Chicago Sports

Will Marko Simonovic get a chance to crack the Bulls rotation this season?

Drafted 44th in the 2020 NBA draft from Montenegro, Marko Simonovic observed from the sidelines last season. He only appeared in nine games (all in garbage time), averaging 1.9 points per game and 1.1 rebounds per game. Moreover, he had to transition into the tempo of NBA action. It served as a good learning experience for the young power forward/center to build on coming into the 2022-2023 season.

Entering the summer league, Simonovic says he weighs in at 240, a 25 pound increase from his 215 pound frame a season ago. Bulking up will create more even matchups against NBA bigs. Additionally, helps a Bulls team that needs to improve their rim protection and rebounding. Andre Drummond was a good free agent add, but if Simonovic can play productively, the Bulls will have another weapon at their disposal. Additionally, their depth will be even deeper.

Montenegro may seem like a familiar location to some. Fellow teammate Nikola Vucevic has ties to Montenegro. Marko Simonovic has praised Vucevic for his mentorship and advice. Moreover, the two have trained together, fueling Marko’s growth.

Marko had a monster summer league debut against the Mavericks, scoring 27 points and adding 13 rebounds. He did struggle in the second game of the summer league against the Knicks, scoring one point and committing seven fouls. However, his play improved in today’s tilt with the Raptors as Simonovic had seven points along with three rebounds and three assists.

Marko Simonovic is still a project with a lot to learn. However, he has taken a huge step from last season and improving everyday is critical for Marko to see minutes this season. The Bulls could use another solid big. Keep on eye on Marko as a potential breakout player for Chicago.

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Did the Chicago Bears draft a future All-Pro cornerback in Kyler Gordon?

With their first pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft the Chicago Bears selected Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon to be their immediate starter next to Jaylon Johnson.  The similarities between Gordon and Johnson are quite unique.  Both played in the Pac-12, and both were drafted in the second round.  Both were slated to come in and start right away with both Gordon and Johnson seemingly up to the task.

Scanning over some of Kyler Gordon’s game tape, it becomes immediately clear why the Bears were enamored with the former Husky.  Gordon is a very smart football player with a ton of discipline.  He doesn’t bite on false movements and stutters from the wide receiver and basically knows what the WR is trying to do to get him to bite.   As a result of this fundamental discipline and intelligence, Gordon doesn’t get taken out of the play very often and certainly doesn’t get beat for touchdowns.  Gordon didn’t allow any touchdowns over the last two years.

Gordon has plenty of speed, and it’s not just straight line game speed that you see show up, he has quick feet to transition to make plays on the ball or run with the receiver down the sideline.  He shows very good acceleration out of his breaks and never seems to get out of position in transition.  He has the prerequisite smooth hips that so many scouts drool over and is very disciplined with his eyes.

As a tackler Gordon is just as strong as any other tackler from the CB position you can watch on tape.  He breaks down well and runs through the ball carrier.  He’s not afraid to be physical and doesn’t get out of position when he sets his feet to make the play.

Gordon’s overall athleticism is off the charts, He’s 5-foot-11 1/2 which is an ideal size for a corner, has a 39.5-inch vertical leap and a 10-foot-8 broad jump.  He was rated as one of the top athletic freaks in the country heading into the 2021 college football season.

Lastly Gordon plays with swagger.  He has all the confidence in the world for a CB and it shows up on tape.  It’s not arrogance, although even if he was a bit arrogant it hasn’t hurt him because he played so disciplined in college.

Overall it’s extremely hard not to get too carried away with what you see on tape with Gordon.  He portends to have the ideal package for a corner and if his transition to the NFL is as predicted the Bears’ defense will be a lot better than people are predicting.

With Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson on the roster the Bears could quickly shift money from the front seven to the secondary in the not too distant future.   Gordon represents one of those players where sometimes your own personal bias and excitement may get in the way of minor flaws he might have.  Overall though he looks like a Pro Bowl caliber CB who will be playing at a high level for the Bears for the next 10 years ala Peanut Tillman.

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The last time Cubs catcher Willson Contreras and his younger brother William played on the same team, they were kids scrounging up sticks to use as bats.

The patio doubled as a field, and they’d gather their friends to play with a plastic ball or crumpled paper wrapped in tape.

“We used to do that every single day,” Willson said. “We were just kids wanting to play baseball, dreaming of coming to the big leagues, making it [in] the big leagues and then making it to an All-Star Game. That was our dream.”

