Staff reportThe Bulls' loss to the Kings was bad, but not the worst collapse in NBA history -- not that that's any consolation to the Bulls, their fans or a coach who soon might be asking Lovie Smith to recommend a good realtor.
No, there has been a worse gag job in the NBA since 1980, when the league charged Elias Sports Bureau with keeping track of epic failures and other records.
On Nov. 27, 1996, the Utah Jazz stormed back from 36 points down to beat the Denver Nuggets.
Nuggets coach Dick Motta, who had replaced the fired Bernie Bickerstaff two games prior, summed it up afterward in a Rocky Mountain News story:
''When you're 34 points ahead, you're basically obligated to go ahead and win,'' Motta said. ''We looked like a deer in headlights. The thing I tried to do (in the second half) was say, 'Remember how you got the lead, remember how you played in the first half.' But it looked like we were looking for the clock to tick down so we could hold on to win.''
Photo: The Kings get excited. (Scott Strazzante/Tribune)
Sound familiar?
Last night the Bulls were up 79-44 with 8:50 left in the third and lost 102-98, which means over the final 15 minutes, 10 seconds they were outscored an incredible 58-19.
Even Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said he'd never seen anything like it.
If you can remember back to the mid-'90s when the Bulls were good, they were the ones staging thrilling comebacks.
The Bulls came back from 31 down to nearly beat Denver on Feb. 4, 1996. Michael Jordan scored 22 points in the third quarter, but the Nuggets hung on to win 105-99 and snap the Bulls' 18-game win streak.
"Not many teams can come back from 31 down and win," Dennis Rodman was quoted in the Tribune the next day. "And we almost did that."
On the flipside, not many teams can be up 35 and lose. And the Bulls did do that.
Last night the Bulls were up 79-44 with 8:50 left in the third and lost 102-98, which means over the final 15 minutes, 10 seconds they were outscored an incredible 58-19.
Even Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said he'd never seen anything like it.
If you can remember back to the mid-'90s when the Bulls were good, they were the ones staging thrilling comebacks.
The Bulls came back from 31 down to nearly beat Denver on Feb. 4, 1996. Michael Jordan scored 22 points in the third quarter, but the Nuggets hung on to win 105-99 and snap the Bulls' 18-game win streak.
"Not many teams can come back from 31 down and win," Dennis Rodman was quoted in the Tribune the next day. "And we almost did that."
On the flipside, not many teams can be up 35 and lose. And the Bulls did do that.
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The Bulls lost this game, but remember the Kings won it. They changed their line-up and inserted Jon Brockman. Mancakes as we call him in Sac, long story...
Just to point out. Sac's Defense went into overdrive and that put the Offense in a place to win. Bulls lost, but you have to understand that it was because the whole game changed once Sac's D got set.
Sac's biggest problem is interior D and you guys were killing us. Once we plugged that hole it was all set for a comeback. It would have required your team to win on jumpshots and that wasn't happening.
The Bulls blow a 35 point lead and earlier in the year the Blackhawks come back from 5 goals down to win--which team would you rather watch? Heck, the Bulls are like the Sox, Cubs and Bears all rolled into one.
Just remember that "organizations win championships."
Here are the reasons the Bulls lost last night. Vinny changed the lineup midway through the third quarter to give some guys a rest. The subs didn't play defense and everyone was missing shots. The Kings outscored the Bulls by 15 from that point on. Up by 19 at the end of the third quarter. Vinny continued to play the same subs for most of the fourth quarter and no one was playing d or making shots. They were also turning the ball almost every possession. Vinny puts D rose back in the game but absolutely no plays were run to get him to the hoop, even with the Bulls in the penalty. Salmons was taking horrible shots and looked even worse on defense. So Vinny puts 6-2 Hinrich in the game to guard 6-6 Evans. Complete mismatch.....Evans dominated and wasn't even double-teamed. Finally Vinny calls Rose's # but it was too late. Essentially, the lineup that got the lead didn't even play together until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The writing was on the wall by then.
Is this supposed to make fans feel better? It wasn't just a 39 pt. swing, it was done in just a little more than 16 minutes. There's no way to even fathom something like that. Little 10 yr. olds playing in their church leagues couldn't give up that sort of a lead in that short of time.
It just shows the lack of leadership on this team, and certainly the lack of a go to player. Tyreke Evans basically showed D. Rose how it's done, and how you can play when you have the heart and the mindset of a champion. Unfortunately Rose might have the talent, but the heart and mindset he lacks, and those are God given traits, just like the talent is. And unless you have at least 2 of those 3 traits, there's no way you'll ever be a superstar.
I'm gonna miss Vinny.
No. That's a lie.
How much more ineptitude do we need to see from this year's Bulls before they can Vinny? Yeah let's slink to a 30-52 record, fire the coach at season's end and officially deter any of next year's premium free agents from coming to Chicago to play for a franchise in complete turmoil.
Vinny has been at this going on his second year. On the other hand Lovie has stunk it up since 2004 and made the playoffs what twice? The 2005 team got to the SuperBowl because of Ron Rivera's defense and NOT Lovie Smith. People want Lovie gone because he lacks results.
Goes to show you this organization wasn't dedicated to winning back in the day either. Perhaps that's why they ran MJ Pip and crew outta town. Krause was the guy that was blamed for it all but now you begin to wonder. It was MJ, PIP and that other players that put pressure on the organization to bring in/ retain good players and coaches. The thing that cracks me up is people still go to these games to watch players go through the motions in arenas where you could hear a pin drop. Calling the United Center the Madhouse on Madison is a total insult to the Chicago Stadium. I guess the organization is just trying to cover up for all of the mistakes they made the past decade and a half?
If we're all so "let's fire the head coach" happy in this town, we can all turn to Vinny now.
No excuse for blowing a 35 point lead.