The Bulls started the season slowly, responded to that by moving through the meat of the season slowly and finally — are you ready for this? — went down the home stretch of the season with all the alacrity and panache of a rusted, wobbly wheelbarrow.
So they’ve got that going for them, which is … whatever it is.
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we asked you to grade the Bulls on a regular season in which they will finish a bit below .500 and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
“The Bulls are an abject failure,” @tom19075 commented.
“The Bulls took a big step back,” @ChiTownSports wrote.
“They’re in NBA hell,” @SkywayWilly offered.
You probably can guess how well the grading went.
Also, we asked if the Bulls will make it past the play-in tournament (you probably can guess the reaction to that, too) and — golf poll alert — for your favorite major among the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the British Open.
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: What grade do you give the Bulls for the regular season?
It’s time for this week’s “Polling Place.” Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) April 6, 2023
Q1: What grade do you give the Bulls (38-42) for the regular season?
Upshot: From all the Ds and Fs, you’d think the Bulls were headed for the draft lottery. But no, they couldn’t even pull that off. Bad shooting: check. Terrible starts to games: check. Inconsistent-at-best work at the defensive end by their best players: check, check, check. What a mess.
Poll No. 2: Will the Bulls, the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, make it past the play-in tournament?
Q2: Will the Bulls, the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, make it past the play-in tournament?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) April 6, 2023
Upshot: To get through, the Bulls would have to win a game at the home of the 9-seed (Raptors), then win another at the home of the 7-8 loser (Heat or Hawks). That’s kind of a long way of saying, ‘‘See you next season!’’
Poll No. 3: It’s Masters week. Which is the best men’s golf major?
Q3: It’s Masters week. Which is the best men’s golf major?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) April 6, 2023
Upshot: Look at all this support for “the tradition unlike any other.” Wow, right? The U.S. Open is a raucous blast. The British — just “the Open,” as they call it across the pond — has a one-of-a-kind weight of true importance. The PGA … well, it’s OK. But here, it’s the Masters in an all-out runaway. Must be the green jackets.