Chicago Sports

Veteran big man Tristan Thompson calls him the “Smooth Criminal.”

The organization’s social media department labeled him “King in the Fourth.”

His teammates simply call DeMar DeRozan “Deebo.”

The list of nicknames for the Bulls’ veteran continued to grow, as did his legend, after he hit yet another game-winning clutch basket in Thursday’s victory over Atlanta.

Down three with 46.9 seconds left, DeRozan closed it to one with – of course – the mid-range jumper. Then after a stop, the ball was placed in DeRozan’s hands with 23 seconds left, and even with the double-team leaving Zach LaVine wide open, it was once again DeRozan, this time hitting a 14-footer and drawing the foul with 15.1 seconds left.

When the dust settled it was a 37-point game for DeRozan, and again done on a head-shaking efficiency of 15-for-21 from the field.

Death, taxes, DeRozan.

To get a perspective on what the 32-year-old has done in this streak just look at the company he joined. DeRozan is one of seven players in NBA history with eight-straight 35-plus-point games, but dig deeper in the numbers.

Take Michael Jordan’s 10-game streak of 35-plus-points back in the 1986-87 season. Jordan averaged 41.1 points per game in that run, hitting 15.3 shots per game and taking 32.1 per game for 48%. That included one game in which Jordan took 43 shots.

DeRozan has averaged 38.4 points per game, but was averaging only 24.2 shots per game and hitting at 62% from the field. Only once did he hit the 30-shot mark.

Bigger picture?

The Bulls went 3-7 in Jordan’s shooting binge, while the Bulls were 6-2 since the DeRozan takeover began.

That’s why the newest Bull was pushing for “Death and Taxes” to be the MVP.

“Like I said in the interview [on Wednesday], in my eyes he’s the MVP of our league,” Thompson said of DeRozan. “He’s playing at an MVP level. People need to give him his credit and give him his flowers because of what he’s able to do with this team. When things are getting stagnant and we need a big bucket or a big time shot, that’s what big-time players do.”

And DeRozan has been big time, leading the entire NBA with 455 fourth-quarter points, with Giannis Antetokounmpo second at 400 points. Antetokounmpo has a slightly better shooting percentage than DeRozan in that final stanza – 57.1% to 55.8% – but DeRozan had more assists than the “Greek Freak” and a ridiculous plus-121 in plus/minus in the fourth.

“You love it and you hate it,” DeRozan said of having to win games late. “Of course, you don’t want to be down and have the pressure on yourself to try to pull out a game. But when you’re in those moments, you’ve got to take it on. I love the moments. I love the challenge. I love the opportunity. It’s fun to me.”

That’s MVP-type talk and action, and Thompson would know, running with the likes of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving back in the day.

“I’ve played with some big time players,” Thompson said. “When it’s money time, you give them the ball and they make something happen. That’s what [DeRozan’s] been doing night in and night out. [Thursday] we were down four with under two minutes left and Javonte [Green] getting the rebound and making those free throws and DeMar with the and-one. That’s what the MVP of the league does. We’re going to do our best to keep riding that horse. It’s a blessing to be watching greatness.”

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The Blackhawks will soon have a permanent, established face to initiate and shape their rebuild.

The team finished the interview phase of their general manager search Thursday, announcing that the advisory committee involved in the search had “concluded its evaluation” and “provided input to leadership” before “moving to the next step of the process.”

Just three finalists remain in the running, per sources and numerous reports. They are current Hawks interim GM Kyle Davidson, Lightning director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche and Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg.

The three other candidates the Hawks interviewed — Hurricanes assistant GM Eric Tulsky, failed former Bruins and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli and former Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby — are out of the running. Raptors vice president of basketball operations Teresa Resch, who was also reportedly considered for the job, never received an official interview.

A final decision is expected within the next week or so, giving the permanent GM time to settle in and ramp up conversations ahead of the March 21 trade deadline.

This story will be updated.

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ESPN’s Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA tournament field just as we expect the NCAA Division I basketball committee to select the field in March. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme uses the same data points favored by the committee, including strength of schedule and other season-long indicators, including the NET and team-sheet data similar to what is available to the NCAA, in his projections of the field. Visit the NCAA’s website for a fuller understanding of NCAA selection criteria.

