It doesn`t get any worse than this. The Bulls have hit rock bottom. This is a team in dire straits.
The Bulls passively submitted to the Indiana Pacers 104-88 Friday night in the Stadium in front of 10,346 disgruntled fans who enjoyed the postgame Spinners concert far more than the act that preceded it.
The Bulls have lost five straight, eight of their last nine and 13 of their last 15. Their 17-36 record is the worst in the National Basketball Association`s Eastern Conference, and the 88 points was their lowest regular- season output in two years.
Bulls` owner Jerry Reinsdorf sat with a disgusted look on his face all evening before finally leaving with a minute to go. Vice president of operations Jerry Krause stayed to the bitter end and then met with the coaching staff for 50 minutes.
”The meeting was about what we can do to change the team around,” coach Stan Albeck said. ”Jerry will be on the phone investigating the possibility of any other people in the league, possible changes.”
The NBA`s trading deadline is midnight Saturday. After that, the Bulls are stuck with what they`ve got.
And that doesn`t appear to be too much. Assistant coach Mike Thibault tried a little gimmick before Friday`s game to put some spark in this lifeless bunch. He put together a video of some of the Bulls` more exciting moments this season, complete with inspirational, rabble-rousing music.
”There was no response,” Kyle Macy said. ”The guys just sat there.”
And they didn`t do much more moving about on the court. The Bulls went through enough motions to stay close to the Pacers until the third quarter, when Indiana outscored the Bulls 27-10 during one stretch. Indiana led 82-69 after three quarters, and the Bulls never came closer than nine after that.
Herb Williams led the Pacers with 39 points, his career high in the NBA. Rookie Charles Oakley, the Bulls` only consistent player of late, turned in another fine performance with a team-high 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Oakley made his first NBA start, but not at his normal power forward spot. He filled in at center for Jawann Oldham, who broke his jaw Wednesday against Philadelphia. He also will miss Sunday`s game against Dallas.
”Nobody said anything to me, but I was on the Red team (starters) in shootaround practice, so I knew,” Oakley said, trying to conceal a smile.
”It felt good.”
Oakley did his part, but foul trouble limited him to 13 minutes of playing time in the second half, and he eventually fouled out with 3 minutes 26 seconds left. With Oakley doing more sitting than boarding, the Bulls were outrebounded 26-10 in the second half.
When asked what was wrong, Oakley just scratched his head and said: ”I`m just a new addition to this team. I can`t see real, real deep into the mood of this team. There`s still life, but things aren`t going our way, and we have to make them go our way.
”Just because we`ve got a bad record, we can`t go out there and say it`s just another game. We`ve got to take pride in ourselves.”
Macy sat in front of his locker with his head down and a glum expression on his face.
”If you go into a game thinking you`re going to lose, you might as well not even take the floor,” he said. ”If I was paying for a ticket, I wouldn`t mind watching a losing team as long as they were busting their rears and giving an honest effort instead of not trying.
”You would think that with the fans against us, the media writing bad stories about us, that it would bring the team together. There are only us 12 guys left.
”We`ve got 29 games left and we keep putting it off, that we`ll turn it around. You keep saying that and before you know it, you`ll be getting ready for summer vacation.”