Now, they’re set to play together on the National League All-Star team next week. And they’re both lined up to start.

Fans voted in Willson as the starting catcher. William was a player ballot selection, but Phillies designated hitter Bryce Harper, who was named the starter at DH, will be inactive (broken thumb) for the game. William will take Harper’s place in the starting lineup.

While only a select few make it to the major leagues at all, it’s even rarer for brothers to share the All-Star experience.

The Contreras brothers are set to become the first siblings to appear in the All-Star Game together since Aaron and Bret Boone in 2003. They’ll also be the first brothers to play on the same All-Star team since Roberto and Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1998 and the first in the same starting lineup since the Alomar brothers in 1992.

All-Star week is going to be a whole family affair for the Contrerases.

“They deserve it more than I do, especially my mom and dad,” Willson said. “They did everything that they could to raise three kids in a poor neighborhood. And that’s not an easy job.”

William broke the news of his All-Star selection to Willson by texting him a photo of the invitation envelope on Sunday.

“It makes me even prouder of him,” Willson said. “He’s been doing a really great job in the MLB.”

In April, the Braves optioned William to Triple-A for a couple weeks, and he told Willson that he wasn’t going to go back again.

“That’s something that I really take pride in him [for],” Willson said, “because it’s not easy to say it and do it. But he’s done it, and hopefully it keeps going.”

Willson is making his third All-Star start, while this will be William’s first appearance. Willson said he’ll be happy to answer his younger brother’s questions, but he hasn’t told him what to expect.

“I want him to experience it on his own,” Willson said.

Sampson makes fourth start

Cubs right-hander Adrian Sampson came two outs shy of a quality start against the Orioles on Tuesday, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

A fourth-inning walk came back to haunt Sampson. Up next, Ram?n Ur?assent a first-pitch sinker over the wall to erase the Cubs’ one-run lead with a two-run homer.

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Police and organizers of the popular North Coast Music Festival, an annual event held Labor Day weekend in the Chicago area, said they are monitoring threats made to individuals and artists associated with the festival.

The electronic and hip-hop music festival’s account tweeted a statement in response to a warning of a shooting at the festival, scheduled for September 2-4 in Bridgeview, saying organizers have contacted law enforcement and “are handling it with the utmost seriousness.”

In the initial tweet warning of violence, screenshots of what appeared to be a Facebook post describing a shooting at the festival included racial slurs and referenced violence.

The festival is set to feature headliners Armin Van Buuren, Illenium and Porter Robinson.

“Someone’s mad about one of the performers,” Bridgeview Police Officer Guzy, who didn’t give her first name, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s all we have so far, we’re still trying to investigate and make sure it doesn’t happen.”

The individual who made the threats will be barred from purchasing tickets or entering the festival, the statement said.

“Regardless of this issue, NCMF will have extra security on hand to put the health and safety of everyone who attends the Festival as our top priority,” the statement said.

NCMF organizers didn’t immediately respond to follow-up questions about the threat.

The reported threat comes as large-scale events are under the microscope in the wake of several high-profile mass shootings across the country, including a deadly attack at an Independence Day parade in suburban Highland Park last week where seven people were killed.

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Cubs lefty Justin Steele had barely slept. He’d traveled straight from the hospital to Wrigley Field. And he couldn’t stop smiling about the birth of his son.

“It was crazy,” Steele recounted Tuesday. “I just started crying. It was the greatest day in my life.”

He still wore his hospital wrist band.

“I did not want to leave,” Steele said.

The clubhouse Tuesday afternoon was buzzing in response to Steele’s return from the paternity list. Steele’s fiancee, Libby Murphy, gave birth to their first child on Monday. It also happened to be Steele’s 27th birthday.

“Best birthday present I could ever have,” Steele said. “He’s just amazing. Beautiful baby. Just glad he’s healthy and glad that Libby’s healthy.”

Steele is scheduled to start Wednesday, in the finale of a two-game series against the Orioles at Wrigley Field. To make room on the active roster, the Cubs optioned reliever Anderson Espinoza to Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs pushed back Steele’s start for the birth of his son. After throwing 6 2/3 of one-run ball in Milwaukee last week, Steele headed back to Chicago to be with Murphy in case the baby came early. When the team headed to the West Coast to face the Dodgers, he stayed behind.