The 64-team bracket is the standard version of the NCAA tournament field that has been in place since 1994. If the 2021 field is comprised of 64 teams, there will be some key differences to past years, however.

The primary adjustment from a normal year is, of course, the playing of the entire NCAA tournament at a single site. This eliminates the need for geographical considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one fewer automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League’s decision to forgo the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.

In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by eight at-large teams and eight automatic qualifiers (the latter of which still receive a revenue unit). The top four seeds in each region would receive a bye into the second round, with four first-round games per region – 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9.

In this projection, the committee selects and seeds the 16 best available teams. There are no automatic qualifiers, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.

To maintain some sense of national balance, conference participation is capped at four teams. And no region shall have more than one team from the same conference.

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ESPN’s Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA tournament field just as we expect the NCAA Division I basketball committee to select the field in March. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme uses the same data points favored by the committee, including strength of schedule and other season-long indicators, including the NET and team-sheet data similar to what is available to the NCAA, in his projections of the field. Visit the NCAA’s website for a fuller understanding of NCAA selection criteria.

The 64-team bracket is the standard version of the NCAA tournament field that has been in place since 1994. If the 2021 field is comprised of 64 teams, there will be some key differences to past years, however.

The primary adjustment from a normal year is, of course, the playing of the entire NCAA tournament at a single site. This eliminates the need for geographical considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one fewer automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League’s decision to forgo the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.

In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by eight at-large teams and eight automatic qualifiers (the latter of which still receive a revenue unit). The top four seeds in each region would receive a bye into the second round, with four first-round games per region – 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9.

In this projection, the committee selects and seeds the 16 best available teams. There are no automatic qualifiers, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.

To maintain some sense of national balance, conference participation is capped at four teams. And no region shall have more than one team from the same conference.

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MESA, Ariz. — Cubs outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong could go on and on about what makes Javy Baez a special player.

”Baseball knows who Javy is,” said Crow-Armstrong, who grew up a Cubs fan. ”Javy’s the man.”

How fitting, then, that the Mets dealt Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Baez and right-hander Trevor Williams at the trade deadline in July.

”Never would have expected that at all,” Crow-Armstrong told the Sun-Times. ”I couldn’t have drawn that up.”

Crow-Armstrong was recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder when the Cubs acquired him. On Thursday, he said that it’s ”doing great” and that he was cleared more than a week ago. He entered camp with no restrictions.

”Pete’s a really impressive young prospect,” Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner said. ”Premium defender in center field. And the most exciting part is he’s hitting the ball as hard as ever right now. So it’s great to just have him healthy again.”

Crow-Armstrong, a first-round draft pick in 2020, is ranked as the Cubs’ No. 5 prospect by MLB.com. The Mets invited him to big-league camp last year, and the 19-year-old hit .417 in six games in Low-A before the injury.

”It was tough,” Crow-Armstrong said. ”I felt like I had hit a stride.”

He hurt his shoulder diving into third base on wet artificial turf last May. On the bright side, the injury wasn’t to his left (throwing) shoulder. He was cleared to hit in November.

”It forced me to take a step back, and that was OK,” Crow-Armstrong said. ”Slowed me down, and I think I’m better for it. I think I’m a little tougher up in the head.”

Crow-Armstrong grew up in California, but he inherited his Cubs fandom from his dad, actor Matthew John Armstrong, who is from Naperville.

Crow-Armstrong remembers going to only one game at Wrigley Field, when he was maybe 3 years old, but his childhood is filled with memories of Cubs teams starring Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez.

The Cubs were bad for much of Crow-Armstrong’s early fanhood before Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer came in and pulled off a successful rebuild.

”Very quickly, my attention turned to Javy,” Crow-Armstrong said.

Even without that background, Crow-Armstrong said he would have been invested in the organization when he joined it at the trade deadline. But the nature of his journey is ”still hard to wrap [his] head around.”

Crow-Armstrong’s dad told him it took weeks for the news to sink in for him.

Now Crow-Armstrong is part of the next Cubs rebuild — even if Hoyer won’t call it that — one they initiated when they traded Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo last summer.

Crow-Armstrong said he isn’t concerned about where he’ll start the regular season, let alone long-term organizational plans.

