Chicago’s professional sports teams are floundering right now. And we can see why from the events that have transpired the last 30 hours. First, the NHL’s Blackhawks allow their leading scorer in the playoffs, Martin Havlat, to sign with the Minnesota Wild for a mere $5 million a year. They basically insulted the guy with a pathetic one-year offer, forcing him to turn to other teams for more appropriate deals. Then the Hawks decide to spend more than $60 million (twice the total amount it took the Wild to sign Havlat) on Marian Hossa. Mind you, it took Hossa 7 more games than Havlat to reach his identical playoff point total of 15.
To make matters worse, the NBA’s Bulls did not put a contract on the table for their four-time leading scorer, 25 year old Ben Gordon. So Gordon flew to Michigan and agreed to terms with the Pistons instead. No big deal. This is just a guy who was on the NBA All-Rookie team and was Sixth Man of the Year in the NBA just four seasons ago, has averaged over 18 points a game in his five seasons despite playing just over 30 minutes a game, was 6th in the NBA in 3 point field goals last year, was 7th in the NBA in scoring two years ago, has only missed 12 games in 5 seasons, and whose numbers all go up in the playoffs. His clutch-ness (kind of similar to Carl-ness) is his best asset- he has been counted on to take and make shots down the stretch for the Bulls since he was a rookie. And most of the time, he hits the big shots.
I have to mention that one Chicagoan commented that Ben Gordon was a “terrible defensive player” and that the Bulls were actually relying on Derrick Rose and not Gordon to lead them in upcoming years. Well, the stats don’t tell a very pretty story for Bulls fans if these things are true. You see, over the entire 2008-’09 season, Ben Gordon averaged more defensive rebounds, more steals and more blocked shots than Derrick Rose, and in fewer minutes a game. Ouch.
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