Chicago Sports

There were plenty of opinions floating around on Thursday of how to fix the Bulls.

The problem was most involved blasting caps, a plunger box, well-placed explosives, and were illegal in all 50 states.

More importantly, they just weren’t realistic.

With 67 games left on the schedule, turning the Advocate Center into a demolition site this soon definitely falls under the category of early-season overreaction.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t in-house tweaks that should at least be explored when the Bulls tip-off at the United Center against Orlando on Friday.

1. Starting in glue – The current starting lineup just isn’t working. Later in games, maybe, but not to start games. Too many slow starts and too big of holes to dig out of.

Entering Thursday, the Bulls ranked 22nd in the league in first-quarter scoring with 27.7 points per game, and in the last three games – all losses – they were putting up just 23.3 points per game.

Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, and Ayo Dosunmu just aren’t functioning well together.

Look at the total plus-minus of all five of them.

LaVine has the best mark with a minus-18, and most of that has come with coach Billy Donovan staggering LaVine with the second unit.

DeRozan is a minus-51, Vucevic a minus-52, Williams is at minus-88, while Dosunmu is a team-worst minus-92.

Donovan isn’t benching any of his “Big Three,” so that means either Williams or Dosunmu – or possibly both – need to be bumped to the bench.

So who moves into the starting lineup? That’s where it gets tricky and falls back on executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and the roster he built.

Veteran Goran Dragic has the best plus-minus on the team (plus-66), but is statistically the worst defender. Alex Caruso and Javonte Green are the two best defenders, but then makes that starting group very small.

For Donovan to fix one thing it hurts somewhere else.

The most logical move would be go with Green as the starter over Williams just because of the energy he seems to bring to the rest of his teammates. Tom Thibodeau used to use Keith Bogans as an igniter with that 2010-11 Bulls team, and Green might do the same. At this point it’s about function, not talent.

2. All eyes on Ayo – Dosunmu is in a tough spot, admittedly dealing with opposing teams now game-planning for him on a nightly basis, and struggling in adjusting to the adjustments.

Simply starting Dragic would hurt a defense that is already shaky, as well as put heavier minutes on the 36-year-old veteran.

Donovan has shown that he’ll close games with Dragic lately, however, and that has to continue.

Dosunmu’s been a great story since he was drafted in the second round in 2021, but until he starts getting a better grasp of the moment, he needs to sit late.

It doesn’t hurt that Dragic was shooting 44.4% from three-point range in the fourth quarter this season, while Dosunmu was just 1-of-9 (11.1%).

3. Don’t wait until February – The Bulls have arguably had one of the tougher schedules to start the season, and are still without Lonzo Ball (left knee).

It’s too early to start making phone calls around the league and making a big splash, but hopefully Karnisovas & Co. aren’t still holding onto this idea of “continuity” being the way forward.

Ball’s return is still very vague, and even if he returns sooner than later, his presence doesn’t fix everything.

Front offices far too often fall in love with their own rosters until it’s too late. If Karnisovas does that and the trade deadline comes and goes without a major move, he’ll find out how much that love hurts.

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The Sun-Times’ experts offer their picks for the Bears’ game Sunday at the 4-6 Falcons:

RICK MORRISSEY

Falcons, 27-24

Basically, the Bears and the Falcons are the same team. Very good rushing attack. Mediocre passing team. Bad defense. I’m not doing a good job of selling this game, am I. Well, welcome to the NFL. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you like your yards to come with a cloud of dust, this one’s for you.Season: 6-4.

RICK TELANDER

Bears, 27-25

Justin Fields was born in Georgia. Does that matter to the kid? Can he run for 200 yards in his pro homecoming to the Peach State? But even 300 yards won’t matter if the Bears defense can’t stop the talented but well-traveled, ever-dubious Marcus Mariota. A little luck wouldn’t hurt. And a made extra point when needed. Season: 5-5.