”I like looking at baseball fields again, being able to step on them again and do my thing out there,” he said. ”And it’s a really good group of guys to be able to do it with.”

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The Chicago Police Board on Thursday voted unanimously to fire an officer who menaced a former recruit after she broke up with him for threatening two of her classmates at the police academy.

Livius Tomescu, a human resources officer whose job duties included conducting background checks on recruits, was found guilty of all but one of the 11 administrative charges lodged against him, according to a written ruling by the board.

The allegations centered around Tomescu’s brief and tumultuous relationship with Rafia Iqbal, which began in the summer of 2018 when she was at the police training academy. Iqbal has since become a sworn officer, city records show.

Iqbal ended the relationship by Oct. 3 of that year, just two days after Tomescu threatened two of her classmates over an off-color joke that was made at her expense, according to the board. In the week after the breakup, the jilted cop then directed his ire toward Iqbal.

“You thought you were going to throw me under the bus. I’m taking you with me,” he said, threatening also to report her family to immigration officials.

The board noted that Tomescu had previously grown “very angry” when one of Iqbal’s academy classmates joked that she was another recruit’s “b—-” after she was named their homeroom’s secretary.

He then made threatening calls to the recruit who made the joke and another classmate, prompting them to report him to their homeroom instructor, according to the board.

Iqbal ended the relationship, but the harassment continued when he contacted her sister and asked for help repairing the relationship, the board wrote. Iqbal’s sister was married to another recruit, and Tomescu used his background check information to contact the couple.

Later that October, Tomescu was stripped of his police powers. Then in March 2019, an internal affairs investigator requested he be assigned to a program for police officials having issues affecting their competency. He was for a time found unfit for duty and placed on medical duty, according to the board.

The board also found that Tomescu accessed Iqbal’s personnel file and background information while they were dating and shared certain documents with her. He also improperly accessed a police database to search for her and her ex-boyfriend, who he called.

Tomescu also lied to investigators about where he got the phone number of the recruit who teased Iqbal, according to the report. He was found not guilty of a similar charge alleging he falsely denied accessing Iqbal’s records because he hadn’t done so on the specific day he was questioned about. He did, however, access the records on other days.

Last April, Supt. David Brown recommended Tomescu’s firing. Tomescu then argued last October that Brown was barred from pursuing the charges against him because he had already been punished when he was sent to the program for officers having competency issues and placed on medical leave.

The board denied Tomescu’s motion, saying those weren’t disciplinary actions.

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Bulls coach Billy Donovan didn’t look back on the first-half standings Thursday or give his players a pat on the back. He wasn’t much into discussing what he did over his mini-vacation over the All-Star break, either.

Instead, he laid out a no-nonsense challenge for the rest of the season.

“What we’ve done up to this point and time, in my opinion, is just not good enough,” he said.

Welcome back, Bulls.

After a narrow 112-108 win over the Hawks on Thursday night, they have the second-hardest schedule in the Eastern Conference, with 17 of their 22 remaining regular-season games against teams who are in position for at least a play-in spot. They have three more meetings with the Bucks, two more each with the Heat and Cavaliers and also have to play the Grizzlies, Suns and Jazz.

It would be one thing if the Bulls (39-21) had a solid history this season against the league’s better teams, but after beating the Hawks, they’re now 20-6 against teams below .500 and 19-15 against teams over .500. That includes a combined 0-6 record against the Heat, Bucks and 76ers.

“During the course of a season, there are different points and junctures of the schedule that are really challenging,” Donovan said, “whether it’s playing on the road a lot, whether it’s playing a lot of back-to-backs, playing a lot of games over a short period of time or what we’re dealing with right now coming up for the remainder of the schedule: the quality level of the teams that we’re playing. I’m not trying to be negative. . . . We’ve got to get better.”

It’s not a mystery where.

The Bulls handcuffed the Hawks (28-31) in the first quarter, allowing just 19 points. But they allowed 31 points in the second quarter and 32 in the third, turning a comfortable-looking 11-point lead into a nail-biter.

“The defensive side has got to be better,” Donovan said. “Being relatively small, we’ve done a good job of rebounding, but the three-point line has been a challenge, some of our fouling has been a challenge, our ability to control the ball and contain the ball has been a little bit of a challenge. It all starts for me where we’ve got to get better on the communication side. When you can communicate really well, it lessens some of the binds and difficulties you get into. We all have to help each other, coaches included.”

