Shortly after he was named Bears coach a year ago, Matt Eberflus spoke to Virginia McCaskey on the phone.

“She goes, ‘Matt, you know I’ll be your biggest fan,’ ” he said Wednesday.

It was, he would learn, part of her personality.

“Always encouraging, always upbeat, always thoughtful,” he said. “And it’s been a joy to get to know her this last year.”

Thursday, though, will be a special day — the Bears’ matriarch and a direct link to the founding of the NFL, turns 100 years old.

McCaskey, who is technically the secretary of the Bears’ board of directors, has been the oldest owner in American professional sports for the last nine years.

Born on Jan. 5, 1923, McCaskey has been alive for all but 36 of the Bears’ 1,451 games. She spent her third birthday on the Red Grange barnstorming tour that helped jump-start professional football, and attended her first playoff game at 9.

Her father, George Halas, founded the Bears and helped start the league. She and her late husband, Ed McCaskey, whom she married in 1943, raised eight boys and three girls in Des Plaines. She inherited the Bears from “Papa Bear” after his death in 1983. She told the Sun-Times in 2019 that, starting that day, her “main focus” was to “justify my dad’s faith in me.”

Her son George oversees day-to-day operations as the Bears’ chairman, working alongside outgoing president/CEO Ted Phillips and five other board members. Three of those are McCaskeys.

Eberflus described the private McCaskey as “very impactful” to the culture at Halas Hall. She huddled with Eberflus at a Bears charity gala and treated his wife to lunch at Halas Hall. The team’s annual Virginia Award is given to an employee who displays grace, humility, loyalty and dedication.

She made a rare appearance in 2019 to celebrate the Bears’ 100th anniversary. Speaking to thousands of fans at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, McCaskey said she was “still trying to find words” for what the Bears meant to her — and, she hoped, the fan base.

“It has made me even more grateful for what my life has been, and the position that I’m in,” she said then. “There’s so many privileges and perks and blessings. I just can’t believe I’m here and I’m enjoying life, at my age, the way I am.”

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On Wednesday, the Bulls opened the game like a team that can contend with the best, jumping out to an early lead against the Nets.

The question was, could they sustain that effort for four quarters?

They got in passing lanes and were disruptive defensively. They shot the ball well, converting 57.1% from three-point range and 75% from the field in the first quarter. They controlled the glass better than they have of late, giving up only two offensive rebounds in the first half.

The result? A 10-point lead over the second-best team in the NBA at the half.

If you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, keep waiting because it never did. Aside from the opening minute, coach Billy Donovan’s team never trailed in its 121-112 victory that snapped Brooklyn’s 12-game winning streak.

“The last game left a bad taste in our mouths,” forward Patrick Williams said. “So we were trying to right those wrongs.”

Despite the Nets’ best attempt at a comeback — they cut the deficit to three in the last 10 minutes — the Bulls held on. They came up with big stops and even bigger rebounds. They held the Nets to five second-chance points.

Williams had one of his best games of the season, scoring 12 points early in the first quarter. Earlier in the day, he talked about his experiences against Kevin Durant.

“That’s why I’m here, to go against the best and test myself against the best,” Williams said.

If Wednesday’s test had been graded, Williams would’ve passed with a solid B. The only knock came on the defensive end, but he was tasked with defending Durant.

Williams was held scoreless in the second quarter, but he responded in the second half and had a season-high 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Defensively, he had no answer for Durant. No one on the Bulls did. By the half, Durant already had nearly hit his 29.6 scoring average with 28 points. He finished with 44 points and five assists.

“Patrick’s eager to get better,” Donovan said. “Being around him, he’s searching for ways to improve. Playing against Durant tonight, having to have so much of his focus and trying to, at least, make it difficult on him and to be aggressive offensively, that’s playing both ends of the floor. We need him to play both ends of the floor.”

Kyrie Irving struggled in the Nets’ first game against the Bulls this season, finishing with only four points, but he had 25 points and eight assists this time.

Donovan stressed how inexcusable it was for his team to send the Cavaliers to the free-throw line 25 times in Monday’s overtime loss on the road. Against the Nets, they weren’t much better, sending them to the line 21 times.

But while the Bulls failed to keep the Nets off the line, they took 29 trips of their own and converted 27.

Up next, the Bulls face the 76ers on Friday on the road. If the Bulls have proved anything this season, it’s that they’re capable of rising to beat the best in the league.