LAURENCE HOLMES

Bears, 28-27

Atlanta is not a good team, but they are still technically playing for something. I’d like to see the Bears cut it loose in the passing game. The Falcons defense should allow for that. The Bears have struggled with finishing games. Here’s hoping this week is the breakthrough. Season: 5-5.

PATRICK FINLEY

Falcons, 42-40

The Lions allow the most yards in the NFL, the Falcons the second-most. Unlike their brethren in Honolulu blue, though, the Falcons are only one game out of first place in their division. Crazy. Season: 5-5.

JASON LIESER

Bears, 31-27

The Bears’ offense is good for about 30 points per game right now. Also, their defense is good to give up 30 or so. That’s far from a formula for success, but it does make for entertaining Sundays. Season: 5-5.

MARK POTASH

Bears, 34-31

Another benefit of having a dangerous quarterback and productive offense that Bears fans aren’t used — both work better indoors. But they’ll have to find a way to stop Mariota, who is due for a good game. There’s always something. Season: 6-4.

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Cole Kmet had been left for dead by Bears fans after his rookie season, he emerged as the 12th most productive TE in yards last year and now is second in the NFL in TDs for a tight end.

Chicago Bears fans have been mocking Cole Kmet as a failure since the day he stepped on the field in Chicago.  Because Kmet didn’t immediately become a Travis Kelce-level sensation, he was seen unfairly seen as a failure.  And yet Cole Kmet is producing at an above-average level for a tight in his third season in the NFL.

Cole Kmet racked up 612 yards and zero touchdowns a year ago is now second in the NFL among tight ends with five touchdowns.  Only Travis Kelce is ahead of Kmet with eight touchdowns.

For a player who was criticized for not being able to find the endzone Justin Fields has found Kmet as a key contributor.  Kmet has started to reach the peak of his powers in his third year, typically the year most players hit their stride in the NFL.  Kmet is no longer one of the NFL’s best kept secrets.  

With Cole Kmet’s emergence Justin Fields now has three legitimate weapons in the passing game in Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney and Kmet.

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Patrick Williams and the Bulls seemingly caught a break on Wednesday.

All 285-pounds of one.

Hours before the Bulls took the floor at the Smoothie King Center and were blown out 124-110, the Pelicans announced that Zion Williamson would miss the game with foot soreness. It sounded like it could be a good night for the Bulls, and even better news for Williams.

Since coming into the league, Williams has faced Williamson three times. The final score has worked out for Williams, winning two of them, but the individual matchup?

One-sided would be an understatement.

Williamson had dominated the Bulls’ former No. 4 draft pick, averaging 25.3 points, six rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

That included last week’s game in which Williams did a slightly better job with the New Orleans standout, holding him to 19 points.

“[Zion] is a great player, an elite player,” coach Billy Donovan said of their meetings. “I think it’s very hard to put all that on Patrick’s shoulders.”

They didn’t have to.

Which makes the embarrassment of this latest loss even tougher to swallow.

It was New Orleans playing the second game of a back-to-back, not the Bulls (6-9). It was the Pelicans missing a franchise starter, not the Bulls.

Yet, right from the tip it was an all too familiar formula for the visiting team, which meant a lethargic looking effort from the starters.

By the time the first stanza came to an end, the Bulls were down 32-28 and all five starters were on the minus side of plus/minus, thanks to allowing the Pelicans (9-6) to hit 6-of-11 from three-point range.

A theme that carried the night, with New Orleans finishing the game a ridiculous 17-of-33 (51.5%) from long range.

There was life with the second unit, which has also been a very familiar formula. That meant the grouping of Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond, Javonte Green, Alex Caruso, along with LaVine, clawing their way back into the game.

Thanks to a 9-0 run to start the second, they did just that, actually building a five-point lead. But there it was again, the starters taking the floor and looking allergic to defense.