“I didn’t want to be across the country,” Steele said, “and then [have] her go into labor or something and then while I’m flying I miss the whole thing.”

Baby boy Steele – the couple is in the process of deciding on a name – was born Monday morning. New father Steele had to leave the hospital briefly that afternoon to throw a bullpen. He said he drove to Wrigley Field for the session and then right back to the hospital.

“It’s been pretty fun so far,” Steele said of fatherhood.” I’ve really enjoyed it, really enjoyed spending time with him, holding him, just talking to him, feeding him. It’s just nothing like anything else.”

In the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, fellow starting pitcher Marcus Stroman beelined to Steele’s locker to ask about the baby and his family. Steele pulled out his phone to scroll through photos. Steele did the same as he passed veteran reliever David Robertson’s locker a little while later.

Robertson, who returned home for the birth of his third child during spring training, said he warned Steele not to lose his hospital wristband: “You’re going to need that to get back in or they won’t hand you your baby.”

The other fathers in the locker room have been giving Steele advice here and there for the past few months, he said. Other kernels of wisdom have included: Life’s never going to be the same again. You’re never going to sleep.

“It’s amazing,” said third baseman Patrick Wisdom, whose youngest daughter is about a year old. “I still remember it like it was yesterday. So, it’s just sharing the emotions, those feelings that arise, and just to see how excited and elated he is to show me pictures of his newborn. It’s just awesome. It gives me goosebumps right now because it’s so special.”

Some of the truisms Steele’s teammates shared apply to all new parents. But Steele’s line of work presents its own quirks. Players can stay on the paternity list for a maximum of three days.

Steele hopes to get back to the hospital Tuesday night before getting a good night’s sleep in his own bed before his start.

“That stuff takes you back to your own memories of your own kids,” Cubs manager David Ross said, “and especially in-season births and stuff like that. Really unique. So, happy for him and his [fiancee.] We’ll be happy to get him back too tomorrow.”

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A man was shot twice Tuesday evening in the East Side neighborhood after he fired gunshots at a 49-year-old man, police said.

About 5:10 p.m., the 49-year-old man was in the parking lot of a restaurant in the 4000 block of East 106th Street when a vehicle drove up to him and a 19-year-old man exited the car and fired gunshots, police said.

The 49-year-old, who police said has a valid concealed carry license, returned gunfire, striking the 19-year-old man in the right hand and left foot.

The 19-year-old was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said. The other man was not injured.

Area Two detectives are investigating.

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CLEVELAND — Dylan Cease is as low key as they come, but he doesn’t need to find reasons to get amped up.

Two things got him going Tuesday, however — an All-Star snub this week and the White Sox’ near desperate need for a win after dropping the first two games of their road trip, including a lackluster loss in Game 1 of a split doubleheader against the Guardians.

Backed by a two-run homer from Jose Abreu against former Sox prospect Konnor Pilkington in the first and a solo shot from Josh Harrison in the second, Cease pitched 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, five-hit ball. Cease struck out nine, walked three and lowered his ERA to 2.30, exiting with a 4-0 lead.

“Baseball’s more fun when you have good results and this is definitely the most competent I’ve ever been as a pitcher, the best numbers I’ve put up, all of that,” Cease said Monday. “It’s a little disappointing that as a team we aren’t where we want to be. That would be the most fun, good numbers and team’s doing well. But I’m pretty proud of myself and happy with a lot of the adjustments that have been made.”

Cease threw 106 pitches — 57 sliders, 35 fastballs, 13 curveballs and one changeup. His last pitch was a fastball for ball four to former Sox prospect Alex Call, loading the bases with two outs in the sixth. Reynaldo Lopez struck out Luke Maile to keep Cleveland off the scoreboard.

Cease is slated to make his next start Sunday, when the Sox complete a four-game series at Minnesota heading into the All-Star break. In nine starts since May 29, Cease has allowed three earned runs with 71 strikeouts over 51 innings.

Grandal shifts to Charlotte

Catcher Yasmani Grandal’s rehab assignment transitioned from Double-A Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte. Grandal, who went on IL because of back spasms, was 3-for-7 with six walks in 13 plate appearances at Birmingham. Grandal is expetced to DH twice and catch three times in his next five games.

Grandal’s earliest return is expected to be July 22 after the All-Star break.

This and that

Outfield prospect Oscar Colas was promoted to Double-A Birmingham. Colas, who batted .312/.369/.475 with an .845 OPS at High-A Winston-Salem, will represent the Sox in the Futures Game.

