGHTS (PART 4)

Bellinger remaining on the team really changes the offseason.

Instead of having a hole in RF and an extra $27M to work with, the Cubs have even more of the same team as last year.

All this does is force Jed’s hand in the trade market. I don’t see a scenario where they run the same offense back (even though they were OK overall and had better numbers away from Wrigley Field) and hope for better results. They need more power, and they need to switch something up from the volatile group they have relied on the last two seasons.

I wrote about possible RF targets who could be left-handed power bats and provide more of a threat in the lineup than Bellinger. With RF now filled, they either need to move Belli or break up their fully cost controlled infield they recently assembled.

Maybe they focus more on pitching with another hitter staying in the mix, or maybe their plan doesn’t change because they saw this coming. Either way, they still have a lot of money to work with and HAVE to make changes.

Acquire a starting catcher and trade away 1 or 2 of the current position players. An 18 HR / .751 OPS right fielder doesn’t make them any better in 2025.

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

“I didn't think we were actually going to get it called in a game like this.”

DJ Moore on the Doug Kramer handoff vs. the Commanders

“Might need a little magic here soon.”

Connor Bedard on not scoring goals

“You go hard to the net and you say your prayers, really.”

Ryan Donato on scoring 2 goals vs. the Avalanche

“He has elite leadership skills.”

Jonathan Gannon (Cardinals HC) on Matt Eberflus

“We don’t practice shootouts much, but holy ****, that was a nice goal.”

Nick Foligno on Ryan Donato’s shootout winner

““He’s a very quiet skater…it’s like you don’t hear him when he strides.”

Anders Sorensen on Artyom Levshunov’s skating ability

Theo Benedet and Amen Ogbongbemiga

They attended the Halloween Party hosted by the Bears and USAA for military families!

The Bulls run and gun offense is fun but too late.

If you wholeheartedly believe in a specific philosophy or strategy, wouldn’t you implement it right away?

If you build a roster, wouldn’t you align their skills with your philosophy?

The Bulls SUFFERED through the last 2 seasons with an old-school half court offense that left them hopeless in most games. Their 3 point shooting volume and success rate was at the bottom of the league, and other teams were outscoring them regardless of any other factors in the game.

Part of it was due to DeMar DeRozan’s skills and management’s commitment to build a winner around him, but part of it must have been an intentional decision to play a different way. That play style led them to 40 and 39 wins in the last 2 seasons.

I love that they changed their mind. It’s even working about 50% of the time and winning them games! It’s great to see! However, I hate that it took this long.

Early shooting percentages look WAY more promising than I expected, and I hope they stay high. Coming into the season, it seemed like insanity to run a fastbreak style with the goal of shooting a ton of 3s with Nikola Vucevic and Josh Giddey in the starting lineup.

If this is the best way to win games in the NBA, it was the best way to win games in the NBA 2 years ago.

If this is the best way for the Bulls to win games in the NBA moving forward, they have to continue to shape the roster to fit their new identity.

Julia Poe - Patrick Williams is still seeking an NBA identity (Chicago Tribune)

Scott Powers - Analyzing Artyom Levshunov’s strong first AHL outings (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Blackhawks experimenting with power play roles of defensemen (Chicago Sun-Times)

David Kaplan’s The REKAP - Intercepted with Kevin Byard: Jaylon Jones interview (YouTube)

Daily Faceoff - Connor Bedard | Frankly Speaking (YouTube)

The Young Man and the Three - Kenny Beecham interviews Joakim Noah (YouTube)

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