That first unit was back in with four minutes left in the half and the game tied, only to go into the locker room down five, summed up by one play with 24 seconds left. Trey Murphy III had a nasty block on a LaVine jumper, grabbing the loose ball, and went streaking down the floor with the dunk over Nikola Vucevic.

There was no looking back for the home team after that.

New Orleans came out for the second half on a 9-0 run, outscoring the Bulls 37-25 in that third.

C.J. McCollum led the Pelicans with 23 points, while Jonas Valanciunas added 22. Meanwhile, the Bulls got 28 from DeMar DeRozan and 25 from LaVine, but on a 9-for-22 shooting night.

The bigger concern for Donovan coming out of this third-straight loss, however, remained the lackluster effort by his starting group and with multiple days of rest and practice.

The Bulls lost to the Pelicans last Wednesday, had three days off to recover and work on things, only to come out with a dismal performance at home against Denver on Sunday. Monday would usually be an off-day with two days in between games, but Donovan brought his team into the Advocate Center on both Monday and Tuesday for extra work.

And this was again the effort given?

The Bulls won’t play again until Friday, when they host Orlando. A change to the starting lineup? More minutes for several reserves? Thursday could get very interesting.

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Alden-Hebron 47, South Beloit 38

Annawan 63, Sterling Newman 23

Aurora Central 61, LaSalle-Peru 26

Bureau Valley 43, Henry 17

Ag. Science 46, Little Village 16

Christopher 49, Murphysboro 19

Dixon 67, Mendota 10

Galena 64, Warren 21

Havana 35, Illini West (Carthage) 24

Highland Park 56, Grant 26

Huntley 50, Rockford Boylan 38

Juarez 42, Woodlawn 23

McNamara 50, Armstrong 20

Lake Zurich 52, Hampshire 36

LeRoy 45, Colfax Ridgeview 28

Lincoln-Way West 62, Joliet Central 32

Macon Meridian 49, Okaw Valley 37

Marengo 53, Belvidere North 18

Marissa/Coulterville 22, Valmeyer 13

Monmouth-Roseville 66, Aledo (Mercer County) 21

Morgan Park 54, Southland 23

Morgan Park Academy 54, Josephinum 19

Normal West 48, Normal University 19

Northside Prep 49, Mather 16

Richards 46, Thornton 36

Oregon 53, Richmond-Burton 30

Palatine 50, South Elgin 41

Peoria Heights-Quest Charter Coop 47, Roanoke-Benson 40

Piasa Southwestern 49, North Greene 28

Plainfield Central 54, Reed-Custer 21

Rock Island Alleman 37, Pleasant Plains 29

Rockford Christian 58, St. Edward 30

Rockford Guilford 67, Rochelle 29

Sullivan 49, Decatur Lutheran (LSA) 19

Tinley Park 68, Steinmetz 3

Burlington Central Tournament

Prairie Ridge 37, Larkin 30

Dundee Crown Tournament

Hononegah 46, St. Viator 38

Mundelein Tournament

Glenbrook South 62, Wheeling 33

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Illinois recruit Morez Johnson didn’t hesitate for an instant. He was answering the question before it was over: “No more building years. This is it, right now. State or bust.”

It may seem as if everyone has been hyping St. Rita’s talented young team forever, but the core duo of Johnson and James Brown are just juniors. They had an abbreviated freshman season with no playoffs due to COVID and reached a sectional final last season.

There were dominant flashes from the Mustangs last season…and then point guard Jaiden Reyna left the team in early February. He’s now playing in Indiana.

“We went through some adversity that you can’t see coming but I was proud we got through it all,” St. Rita coach Roshawn Russell said. “Obviously we wanted to go further but being in a sectional championship game that could have gone either way was a great learning experience.”

The Mustangs have loaded up with three major transfers: Nojus Indrusaitis from Lemont, Nashawn Holmes from Homewood-Flossmoor and Joseph Worthington-White from Indiana.

