On a night Joakim Noah was scheduled to lead a pregame speech thanking fans for their support, he got benched in favor of Kirk Hinrich because he arrived 65 minutes before tipoff.
A season that began with NBA Finals aspirations ended Wednesday night at the United Center with a meaningless 107-97 victory over the playoff-bound Raptors, who played mostly reserves.
On Thursday, the carnage will claim a second coach, interim Jim Boylan.
Exactly reversing last season’s record, the Bulls avoided posting their first 50-loss season since 2003-04. But to put matters in perspective: Even Johnny “Red” Kerr’s expansion Bulls won 33 games in 1966-67.
Asked, beyond the 33-49 record, what disappointed him most about this season, Boylan didn’t hesitate.
“Our lack of maturity as a team,” he said. “I thought we were at a different place. But at times this year we let things bother us that I thought we were past. I thought we had a formula for how to be successful and everybody understood it. But as you reflect back on the season, that wasn’t the case.”
Noah’s tardiness is just the latest example of an individual agenda trumping a team need, even if his reason to be in New York on the Bulls’ off day Monday was because of the death of a close friend.
Noah started the second quarter, by which point Aaron Gray had tallied a double-double already en route to 19 points and 22 rebounds. Tyrus Thomas led the Bulls with 26 points.
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BULLS HITS
The NBA suspended Bucks G Royal Ivey three games without pay for punching Aaron Gray in the groin area during Monday’s game in Milwaukee.
– How dominant was Chris Duhon’s 22-point, 15-assist game Monday in Milwaukee? It’s the first time a Bull has surpassed 20 points with 15 assists since Michael Jordan had 33 points and 17 assists on March 24, 1989.
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“I can’t believe we still have sold-out crowds come to our games. That just shows a lot about who our fans are.”
JOAKIM NOAH
[ on Bulls finishing second in attendance, averaging close to 22,000 fans, despite an abysmal record ]
