The Last Dance: 3 things we learned from Parts 1 and 2on April 20, 2020 at 10:00 am

The Last Dance (Jonathan Daniel /Allsport)

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ESPN’s “The Last Dance’ kicked off with parts one and two Sunday night. What did we learn about Michael Jordan and the ’97-’98 Chicago Bulls?

Sunday night, Chicago Bulls fans were able to see the first two installments of ESPN’s much-anticipated documentary, “The Last Dance.” The series documents the Bulls’ sixth championship season with Michael Jordan, before things changed drastically.

Parts 1 and 2 had us wanting more by the end, and we’ll get the next two episodes next Sunday night. But, for now, let’s look back at three major takeaways from the documentary’s first two parts.

1. The Bulls were a wreck before Michael Jordan

Before the Bulls drafted Jordan, the team was a complete mess — in every sense of the word. They weren’t just a losing organization, they were non-existent in the city of Chicago.

Part 1 taught us that the city was obviously crazy about the Chicago Bears, who would go on to have a legendary 1985 season of course. The North side loved the Cubs. The South side loved the White Sox. The Blackhawks had a fan base.

But, the Bulls? The stadium was maybe one-third full for games night-in and night-out.

Enter: Jordan.

Now, it took a little time that first season before the team turned the city back in their favor. Jordan recalled one night, as a rookie, where the team was on the road. Jordan said he was walking up and down the halls of a hotel and finally knocked on a door, looking for his teammates.

He said when the door opened, he saw his teammates along with lines of cocaine, some smoking weed and, unsurprisingly, women. He said he saw things he had never seen before until that night in a hotel room. The Bulls weren’t just a wreck on the court, but off the court as well. They were a laughing stock.

Before the end of the season, though, the Bulls were selling out the United Center. All it took was one Michael Jordan, who would go on to win the 1984-85 Rookie of the Year.

Next: No. 2: The Front Office

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Chicago Cubs Draft: Louisville’s Bobby Miller pro comparisonson April 20, 2020 at 2:00 pm

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Louisville’s Bobby Miller presents an intriguing option for the Chicago Cubs in the first round as a potential starter or high-leverage reliever.

Ranked as the 28th best prospect in this draft class by Baseball America, Louisville’s Bobby Miller has the size of a prototypical starting pitcher and could be targeted by the Chicago Cubs with the 16th overall pick. He’s a local guy and went to McHenry High School, so he wouldn’t have to go far.

As a true freshman, he made 17 appearances – including nine starts – and struck out 55 batters in 66.2 innings while limiting opponents to a .198 average. He walked 21 batters, which equates to 2.8 batters over nine innings. Miller was named a Freshman All-American by three media outlets and participated in the Cape Cod League that summer.

He appeared in four games – including one start – and struck out ten batters in 16.0 innings. He also walked seven batters.

The following year on campus, Miller made 20 appearances – including 12 starts – and struck out 86 batters in 80.0 innings. His walk rate increased to 4.3 BB/9, but he limited batters to a .204 average.

Transitioning into Louisville’s rotation, Miller made four starts this year before the shutdown. In 23.1 innings, he struck out 34 batters and walked nine batters (3.5 BB/9) and limited batters to a .181 average. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, has the body of a starting pitcher, but he needs to harness the command of his pitches, obviously.

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Per BA, his fastball touches the upper 90s with late tailing action, and he complements that with an 85-mph changeup and an above-average slider. He has shown flashes of utter dominance, as demonstrated in his eight innings of no-hit ball to help Louisville advance to the College World Series last June.

In terms of delivery, Miller has a long throwing motion that eventually releases from the 3/4 arm slot. There’s a considerable difference in his delivery from the stretch with his leg kick almost non-existent versus with no one on base.

Next: Cubs Draft: Vanderbilt’s Jake Eder pro comparisons

As a starting pitcher, Miller profiles closest to Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez, but as a reliever, he profiles closest to Shane Greene.

Rodriguez 2019: 3.81 ERA, 8.6 H/9, 1.1 HR/9, 3.3 BB/9, 9.4 K/9

Greene 2019: 2.30 ERA, 6.7 H/9, 1.2 HR/9, 2.5 BB/9, 9.3 K/9

Miller Louisville career: 3.28 ERA, 6.5 H/9, 0.8 HR/9, 3.6 BB/9, 9.3 K/9

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Chicago Blackhawks: Time to bring back Dustin Byfuglien?on April 20, 2020 at 1:00 pm

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The Chicago Blackhawks need some help on the blue line and an old friend just became available. Could Dustin Byfuglien be an option for them?

The Chicago Blackhawks lost some important players after their run to the Stanley Cup in 2010. The biggest was Dustin Byfuglien. He ended up signing with the Atlanta Thrashers ahead of the 2010-11 season as a defending champion. Atlanta moved to become the Winnipeg Jets one year later where he would really become a superstar. He was great with Chicago and Winnipeg throughout his somewhat strange career.