“Holmes is a great human and a really good player,” Russell said. “Worthington is just a throwback guard. He finds guys, is a table-setter and makes the game a lot easier for us.”

Indrusaitis is already a star. The 6-6 junior led Lemont to the Class 3A supersectionals last season and nearly spearheaded an upset of Simeon.

Indrusaitis’ arrival gives the Mustangs the top three juniors in the state and has catapulted them into several preseason national rankings. The team is as loaded with prospects as a prep school powerhouse.

“[The national ranking] is a big deal to us especially because we are the only nationally-ranked team in Illinois,” Brown said. “But we have to prove that we’re as good as people think we are.”

Brown is ranked 27th in the country by 247sports.com, Johnson is 58th and Indrusaitis checks in at 81. Sophomore Melvin Bell is the 59th-ranked player in the country in the sophomore class.

Bell is injured and not expected to return until the second half of the season but another sophomore, guard Amari Edwards, emerged late last season after Reyna transferred.

Brown was taller than Johnson freshman year but both are now 6-9 and much stronger than last season. The duo plays with Indrusaitis on the Meanstreets club basketball team, so the transition to high school teammates has been easy.

“Everybody has been very welcoming,” Indrusaitis said. “I’ve been working on defense, that’s where I need to get better. It’s just going to take time and effort.”

St. Rita’s season opens with a major challenge. The Mustangs face highly-regarded Joliet West and Michigan State recruit Jeremy Fears Jr. on Wednesday at the prestigious Tournament of Champions in Washington, Ill.

“The key is to play together and stay within ourselves and not have anyone try and be the hero,” Brown said.

St. Rita has the talent to dominate the state for the next two seasons. And to Russell’s credit, the school has chosen to play up in Class 4A. That’s something the Public League powers have not done recently.

“We are bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic and just older,” Russell said. “You’ll see the difference in the overall feel for the game. The fans will enjoy watching this team. We are appreciative of the national rankings but we have to do it on the court. Rankings are one thing. Production is another.”

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Seth Jones can’t come back soon enough for the Blackhawks’ undermanned defense. His absence was more obvious than ever Wednesday in the Hawks’ 5-2 loss to the Blues, their eighth defeat in their last nine meetings against their rival to the south.

But his return is not imminent, no matter how badly the Hawks wish it was.

Two and a half weeks into his estimated three-to-four week absence, X-ray imagery on Jones’ fractured right thumb is still cloudy, and he’s still feeling discomfort when making hard passes.

He’ll get another X-ray in a week or so, hoping for more conclusive results — but by then, he’ll already be on the long end of that estimated timeline. Coach Luke Richardson admitted Wednesday that Seth Jones is probably at least 10-to-14 days away.

“Right from the beginning, we have [missed him], but it shows now,” Richardson said. “We’re trying to bide our time to get him back. It’s a collective group, not just the six ‘D’ that are in the lineup, but we have to play better defensively, kill those plays and get going on the offense — so we’re not in that ‘D’-zone for a long time, so we don’t overwork guys that are playing a little bit more and higher up on the totem pole [than normal].”

The Hawks miraculously went 3-0-1 last January when Jones missed some time due to COVID-19. Unsurprisingly, they’re faring much worse without him this season. Their loss Wednesday dropped them to 2-4-2 since Oct. 30, when he was ruled out.

Caleb Jones, in particular, has fallen into the worst stretch of his Hawks career without his brother by his side. He followed up his egregious turnover Monday against the Hurricanes with a night full of blunders Wednesday. All five Blues goals were scored with him on the ice, making him just the third NHL player this season to finish a game minus-five or worse.

“The first ones were tough luck,” Richardson said. “And then things happen. Later in the game, he could definitely be better.”

But even other than Caleb Jones, Alec Regula also struggled in his reinsertion into the lineup Wednesday, and Jack Johnson remains heavily overworked and overslotted as a top-pairing defenseman alongside Jake McCabe.