Note: Alex Caruso left the game after only three minutes with a sprained right ankle after landing on Irving’s foot while shooting. He did not return. Donovan had no update after the game.

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If you think you’re tired of hearing about the NBA’s last two minute report, talk to Bulls coach Billy Donovan.

“We’ve come up on the short end of the stick on a lot of this,” Donovan said ahead of the Bulls Wednesday game against the Nets. “It goes back to DeMar’s shot in Washington the second game of the year he got fouled. Then obviously the foul [on DeMar] in the Cleveland game [in Chicago.]”

The latest were two calls inside the final 12 seconds of Monday night’s overtime loss to the Cavaliers on the road.

One was a missed traveling call on Jarrett Allen and the other was a lane violation by Donovan Mitchell that led to his game-tying putback in regulation. The real issue for the Bulls is the game shouldn’t have fallen into the hands of the officials to begin with. Because before Mitchell ever had an opportunity to tie the game in the final four seconds, the Bulls gave up 21-point lead, throwing away one of their best first half performances of the season.

“It happened but we still had five minutes to play in overtime,” Donovan said. “Sometimes on those calls you can get locked in on what somebody else didn’t do. We have to look at what we can do.”

One thing the Bulls can do? Rebound better.

Second-chance looks

In the last week the Bulls have given up a league worst 20.8 points off of second-chance looks, dropping three games in the process.

The latest of the bunch against the Cavs after Mitchell put up a record 71 points, two of which came off a putback on his own missed free throw. We know about the league’s last two minute report. We also know that Patrick Williams allowed him to get the rebound. As a team the Cavs poured in 24 points Monday night on 13 second chance looks.

“Differently?” Williams asked in response to being asked what he could have done on that play. “Get the rebound.”

Donovan acknowledged the totality of his team’s rebounding as an issue Wedneday night and Nikola Vucevic addressed the issues after shoot around. Their issues have them 24th in the league in rebounding percentage this season. Both attributed the team’s rebounding woes, in part, to missed defensive rebounds on three-point looks.

The remedy is physicality and effort, both of which come down to willpower more than talent.

“A lot of it is using speed to our advantage and being more physical with their big man when they’re trying to take advantage of our small guys,” Vucevic said. “But we have to get into the right spots and be willing to put in that extra effort.”

What’s up, doc?

After seeing team doctors in Chicago on Tuesday Javonte Green was put on a treatment plan for the inflammation in his right knee. Wednesday was the 10th game the wing has missed due to the nagging knee soreness. Donovan didn’t have a timeline on when he expects Green to be back in the lineup just that he will go through treatment over the next few days and the team will reassess from there.

“We would be hopeful that the treatments would go really well and we could get him back relatively soon,” Donovan said. “But we’ll have to see how that goes.”

Derrick Jones Jr. was available against the Nets after being listed as questionable following a knock to the eye he took in the Bulls overtime loss to the Cavs Monday night.

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The Ville vs. The Brook has developed into a fun basketball rivalry in the Southwest suburbs. Bolingbrook has been one of the most successful teams in the state under Rob Brost. Marc Howard has taken a sleepy Romeoville program and made it relevant.

So there was a nice crowd in Romeoville on Wednesday. Joliet West stars Jeremiah Fears and Jeremy Fears Jr. were in the gym to watch, along with the majority of Will County’s hoop heads.

“Everybody knows each other so it is always fun,” Raiders guard Mehki Cooper said.

The result was the same as it has been since Brost took over in 2007: a win for the Raiders, who were in control from the start and won 59-48

Cooper, a Miami (Ohio) recruit, led No. 18 Bolingbrook (11-4) with 14 points. The senior point guard finally has all of his running mates back. The Raiders had several key players out with injuries the first month of the season.

“It’s a lot better,” Cooper said. “It gives us all a lot more confidence. But we held it together when they were gone.”

Bolingbrook dominated the second quarter, holding Romeoville to just two field goals and two free throws.

“We actually executed our game plan and just played smart and played together,” Cooper.

Cooper has three capable backcourt mates in juniors Josh Aniceto, DJ Strong and Kyan Berry-Johnson. But Bolingbrook’s edge comes from its size. Donavan Younger, a 6-10 senior and Keon Alexander, a 6-6 senior are dependable forces in the post.

Aries Hull, who transferred from Tennessee this season, has been a difference-maker since returning from an early-season injury. The 6-8 senior has led the Raiders in scoring in a few games. He had three points and six boards against Romeoville (12-6).