What the Hawks didn’t have was DeMar DeRozan, who hit the go-ahead basket with 15.1 seconds left and drew a foul that led to a free throw to put the Bulls up 110-108. It was the eighth straight game in which DeRozan scored at least 35 points (he finished with 37), continuing his NBA-record streak of shooting over 50% from the field.

“I trust him in those situations,” Donovan said. “He’s spectacular. He’s got just incredible composure and poise.”

Newest Bull Tristan Thompson made his debut off the bench with 11 points and six rebounds in just over 13 minutes. The help comes at an important time.

“You’re going to be able to see the separation from the good teams, the OK teams, and the great teams,” DeRozan said. “What position do we want to put ourselves in? That’s the next challenge for us.”

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Discussions on Patrick Williams and his pending role continued on Thursday morning, according to Billy Donovan.

The Bulls coach expected those talks to remain ongoing as Williams gets closer to returning from wrist surgery.

The debate wasn’t if Williams would have a spot. That’s a no-brainer for the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 draft. What has to be decided is will Williams be returning to his starting spot or will Javonte Green hold that down, forcing Williams to come off the bench?

“Staff-wise, as players get closer and closer to coming back, I think Javonte [Green] has done a really good job with that group in terms of how he’s fit in, what he’s been able to bring to the table in Patrick’s absence,” Donovan said. “I’m not opposed to bringing Patrick off the bench and I’m not opposed to starting him. I think a lot of it is going to be once he can get back to practice, is there a minutes restriction on him, how many minutes can he play at a time, and what’s the best role for him to help our team?”

The minutes questions might have the biggest influence on Williams’ role, especially when he first returns. It would be easier for Donovan to control his playing time coming off the bench, and then as Williams gets his wind back they can always adjust.

“The decision is going to be based on what’s best for the team and what’s best for the group,” Donovan said. “I know Patrick’s an important piece for our team, he’s a young player, and I think he’s had to deal with a lot his first two years here in the NBA – whether it’s a shortened season last year, Covid, limited practice, no Summer League, no training camp, but I think the decisions we have to make are going to be what’s best for the team.”

The sample size was very small, but in the five games that Williams did start with this group, it wasn’t like he was lights out. In averaging 25 minutes per game, the forward had 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

He again looked way too passive on the offensive end and disappeared for too many moments.

On the other hand, Green has steadily found his best way to function with this starting group, giving them 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game this month, as well as being an irritant on the defensive end.

Green is undersized against most forwards he’s guarding, so that would be the argument for starting Williams, but maybe Williams would be better served with that second group. It could possibly get him going offensively, knowing he’s going to be relied on more in that department with the reserves.

What Donovan and his staff have on their side in making that call is time. Williams has started basketball activity, but was not practicing yet.

The rook

If Ayo Dosunmu is hitting that rookie wall, well, that would be news to Donovan. Even with the heavy minutes load the last month (38.6 minutes per game), the coach was still seeing a first-year player looking to compete every night.

“I don’t think a lot of times guys are physically exhausted as much as they are mentally exhausted, and I think what takes a lot out of a young player is the uncertainty of playing teams they haven’t played against before or matchups they haven’t played against,” Donovan said. “That could be draining. Ayo has handled that very well. I don’t get anything from him that he’s at that place.”

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Cubs outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong could go on and on about what makes Javy Baez a special player.

”Baseball knows who Javy is,” said Crow-Armstrong, who grew up a Cubs fan. ”Javy’s the man.”

How fitting, then, that the Mets dealt Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Baez and right-hander Trevor Williams at the trade deadline in July.

”Never would have expected that at all,” Crow-Armstrong told the Sun-Times. ”I couldn’t have drawn that up.”

Crow-Armstrong was recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder when the Cubs acquired him. On Thursday, he said that it’s ”doing great” and that he was cleared more than a week ago. He entered camp with no restrictions.

”Pete’s a really impressive young prospect,” Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner said. ”Premium defender in center field. And the most exciting part is he’s hitting the ball as hard as ever right now. So it’s great to just have him healthy again.”

