Welcome back to the Pain blog, single digit number of faithful readers. I enjoyed my week off from writing (no, I didn't get over Andy Dalton yet) but it's time to jump back into things! It's been two weeks since the last blog and a lot has happened since then. Instead of covering just one specific thing, such as Rizzo not getting extended or the Bulls trade deadline splash, I decided that I'll talk about one thing I like currently with each of my teams and one thing that I dislike. I can't be negative all the time, so we got a little dose of both positivity and negativity this week.
Da Bears
One thing I like: This is kind of a tough one. It's very hard to give the Bears any sort of praise right now. They've had a horrible offseason, but I got to say at least one positive thing. It's the rules. If there's one thing I like that the Bears have done recently, I'd say it's the Damien Williams signing. Williams was a beast for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl two seasons ago and the Bears snagged him up on a cheap one-year deal. I think that he'll fit in nicely with Montgomery and Cohen, giving the Bears a nice backfield this season. I'll also give the Bears a little props for re-signing Cairo Santos and Pat O'Donnell. After what seems like years of kicking issues, the Bears finally have that area of the team figured out at least.
TLDR Positive: Running backs. (Honorable mention: kicker and punter)
One thing I dislike: Andy Dalton.
TLDR Negative: Andy Dalton.
The Blackhawks
One thing I like: The Blackhawks, as a whole, have been a pleasant surprise this year. I've said this in past blogs already, but I think they are overachieving this season. There's a lot of things to like right now about this young team, but if I had to pick one (besides Kane, of course) I would go with Alex DeBrincat's bounce-back season. After a very promising first two seasons in the NHL, Debrincat floundered a little bit last year. Many people, including myself, were a bit worried and wondering if it was just a bit of a bump in the road or if he wasn't going to end up becoming the star he seemed primed to become. Thankfully, it appears that it was just a junior year slump. Debrincat has 36 points in 33 games so far this season, and he leads the Blackhawks in goals with 19. Those 19 goals are good enough to have Debrincat tied for fourth among leagues leading goal scorers. The Cat is definitely back and hopefully we can soon say that the Blackhawks are officially back too!
TLDR Positive: Alex Debrincat.
One thing I dislike: I'm sick of playing the same seven teams all season. I know that the division-only play is for COVID safety guidelines and I can respect that, but man, I'm just tired of getting whooped by the Florida teams over and over again. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the defending champs and have been beating us all season long. The Florida Panthers are an out of nowhere powerhouse team this season and they have also enjoyed success against the Blackhawks this season (Miss you, Q). It's getting a little repetitive playing the same teams over and over again, especially when the Hawks keep struggling against the same ones. This is why I'm hoping the Hawks can make a playoff run this year, because then they can hopefully run into some different teams.
TLDR Negative: Playing the same 7 teams all season.
The Bulls
One thing I like: I loved the moves the Bulls made at the trade deadline. Even though they are on a four game losing streak and have yet to win since making these acquisitions (this could be subject to change, because they're in a close game with the Suns as of this writing), I still think AK and the front office made some great moves. The Bulls were in need of a legit big man and a legit point guard, and they were able to grab at least one of those when they traded for All-Star center, Nikola Vucevic. In that same trade, they were also able to acquire Al-Farouq Aminu, dispose of Wendell Carter Jr., and dump off Otto Porter's contract to another team. Overall, a great move for the Bulls, and hopefully it helps them win soon. That was the big move, but the Bulls also managed to make a handful of smaller trades that ultimately flipped Hutchison, Gafford, Kornet, and Mo Wagner (gross) for Daniel Theis, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. The Bulls arguably made one of the biggest splashes out of all the teams in the NBA at the trade deadline. Now we just have to wait and see if it can translate into big wins on the court.
TLDR Positive: AK's first trade deadline with the Bulls.
One thing I dislike: While the trade deadline was a success for the Bulls, I do wish they would have managed to get a point guard. Coby White is awesome, don't get me wrong, but he's not consistent enough at the moment to be the Bulls starting point guard. I don't think Sato is the answer for starting point guard either. There were rumors of the Bulls pursuing Lonzo Ball, but unfortunately, they were unable to pick up Ball or any other candidate to start at the one. Another thing I wish the Bulls could have done at the trade deadline was trade Lauri Markkanen. I don't have anything against the guy, but I just don't really think he's the future either. He's now kind of that last remaining bit of bad taste from the GarPax era of first round picks. I think he may still have potential, and I'm sure there are NBA execs that see some sort of value in him too, so I'm just a bit surprised that the Bulls weren't able to make a deal involving him in some sort of way. Either way though, it's not that big of a deal, because the Bulls still have time this offseason to make another splash and then fully buckle up for a run next year.
TLDR Negative: Small misses at the trade deadline that can be fixed in the offseason, though.
The Cubs
One thing I like: It was only spring training, but the Cubs managed to go 15-9 and show some promise in March. The Cubs big offseason acquisition, Joc Pederson, performed very well. He led the team in almost every important offensive statistical category. He had 8 home runs, 19 RBIs, and batted a cool .378 with a 1.431 OPS. Again, it's only spring training, but it was nice to see the team do well and to see Joc have a hot start. We can only hope that this momentum carries into the regular season tomorrow!
TLDR Positive: Joc Pederson's impressive spring training.
One thing I dislike: The Cubs are doing Anthony Rizzo dirty. He's been the heart and soul of the team for years now and helped lead that really good 2016 team to that really important win in November, if ya know what I mean. I just think it's a bit disrespectful that they won't pay the man what he's asking for and instead are lowballing him. He's given his all to the franchise and has been here since the bad days. And even though he's getting older, it's not like he's a bad player or regressing either. He's been one of the most consistent players on the team since 2015, and he also contributes a ton off the field and in the locker room. Out of the four key players who are looking for an extension soon (Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, and Contreras), I think that Rizzo deserves one the most and may be the most important one to resign (I know that's arguable, but just an opinion.) I'll end it with this. You can't have the third highest payroll in baseball, claim you're "broke", and lowball the glue of your franchise. It's unacceptable.
TLDR Negative: Anthony Rizzo being lowballed by the Cubs front office.
Comments
Post a Comment