Aside from being forced out of Chicago to go to a team that would relocate, there is another thing that made his career a little unique. In his transition to another team, he completely switched to a different position. It isn’t like he switched from center to wing either, he moved from forward to defensemen. He was a good forward but he became a great defenseman. He was so good that he had Norris Trophy votes six times throughout his career, although he never ended up winning it.

Well, last week the Winnipeg Jets and the National Hockey League made an announcement. Right before the season, Byfuglien took a personal leave of absence because he needed a break from the game. He was granted that leave by the Winnipeg Jets but after a while, they had to formally suspend him for the good of their hockey team. The NHL and NHL Players Association mutually agreed to terminate Byfuglien’s contract. He is a free agent.

Now that begs the big question. Is he going to continue playing or is he going to retire? He is 35 years old and had played in the National Hockey League for 14 years before taking this year off. He has won the Stanley Cup so needing to get that done is checked off his list. A lot of people want to know if the Hawks should bring him back for one little farewell tour with his old team.

A lot of people think that is a good idea but the honest answer is that it probably isn’t a good idea. At 35 years old, he really doesn’t fit the direction that the Hawks should be going in. He is still a very good defenseman but this Hawks blue line is about to get a lot younger. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are both on the older side now and Calvin de Haan will be 29 in a few weeks. Outside of them, Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell, and Connor Murphy are much younger and that is the direction that they seem to be going in.

Byfuglien might be able to help in the short term but it is probably better in the long term for some of the young kids to continue getting minutes to grow their game. Byfuglien will be able to find a home if he wants to resume playing hockey in 2020-21 but the Blackhawks probably aren’t the best fit for him anymore.

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Chicago Bears: Three trade packages for Leonard Fournetteon April 20, 2020 at 12:00 pm

ATLANTA, GA – DECEMBER 22: Leonard Fournette #27 of the Jacksonville Jaguars rushes during the first half of a game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

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The Chicago Bears could use some of their capital to add an elite running back like Leonard Fournette to help out their poor offense.

The Chicago Bears had no offense worth speaking of in 2019. Their defense was still really good but the lack of help from the offense clearly wore them out. They were on the field way too much thanks to the offense’s inability to move the ball enough. They need help with that otherwise they are going to have more of the same in 2020.

The 2020 Draft is coming up this week so naturally, there are some trade rumors swirling around the National Football league. One of the latest ones that might have some steam behind it is that of Leonard Fournette being traded away from the Jacksonville Jaguars. There have been people saying that it is a possibility and that the Bears could be a landing spot.

Well, the Bears could use anything to help them with their offense. It was so bad in 2019 that they should be looking to do anything to help it. They already made a trade with the Jaguars this offseason when they acquired Nick Foles. Foles is going to come in and compete with Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job but either one would need some help.

Fournette is one of the best backs in the NFL who probably wants a chance to play on a good football team. He had 1125 yards on 265 attempts in 2019 with a bad Jacksonville offense. He could come in and be a part of a good trio of running backs with Tarik Cohen and David Montgomery. Even if they traded one of those two in exchange for Fournette, it would form a formidable duo. These are three packages that could get the deal done between the Bears and Jaguars:

Next: Trade 1

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Chicago Bulls: The Last Dance gets right into Jerry Krause’s big mistakeon April 20, 2020 at 11:30 am

The Last Dance (JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls themed documentary called “The Last Dance” premiered last night and the insight was crazy. Especially involving former GM Jerry Krause.

Before we get going, it is fair to say that ESPN hit a home run with their documentary called “The Last Dance”. The Chicago Bulls team that won its sixth title in an eight-year span is being highlighted over five weeks with two episodes coming out every Sunday for the duration of those five weeks. The first two episodes premiered and were very cool. There were so many likable people associated with that team.

One man who was not very likable, from the way the documentary made it seem, was Jerry Krause. He was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls during the entire dynasty. Now, before the criticism comes in, it has to be noted that he was the man responsible for putting together one of the greatest teams in the history of American professional athletics. That 90’s Bull’s run of dominance was amazing and something we will likely never see again from any of our teams.

With that said, Krause ruined it. He signed Phil Jackson, the Bulls legendary coach, to a one year deal for the 1997-98 season but made it clear that it would be his last year no matter what. He claimed that they could go 82-0 and Phil would still not be back. That makes it seem clear that there was drama but it sounds like Krause was over the Bulls dynasty before it was even over. It was also never something handled by Bulls’ owner Jerry Reinsdorf which is annoying as a fan.

There is also the notion that he seemed to want to rebuild the team in the middle of a dynasty. All of this friction made it where the 1998 championship would be the last one that the Bulls ever came close to winning. If Krause didn’t think he needed either Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen to win titles, he was big wrong.

“The Last Dance” documentary wasted no time getting into Krause’s antics. The show got right into the apparent friction that he had with many people involved in the organization. It really makes you wonder what it was that happened to make Krause so willing to blow it up besides maybe not being able to take a joke. It was definitely interesting to hear, however, how things started to fall apart before they even won their last title.

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Chicago Bears NFL Draft: Final QB rankings, possible trade includedon April 20, 2020 at 11:00 am

Chicago Bears (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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The chance of the Chicago Bears drafting a quarterback this year remains a little unknown, but we finalize our rankings, taking a possible trade into play.

