Mysterious as it was on one level, the Bulls’ sudden ineptitude this season had a familiar look to a Chicago sports fan. Just as the White Sox couldn’t hit the ball and suffered through a debilitating slump early last season, the Bulls found they couldn’t hit a shot, which proved fatal for a jump-shooting team. And just as the Bears’ inability to mount a decent running game this fall left the defense on the field to tire late in games, the Bulls’ offensive struggles put too much pressure on their defense, which soon collapsed as the players took on a hangdog demeanor.
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The importance of team chemistry is pretty clear in football. When the Bears’ big, beefy defensive tackles Ted Washington and Keith Traylor went down with injuries a few years ago, opposing offensive lines were able to cut down the middle and chop away at Brian Urlacher, greatly diminishing the overall effectiveness of the defense. Likewise this year: with Tommie Harris not yet fully recovered from last season’s severe hamstring injury, Urlacher was exposed, even as he dealt with his own back woes. Combined with the poor offensive running game—which also put more pressure on Rex Grossman, with predictable results—it was more than the team could stand.
Chemistry has always been less tangible in baseball. Certainly, a good defense improves pitching, and a high-powered offense cures many ills, but what fans don’t see—except in the results—is the way a good clubhouse mood creates confidence day to day. Or, as Henry Wiggen says in Bang the Drum Slowly, one of my favorite baseball novels, “Winning makes winning like money makes money.”
So while both the Bears and Sox made off-season moves that didn’t work out, bringing on their difficulties, the Bulls returned almost their entire roster of up-and-coming players and added new talent such as Noah—only to watch the youngsters backslide. Skiles had previously found ways to turn pitfalls into pluses, so the players emerged stronger and better from short periods of adversity. But there was no sign such a turnaround was coming this season for the 9-16 team, so Paxson pulled the trigger.