“The team welcomed me with open arms,” Hull said. “It’s been a family vibe and a smooth transition. When I wasn’t playing everyone helped me and it was all love.”

Younger finished with seven points and five rebounds and Alexander scored six points. Strong scored 12 and Aniceto added nine points for Bolingbrook.

“There aren’t many teams that can really match up with the three of us so that is a game changer,” Hull said. “[Younger and Alexander] make my life easy because I can focus on defense and block shots and rebounds. We all work well together.”

The Raiders have been in and out of the rankings this season. They have a statement stretch coming up over the next seven days, with games against Andrew, No. 10 Brother Rice and No. 22 Oswego East.

“We’re starting to show some signs of moving in the right direction,” Brost said. “We lost to Decatur MacArthur, which is still undefeated, and a lot of the other losses were with three of our top guys not playing. No excuses, but I feel good about where we are.”

Romeoville, which lost to defending Class 3A state champions Sacred Heart-Griffin in the championship game at the State Farm Holiday Classic in Bloomington, has taken care of business and won every game it was expected to this season.

But the Spartans have fallen short against all the ranked teams they’ve faced, losing to Hyde Park, Brother Rice, Joliet West and Lemont.

Junior Meyoh Swansey led Romeoville with 17 points. Senior Aaron Brown scored 15 and Troy Cicero Jr. added 14.

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ROCKFORD — When the Blackhawks sent Alec Regula down in mid-November, he had slipped into a bad headspace.

Throughout the summer, knowing he was entering the final year of his three-year entry-level contract, the 22-year-old defenseman had loaded pressure onto himself to make the NHL full-time. It wasn’t exactly stressing him out, he insists, but it was certainly on his mind.

When he made the Hawks’ initial NHL roster and played 17-plus minutes on opening night against the Avalanche, things seemed to be going as hoped, and he raised his self-expectations even higher.

But nothing beyond that followed the path he had imagined. He was healthy scratched in three consecutive Hawks games, sent to Rockford, played four AHL games, called back up to the NHL, dressed in just three out of seven games (in which he was outscored 3-0 and out-chanced 32-16 at five-on-five) and then returned to Rockford.

By the end of that rollercoaster, he wasn’t sure what to think, but his thoughts weren’t positive.

“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t think I played my best early on,” Regula said Wednesday. “But with that said, I felt like I was in a tough spot. I was in and out. Obviously you have to find your own confidence, but I wasn’t being given a lot. I did what I could. [I was] a little bit disappointed coming down.”

Rockford coach Anders Sorensen and assistant Jared Nightingale, along with some familiar teammates from the past two seasons, noticed Regula wasn’t acting quite like his usual self. They reminded him of past successes and urged him to simply play hockey and trust that doing so would bring out his best.

Regula took that advice to heart. Two months later, his mental journey has carried him into much healthier territory.

“Obviously I really wanted to play in the NHL, and I still do,” he said. “But I was a little bit in my own way, just worrying about stuff that I couldn’t control. I don’t want to say it’s totally on the back-burner now, but I don’t really think about it much.

“[I’m] just having fun. I fell in love with the game having fun. My fondest memories of hockey are when I’m enjoying myself and enjoying being around a team. I was definitely very uptight, and now I’m just enjoying it and having fun. I’m…finding my love here again.”

Regula has rediscovered the offensive form that powered him through his 2021-22 AHL breakout season, ripping off six points in his last three games to improve his season-to-date totals to 15 points in 24 games. He’s one of many reasons why the surging IceHogs entered Wednesday second in the AHL’s Central Division with a 19-10-3 record.

And in the defensive zone, Regula has adopted a patient mindset not unlike his new off-ice mentality.

“[I’m no longer] trying to be a hero out there,” he said. “Some of the best defensemen, they let the game come to them. Sometimes I would just be all over the place — trying to kill every play, trying to stop every puck — and that can get you out of position. I’ve done a good job of holding my lanes, staying on my side and letting it come to me. That has worked for me.”

Sorensen and Nightingale have been “nudging” Regula to keep improving defensively, knowing that’s the key to him receiving the future NHL opportunities he craves.

The Hawks’ prospect defensemen corps are crowded, but by no means has the organization forgotten about or given up on him. It’s probably best for him not to worry about that right now, though.

“He could be a really good NHL player,” Sorensen said. “It’s just about figuring out what type of player he’s going to be.”

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