A month ago, most would have assumed there was a decent chance at the Chicago Bears drafting a quarterback in this year’s upcoming draft. The team was coming off a season which saw Mitchell Trubisky struggle mightily and, regardless of who you think is truly to blame, might be getting set for his last year in Chicago.

However, general manager Ryan Pace metaphorically put all of his marbles into one basket by dealing for veteran Nick Foles — “all of his marbles” meaning his third-most valuable draft pick, a compensatory fourth rounder.

Foles comes in as what most would assume the favorite to win the starting job, even though both Pace and head coach Matt Nagy want us to believe there will be a real competition. While I believe they both have good intentions, I think we know there was a reason they went after Foles — and Foles knows that, too, or he wouldn’t have agreed to the contract restructure.

No matter what, it’s a little tough to imagine who the Bears’ quarterback of the future is, and if there is one on the roster right now. If Foles balls out and not only wins the job, but gives the Bears reason to believe he can start a couple more years, then this conversation is mute. But, wouldn’t you like to think Pace tries everything he can to protect himself?

With that in mind, I think there is still a chance he drafts a quarterback this year, especially if he decides to trade back. Although, there have been rumblings of the Bears doing research on trading in to the first round — could it be for a quarterback?

I highly doubt it. But, just in case, I’ve included a first-round quarterback to watch, if the Bears do decide to trade up. Along with it, I’ve got a few final quarterback targets ranked in order for each round, specific to the Bears. Let’s kick it off with the much-doubted trade into the first.

Next: Round 1

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Chicago Bears: 5 prospects to avoid at 50th overallon April 20, 2020 at 5:00 pm

SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 12: Julian Okwara #42 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in action on defense during a game against the USC Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium on October 12, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated USC 30-27. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

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With the 2020 NFL Draft just days away, what are five prospects the Chicago Bears should avoid with the 50th overall pick?

Here’s the deal: We still don’t have an idea of what the Chicago Bears will do in the NFL Draft. April in the NFL is just another word for lying season, meaning that whatever you see on social media and in the news may or may not be true.

Thus, we’re all forced to make our own opinions about who the Bears like as 2020 NFL Draft prospects and who they could avoid based on things we hear throughout the predraft process. This year, despite everything being online, things are no different.

When the Chicago Bears are on the clock at 50th overall on Friday April 24th, there’s no knowing what they’ll do. They could trade down and accumulate more draft picks or they could select a player.

Let’s just say they decide to do the latter and select a player. With this selection, the goal should be to add an impact player, someone who can come in and help the team immediately. It shouldn’t be someone that’s a project and will need some time to develop.

General manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are going into a season where they don’t have “time” to allow draft prospects to develop. With the two in win-now mode, it’s important to find finished products rather than project players.

As the 2020 NFL Draft gets closer, what are five players the Bears need to avoid with the 50th overall pick? Let’s examine some names and find out why the Bears should be avoiding each of these players.

Next: Number One

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Chicago Bulls: Scottie Pippen seemed to be under-appreciatedon April 20, 2020 at 4:30 pm

CHICAGO, IL – FEBRUARY 15: Former players Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls watch a game between the Bulls and the Charlotte Bobcats at the United Center on February 15, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Bobcats 106-94. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls had a run of dominance in the 90s. “The Last Dance” makes it seem that Scottie Pippen was under-appreciated.

The Chicago Bulls themed documentary on ESPN called “The Last Dance” came out on Sunday night. There were two episodes that streamed and not everything about that year was pretty. Of course, Michael Jordan was the engine of that team en route to being the greatest basketball player who ever lived. With that said, Scottie Pippen was an all-world future Hall of Fame player and it seemed like he was a bit disrespected at times.

The first thing that we can point to is money. We all know the value of the NBA and how much players make in the year 2020. Well, they weren’t quite as rich in the 1990s but they still were handsomely paid. If your name was Scottie Pippen, however, you weren’t getting paid your value. He played during those glory days with the Bulls on a seven-year, 18 million dollar contract. As a top-five player in the league, he wasn’t even one of the 100 highest-paid players in the league.

The show also made it seem that there were times that the management group was thinking about trading him. He made it clear that even in modern times, he feels like he was disrespected during his Bulls tenure. There were times that he didn’t even want to wear that Bulls jersey anymore.

Scottie was, however, well-compensated once he finally left the Bulls after winning that 1998 championship with the Bulls. How could he not be? He was a seven-time all-star, six-time NBA Champion, and ten-time all-defensive player of the year. He went into the Hall of Fame with ease so it is good to know that he was well compensated when he joined the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trail Blazers.

The entire second episode seemed to revolve around Pippen’s role on the team. He will probably go down as the greatest number two player who ever lived. Jordan is the greatest ever, but there is a reason that once Pippen showed up, they started winning all of these championships. This second episode really gave us a deeper dive into Scottie’s fallout with the Bulls. There is still more to see with Scottie in upcoming episodes.

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