The Hawks’ defense would hardly be elite with Seth Jones, but it’s especially laden with holes during his absence.

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One of the Chicago Blackhawks first-round picks was involved in a trade, Wednesday, and the move does not affect his NHL rights.

The Seattle Thunderbirds have added a seventh NHL prospect to their roster, acquiring Chicago Blackhawks prospect Nolan Allan, Wednesday, in a blockbuster deal with the Prince Albert Raiders.

Allan, 19, who hails from Davidson, Sask., departs the Raiders having skated in 162 WHL regular season contests.

The outgoing Prince Albert captain, and former third-overall WHL Draft pick, had recorded 11 points (4G-7A) in 16 appearances with the Raiders this season.

He was selected by Blackhawks in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, and in Seattle joins fellow Chicago first-round pick Kevin Korchinski on the Thunderbirds blueline.

The Blackhawks will now be able to keep an eye on two of their blue line prospects in one spot. In addition, the franchise might be able to see how they play together. Both players have already signed their entry-level contracts with Chicago (which, retain their rights).

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Marian Hossa has always done most things faster and better than everyone else. His determination, skill and efficiency powered him to a Hall of Fame-caliber career, headlined by three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks.

So when he recently set out to write a book about his hockey journey, he was jarred to discover he couldn’t vastly outperform expectations with that, too.

“I asked the publisher, ‘How long does it take to write a book?'” Hossa, now 43, recounted Wednesday with a smile. “They told me, ‘Oh, a year and a half [or] two years.’ I said, ‘No way. I have to do it way faster than that.’

“You know what? They were right. It took a long time. There were lots of memories coming back. I said, ‘I want to put this there; I want to delete this.’ I went back and forth so many times.”

Hossa eventually succeeded with the writing process, just as he eventually has with every other venture in his life, and his autobiography — “My Journey from Trenc?n to the Hall of Fame,” co-authored by Scott Powers — is now published and available for purchase.

But the book release arguably won’t be the biggest moment of Hossa’s year. That will come Sunday when the Hawks raise a banner bearing his No. 81 to the United Center rafters, making him the eighth player in team history to have his jersey retired.

Hossa has anticipated this moment for seven months, ever since Hawks chairman Rocky Wirtz surprised him with the news in April — shortly before he signed a one-day contract to unofficially retire as a Hawk.

At that time, he seemed awestruck at the thought. Now, just a few days away from the special night — the retirement ceremony will begin at 4:30 on Sunday prior to the Hawks-Penguins game at 6:00 — he still does. He’s staying in Chicago for a couple weeks, doing several book signings around the city among other adventures, and while attending Hawks-Hurricanes on Monday, his eyes couldn’t help but drift upward.

“When I look up at those jerseys hanging there, it just hit me [during] that game,” he said. “It’s just an amazing feeling [knowing that] in a few days, my ’81’ will be there.”

“I’m not sure [how I’ll feel then], but right now, I feel great. I’m sure everything’s going to come down to that moment, but I’ll surprise myself.”

As soon as Hossa’s ceremony ends, a debate will begin in earnest about which other core players from the Hawks’ dynasty era should eventually receive the same honor. It’s such a big deal — with so many differing opinions — that the Hawks are forming a group whose sole job will be to determine a “proper, objective way to honor everyone,” CEO Danny Wirtz said last month. Hossa unsurprisingly dodged a question Wednesday about who he thinks should join him as permanent Hawks royalty.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are two absolute locks for jersey retirement, however, and they’re also still close friends with Hossa.

“It’ll be fun to celebrate his amazing career here in Chicago, and also see him and a bunch of our old teammates,” Kane said Wednesday. “He obviously had an amazing career here and was probably one of the best free agent signings in Chicago sports history. [Considering] the way he played the game, the teammate he was, [he’s] so definitely deserving of that honor.”

Hossa is still discussing with Hawks management the possibility of a role moving forward with the organization, something that has been teased since his April ceremony.