Crow-Armstrong, a first-round draft pick in 2020, is ranked as the Cubs’ No. 5 prospect by MLB.com. The Mets invited him to big-league camp last year, and the 19-year-old hit .417 in six games in Low-A before the injury.

”It was tough,” Crow-Armstrong said. ”I felt like I had hit a stride.”

He hurt his shoulder diving into third base on wet artificial turf last May. On the bright side, the injury wasn’t to his left (throwing) shoulder. He was cleared to hit in November.

”It forced me to take a step back, and that was OK,” Crow-Armstrong said. ”Slowed me down, and I think I’m better for it. I think I’m a little tougher up in the head.”

Crow-Armstrong grew up in California, but he inherited his Cubs fandom from his dad, actor Matthew John Armstrong, who is from Naperville.

Crow-Armstrong remembers going to only one game at Wrigley Field, when he was maybe 3 years old, but his childhood is filled with memories of Cubs teams starring Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez.

The Cubs were bad for much of Crow-Armstrong’s early fanhood before Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer came in and pulled off a successful rebuild.

”Very quickly, my attention turned to Javy,” Crow-Armstrong said.

Even without that background, Crow-Armstrong said he would have been invested in the organization when he joined it at the trade deadline. But the nature of his journey is ”still hard to wrap [his] head around.”

Crow-Armstrong’s dad told him it took weeks for the news to sink in for him.

Now Crow-Armstrong is part of the next Cubs rebuild — even if Hoyer won’t call it that — one they initiated when they traded Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo last summer.

Crow-Armstrong said he isn’t concerned about where he’ll start the regular season, let alone long-term organizational plans.

”I like looking at baseball fields again, being able to step on them again and do my thing out there,” he said. ”And it’s a really good group of guys to be able to do it with.”

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Yoelqui Cespedes is the White Sox’ second-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, has a name that’s instantly recognized because of family ties and he possesses a good enough assortment of tools to allow you to envision him being a fixture in the Sox outfield one day.

But he is far from being a finished product, and not nearly close enough to have his name thrown in the Sox’ somewhat fuzzy right field mix for 2022.

That’s not how Cespedes, who at 24 is the same age as Luis Robert, sees it, however.

“My approach and my mindset right now is to get to the majors this year,” Cespedes said Thursday though translator Billy Russo from the Sox training complex in Glendale, Ariz. “But not just to get there and be demoted. I want to get there and stay there. That’s the plan. That is where my focus is right now. That is why I’m working hard, to accomplish that. That is the mindset right now.”

After signing as an international free agent for a $2.05 million bonus in early 2021, Cespedes — a half brother to two-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder Yoenis Cespedes — had to wait through visa issues to get his feet on the ground last season. At Advanced A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, Cespedes hit a combined .285/.350/.463 with eight homers and 27 RBI in 72 games. His swing and miss tendencies were apparent with 83 strikeouts, and when the Sox gave him a look-see in the Arizona Fall League, he had 13 hits with two walks in 80 plate appearances.

Not everyone is as high on Cespedes as MLB Pipeline and other prospect evaluators. Keith Law, citing pitch recognition challenges at Double-A Birmingham, has him 12th among Sox prospects despite his big power potential and arm strength. Some scouts at the Fall League want to see what Cespedes does this season.

Manager Tony La Russa, who watched Cespedes at the Fall League, was quick to challenge unfavorable evaluations of him, and Sox director of player development Chris Getz remains sold.

“Nothing has really changed in regards to our excitement for what he’s able to do,” Getz said. “He’s got solid tools across.

“In regards to some adjustments he needs to make, I’d say it’s really being under control in the box, being more selective. There are certain types of pitches right now he tends to want to chase and even miss. We need to tighten that focus a little bit, keep him under control.”

It’s not an unusual place to be on a minor league hitter’s path to the majors.

“Based on the work that he puts in and the conversations we have on a daily basis, I think he’s going to be able to close those gaps and make the proper adjustments for future success,” Getz said.

Cespedes, meanwhile, said he sees positives in whatever struggles he has encountered. It’s about being more patient at the plate and putting in the work.

“That is the mindset right now,” he said.

“It’s good to have struggles in the minors and work you way out of them, because that’s going to put you in a better position to get out of those bad moments when you are in the majors. Definitely, I’m in a better position for this year.”

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