The Bernstein Brief: Bizarro Bulls Lay An Egg
By Dan Bernstein–
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg can be forgiven for welcoming his former Iowa State team to Chicago with a team meeting at the Advocate Center on Wednesday. One can picture him begging them to stay or to hide him in their luggage and keep him on the bus back to Ames after the NCAA games here are over.
Anything to get him out of watching the Bulls.
This is beginning to defy criticism, whatever it is. The bewildered national TV broadcasters didn't even seem to know what to say Wednesday night after all their build-up of the playoff-hungry team rounding into health devolved into a 19-point Knicks lead after three quarters. They were left muttering into their microphones in a United Center as silent as a mausoleum as the Bulls fell 115-107.
Hoiberg had told his players that the lifeless effort against Sacramento just two nights prior had to be their last subpar performance of the season, and they appeared to heed his instructions about as much as they have all year.
They didn't defend anything, ran no cohesive or purposeful offense and were outrebounded by 19 -- at home, against bums. What's more, they finally got the crazy Nikola Mirotic game -- 35 points, including a franchise-record-tying nine threes -- but lost it badly.
I understand why Hoiberg needs a happy place, in a room with his old team and thoughts of better times.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