*Shortstop Colson Montgomery is the No. 53 prospect in Baseball America’s latest list of top 100 players, marking the first time this year the Sox have a top 100 player. Montgomery homered in his first at-bat Tuesday, extending his on-base streak to 46 games between Low-A Kannapolis and Winston-Salem (16 games).

*The Sox traded Pilkington to Cleveland for second baseman Cesar Hernandez at the trade deadline last season.

*In Game 1, Shane Bieber became the first Cleveland pitcher to throw a nine-inning complete game with fewer than 100 pitches since Corey Kluber on Aug. 4, 2018.

*Danny Mendick underwent surgery to repair his torn UCL.

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Anders Sorensen coaches hockey. But sometimes he feels like he’s coaching golf.

“What I’m here for is helping these players,” he said. “We’re here to serve them. I jokingly sometimes tell those guys, ‘We’re your caddies. We’re telling you to hit the 7-iron. If you want to hit the 8-iron, that’s up to you.'”

That intense focus on development — sometimes above winning –is the reality of being a minor-league coach, especially one in an ultra-rebuilding organization like the Blackhawks.

But after steadily working his way up, Sorensen –who was on Tuesday officially named the Rockford IceHogs’ new coach, after spending most of last season with an interim tag –has embraced that reality.

The 47-year-old native of Sweden spent five years as a Hawks development coach and another three as an IceHogs assistant before finally taking over last November, when the Hawks fired Jeremy Colliton and moved former IceHogs coach Derek King up to the NHL.

From that point on, with Sorensen in charge, the extremely inexperienced IceHogs went 35-26-5, made the AHL playoffs and advanced to the second round before succumbing to a stacked Chicago Wolves team.

“It has been a long road, for sure, but it has been good, too, because…I’ve learned in a lot of different areas of the organization,” Sorensen said.

“The biggest thing is how long it can take for some players to develop into full-time NHL players. That’s something that [the Hawks have] stressed and they’re willing to look at now. At the end of the day, every player’s going to be different. I don’t think you can draw a line over, ‘OK, we’re going to use this guy one [year] in Rockford, and then he’s coming up.’ They have different development paths, all the different players.”

Hawks management told Sorensen shortly after the season they wanted to keep him as head coach, but it took some time to work out his contract. Assistant coach Jared Nightingale will also stay but the rest of Sorensen’s staff isn’t formalized yet.

Sorensen said he’ll meet soon with new Hawks coach Luke Richardson to talk about aligning systems and strategies between the two affiliates.

Scotty Bowman departs

Scotty Bowman, ex-general manager Stan Bowman’s father and the winningest coach in NHL history, won’t remain a Hawks senior advisor moving forward after all.

Despite initial indications otherwise from the team, Bowman tweeted Tuesday he resigned from the Hawks on July 1 because he “decided it was time to move on.” He added he’d still “like to stay involved” in the NHL. The 88-year-old hockey icon currently lives in the Tampa Bay area.

Colton Dach in weird spot

If Kirby Dach’s trade to the Canadiens just three years into his NHL career was shocking for Kirby, it was even stranger for his younger brother, Colton.

Just last summer, the Dach family celebrated Colton being drafted into the same Hawks organization where Kirby already played. Their father, Dale, said last month he couldn’t “even describe the feeling” of pride.

Now, the dream of the Dach brothers playing together in the NHL has disappeared –yet Colton still remains with the Hawks, powering ahead. He has been noticeable during development camp this week.

“As a family, we were a little shellshocked the first few minutes [after the trade],” Colton said Tuesday. “We let it sink in and slowly realized what was really going down.

“It’s kind of upsetting. You think you’re going to play your career with your brother and everything like that. But it’s a new path for me, so I’m excited.”

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Former Bears punter/tight end Bob Parsons, whose NFL record of 114 punts set in 1981 still stands, died last Friday at 72.

Parsons, a fifth-round draft pick out of Penn State, played for the Bears from 1972-83 — he was a tight end from 1972-77 and the Bears’ full-time punter from 1974-83. He played in 167 consecutive games — a franchise record at the time –before he was cut by Mike Ditka with two games left in the 1983 season after Ditka was miffed that Parsons had contacted the USFL’s Chicago Blitz about a coaching job.

