No Rose: A fact ... and a lame excuse

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Long-time readers -- all 9 of you -- know that I abhor injury-related excuses. Shaddup, line up and play; that's why you get the big bucks. 

Having said that, I do make exceptions because there are excuses ... and then there are facts. When a team loses a Tom Brady, a Justin Morneau or, yes, a Derrick Rose, it is a fact that the team simply cannot function anywhere near as well as it did when it had its MVP-caliber superstar.

The moment I learned Rose blew out his knee, I knew the Bulls no longer could win the NBA title.

What I didn't know was that Rose's teammates were going to fail to come out of the locker room at halftime of Tuesday's playoff game. The Bulls somehow managed to get outscored 36-14 in the third quarter by a mediocre 76ers team, and they went on to get humiliated at home.

Where was Luol Deng, an All-Star? Where was Carlos Boozer, the big-money forward? Where was Rip Hamilton, the supposed final piece to the puzzle? I'm not going to blame C.J. Watson and John Lucas III -- Rose's point-guard replacements; there's a reason they are career backups. I'm blaming Deng, Boozer and Hamilton for not showing up. And I'm blaming Tom Thibodeau for not having his team ready to play.

Yes, losing Rose was a horrible break for a team seemingly poised to win it all. Still, on the same night Deng & Co. spit the bit against the Sixers, the Celtics managed to win despite playing without suspended point guard Rajon Rondo (a top-five MVP candidate this season) and injured 2-guard Ray Allen (one of the great shooters in basketball history). Playing at Atlanta against a Hawks team that is decidedly better than Philly, the Celtics prevailed because Paul Pierce put his team on his back and carried it to victory.

Pierce, apparently, didn't get the memo about choking because the star point guard wasn't playing.

The Celtics could have used the absence of Rondo and Allen as an excuse. Had they lost, nobody would have been surprised. Instead, Pierce played wonderfully and got lots of support from his teammates. Instead, they won.

Unlike the Bulls.
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What a nut (or two) Bulls' Gordon is

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The Bald Truth

Sunday's Bulls-Celtics game was so much fun, it's almost not worth mentioning that Ben Gordon grabbed his crotch on national TV to celebrate his 3-pointer that sent the game into a second OT.

Almost.

C'mon, man. There are kids watching! I mean, who do you think you are? Roseanne?

The Quote

"Do that four times and it's an intentional walk." - Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly after the umpire called a ball on Cardinals reliever Blaine Boyer for licking his fingers while standing on the mound.

Brenly was just musing, but think about it: No more risking wild pitches while issuing an intentional walk - something that happened just the other day to help the Astros beat the Dodgers.

The Balder Truth

One of the best free-throw shooters in NBA history, Ray Allen, missed an important foul shot down the stretch in Boston's Game 4 loss to the Bulls. All-Star Paul Pierce, whose missed free throw gave the Bulls a Game 1 win, also bricked one late in Game 4. 

And it wasn't only a Celtics problem. Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, both excellent free-throw shooters, misfired from the line, too.

Oh well ... you can't really expect four guys whose combined salaries are about 86 Zillion Dollars to actually make clutch free throws, right?

Remember, It's Still April

Hey kids, look who the Cubs' best player has been all season: Kosuke Fukudome.

Were I a Cubbie fan, I'd be waiting to see how the $48 Million Japanese Import does in a month not named April before I'd get too excited.

Then again, were I a Cubbie fan, I'd have committed hara-kiri back when Harry Caray was still Holy Cow!-ing for the Cardinals.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Well, I just couldn't do it.

Determined to save money, I let my Chicago Tribune subscription expire a couple of weeks ago. But when they called to offer me a great deal on Sunday-Friday-Wednesday delivery, I relented and signed back up. 

Then the cash-strapped Tribune canned several of my sportswriting friends and I almost canceling again in protest. But I realized that would hurt my many good friends who still are writing for the paper.

Plus, I like reading the paper - not sitting at a computer - while I eat breakfast, especially on Sundays.

Frankly, I can't believe how many people don't ever read a newspaper, even on Sundays. And I worry not only for the industry but for the nation as a whole.

Last I looked, Craigslist, Twitter and Google weren't investigating corrupt politicians.