The Bulls have been aware for months that on Jan. 8, they were scheduled to play the Houston Rockets.
But it was just recently many on the team became aware that Monday night was the Ohio State/Florida BCS game. And which was more important?
“BCS,” coach and Michigan State product Scott Skiles said. “I was listening to that damn game on the radio from the bench. Once again, my Big Ten boys got smoked.”
“BCS,” Luol Deng said. “They kept showing the OSU score on our scoreboard. I couldn’t tear my eyes away.”
“BCS,” Ben Wallace said. “Rebounds, schmebounds. Go Gators.”
This sort of questionable prioritizing can be the only explanation for the Bulls snoozy 84-77, snatching-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory-ish loss to the Rockets.
This can be the only explanation for Skiles believing that Kirk Hinrich could guard Tracy McGrady one-on-one in the fourth quarter.
This can be the only explanation for Hinrich’s 1-11 shooting, as well as the fact that he scored only two points in 37 minutes.
This can be the only explanation for the team shooting 36 percent.
But if the team’s college football-induced distraction doesn’t explain last night’s uninspired effort, we can only come to one conclusion:
The Chicago Bulls blow chunks.