Parsons, who lived in Lake Zurich in retirement, led the NFL in punts in 1975 (93), 1981 (114) and 1982 (58 in a strike-shortened season), when he averaged a career-best 41.2 yards per punt. The record for most punts in a season was tied by Chad Stanley of the expansion Houston Texans in 2002. Parsons led the NFL in punts inside the 20 in 1979 (26) and 1981 (31).

His 884 career punts is still the franchise record. His 81-yard punt against the Patriots in 1982 was the second-longest in franchise history at the time and still is third today.

Parsons was a back-up quarterback at Penn State who converted to tight end as a senior. He completed 7-of-13 passes for 131 yards on fake punts in his career, including 6-of-6 in 1976-77.

His 32-yard pass to Steve Schubert against the Buccaneers in 1977 led to Walter Payton’s three-yard touchdown that clinched a 10-0 victory during the Bears’ glorious mad dash to their first playoff berth since 1963. He also had a 22-yard pass to Doug Buffone in the Bears’ 42-6 victory over the Cardinals in the 1979 finale that clinched a playoff berth.

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The Blackhawks’ chaotic July of player movement isn’t finished yet.

With only 33 (out of a maximum 50) contracts currently on the books –and only two restricted free agents, Philipp Kurashev and Caleb Jones, to sign eventually –the Hawks need to accumulate more players to fill out their organizational depth chart.

That could lead to general manager Kyle Davidson to be somewhat active when the NHL’s unrestricted free agency market opens Wednesday.

One thing the Hawks absolutely need is a second goaltender to support Petr Mrazek, although UFA-to-be Kevin Lankinen could still be re-signed. They might not have many better options.

League-wide, the goalie market has shifted way out of balance, with many teams searching for goaltending help but few quality goalies available. The Maple Leafs, Capitals and Oilers are all desperate. Nonetheless, lower-tier UFAs like Martin Jones, Thomas Greiss or Dustin Tokarski might fit the Hawks’ hole.

The Hawks also likely need to acquire a few veteran forwards to simply field a full roster.

They currently employ only three forwards making more than $1.2 million (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Tyler Johnson), only eight who have played in 50 career NHL games (those three plus Sam Lafferty, Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, Jujhar Khaira and MacKenzie Entwistle) and only 16 total. Starting the season with those numbers would be irresponsible, regardless of the tanking objective.

There are tons of UFA forwards that could be considered, ranging from familiar face Mattias Janmark to reclamation project Ondrej Kase to dozens more, but the Hawks will likely make their decisions after gauging the market. They’ll want to pick up scraps on the cheap rather than barge into bidding wars. Eventually, they could try to flip their short-term signings for draft picks at the 2023 trade deadline.

The hottest-burning question, however, is whether Kane and Toews will approach Davidson requesting to be traded, now that they’ve seen the intense degree of rebuilding occurring around them.

So far, the two longtime stars and their representation have stayed mum, and Davidson has argued the case that their continued presence brings value in leadership and mentorship. But it would be understandable if they did decide they wanted out.

If Davidson is to have any reasonable chance of moving their $10.5 million cap hits, he’d need to do it soon, before other teams commit virtually all their already-limited cap space to free agents.

Conversely, the Hawks may consider taking on other teams’ bad contracts if they can receive an asset for doing so.

The Flyers are desperately trying to move out former star forward James van Riemsdyk, who has one year left at $7 million, to make a run at current star UFA Johnny Gaudreau. The Hawks are one of few teams in a position to help, and it sounds like they’re looking into it.

Even beyond Philadelphia, the contract-dump market is teeming with possibilities. The Penguins need to dump a defenseman — most likely Marcus Pettersson, with three years left at $4 million. The Bruins probably need to move one of defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (two years left at $3.7 million), defenseman Mike Reilly (two years left at $3 million) or forward Craig Smith (one year left at $3.1 million).

Contracts that are probably too long for the Hawks’ liking, but might still be in play elsewhere, are Sergei Bobrovsky’s with the Panthers (four years left at $10 million) and William Karlsson’s with the Golden Knights (five years left at $5.9 million). When it comes to Vegas, perhaps no-longer-needed backup goalie Laurent Broissoit (one year left at $2.3 million) could fit both the Hawks and Knights’ needs.

The Hawks could even look into reacquiring Brent Seabrook’s contract (two years left on long-term injured reserve at $6.9 million) from the Lightning, funny as that circumstance would be.

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