He’s keenly aware times are changing, though. Instead of making them himself, he now watches Hawks highlights each morning while cooking breakfast for his three daughters at home in Slovakia. He barely skates now because of his skin condition, suiting up in full equipment only for a pair of exhibition games against Jaromir Jagr’s Czech team.

And hanging around the United Center locker room this week, he hasn’t needed to mingle much. Kane and Toews are his only former teammates left, although he did also play against now-coach Luke Richardson during the earlier portion of his career.

That sense of generational turnover is really what inspired him to undertake the book project, which had previously seemed totally premature to him. He’s part of history now, something Sunday’s banner-hosting will cement.

“The time was right,” he said. “My third daughter was born just two months ago, and obviously my other daughters are young, too. They don’t remember a lot of things from hockey because they were so small, right? So I just felt it would be a good legacy to leave behind me. Especially when the little one reads it, she will understand who Marian Hossa was.”

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All eyes won’t be on Bears rookie Trestan Ebner when he replaces running back Khalil Herbert in the hottest backfield in the NFL this week. Justin Fields is the star of that show. But Ebner knows he has a big job ahead of him.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous,” the sixth-round draft pick from Baylor said. “It’s little nerve-wracking because you just want to get in and execute. You know what the running game means to his offense. So I don’t want to let anybody down. I like making my fellow running backs proud.”

The 5-11, 206-pound Ebner will be getting that opportunity against the Falcons on Sunday at Mercedes Benz Stadium after Herbert injured his hip on a kickoff return against the Lions last week. Herbert is on injured reserve — a mandatory four-game absence through the Bears’ game against the Eagles on Dec. 18.

But Bears coach Matt Eberflus was optimistic Herbert would return. “We feel comfortable with it,” Eberflus said. “We don’t know exactly [when]. And that can change. But we like where he is and he’s in a good spot.”

Ebner actually was the featured back in practice Wednesday, because David Montgomery was out for personal reasons. Montgomery likely will play against the Falcons, but Herbert’s absence leaves a sizable hole.

The second-year running back from Virginia Tech via Kansas has 108 carries for 643 yards (6.0 average) and four touchdowns this season. He is 10th among running backs in yards and third in yards per carry. He has 19 rushes of 10 or more yards on 108 carries (one for every 5.7 carries) — the highest ratio among running backs in the NFL.

“It’s hard to replace him,” Eberflus said. “Khalil’s got a great style to him. You seen the breakouts runs, so it’s hard to replicate that. We’re just going to have to share the load with those guys.”

Ebner was one of the fastest running backs in the draft — he ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. He flashed that speed in the preseason and has 18 carries for 46 yards in the regular season.

“I’m really fast, but I have to feel it out a lot … and make the right cuts,” Ebner said. “If I can just get around the edge more this game, I think I can make some big plays this week.”

Of course, there’s much more to it than speed, and even running.

“He’s a great athlete and great running back,” Fields said. “The biggest thing with him is learning our plays, the motion shifts, because our plays are wordy,, so him just digesting that as a rookie coming in.

“And in protection, too — knowing where he has to go if we get four-week, four to a side. So just knowing his job. I think he’s grown since Week 1 or from even the preseason. He’s an explosive running back. He’s great with his hands, so I’m excited to see what he does this week.”

Ebner said he did a lot of pass blocking at Baylor and is ready for the challenge. “I always heard it was a knock on me, but I never gave up a sack in five years at Baylor. I could probably fix a lot of technique things, but as far as getting in there and hitting somebody and fighting, I don’t have a problem with that.”

But Ebner also could add a pass-catching element to a developing offense. He was a wide receiver in high school, returned three kickoffs for touchdowns at Baylor and loves the open field.

“That’s a role I really love,” he said. “Hopefully we can morph into more of that as this season goes or next year, because I would love to catch passes out of the backfield. I think that could take this offense to the next level.”

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