MEDIA DAY RECAP! Matas Buzelis, Arturas Karnisovas & More on Goals for 2025-26 | CHGO Bulls Podcast

MEDIA DAY RECAP! Matas Buzelis, Arturas Karnisovas & More on Goals for 2025-26 | CHGO Bulls Podcast

What up, Bulls Nation? We’ve got a live CHO Bulls coming up for y’all right around the corner. On today’s show, the Bulls 2526 season officially kicked off earlier today with Bulls Media Day. We heard from AK, we heard from Billy Modis, Josh Giddy, Kobe White, and more. Our impressions of everything we heard and saw at Bulls Media Day next. Get up. I know I know there’s going to be bumps and bruises in the road. Um but my mentality is always to to to be the best to help the team win. Um, I always think of it like this, like if if somebody if somebody’s done it, I’m I can do it, too. And if if nobody’s done it, I’m going to be the first one to do it. So, um, I’m very excited. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people um, with this team. And I have a lot of faith in us. There is the young man who has me clinging to the last vestage of my sanity. Modest Balis. Hey, Bulls Nation. Welcome in CHO Bulls coming to you live from our studios here in West Loop downtown Chicago. I’m PC Bulls Peek. That’s big day. Bam. PWL sports will go perfectly quafted cruise hair on a little bit goal. Queen of the controls Katy D. What up Katie? Hello. Hello. Hope everybody out there in Bulls Nation had a great weekend. The final weekend of the off season. Yes, we are here Dave. We have a live fresh season starts today. How are you? Huh? Goat. Do you have any words to describe how you are? All right. I’m uh Yeah, I’m somewhere in between that. Yeah. And that. Okay. So, would that be like a like but like with a mixed in? Okay. Okay. All right. Got you. Uh that was young modestella still just 20 years of age. So mature and uh boy he sounded like somebody ready to take more accountability and weight on his shoulders. Oh than a lot of the other grown adults that he works with and for he sounded like he was ready to beat the macho man Randy Savage in a triple threat for the Intercontinental Championship. I was charged. That line, as soon as I heard that line, I was like, “Bar, yeah, tattoo it on my forehead.” We said, “The way I always looked at it is, if somebody else has done it, I can do it, too. Talk that. If nobody’s done it before, I’m going to be the first to do it. I’m going to be I’m going to be there. I’m going be the first.” Some people wonder why and and, you know, warn against Bulls fans getting their hopes up about this young man, right? And I’m like, but did you listen? He’s he’s putting it on himself. He’s putting it on himself. Which is why I keep saying I have no problems putting things on him because he’s putting it on himself in front of the world to see. And he means it. He’s not just talking it, he’s walking it. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the awesome stuff about Modestellis. That is why I’m charged. That is why he’s charged. And that is why Goat is awesome. Yeah. Goat. I mean, you’ve heard Modis make statements, not like that one, but just in a similar style of it. It’s weird because he’s very humble and realistic about where he is in his career. Y the earliest chapters, but he’s also just oozing confidence all the time. Did anything that he said today stand out to you in a way that was different or make you raise an eyebrow be like, “Wow, I can’t believe Ma said that.” It’s an interesting combination of like, you know, just unbridled confidence and just like incredible self-belief, but also like within this scope of what’s realistic and like having a sense of reality. For example, what he said about wanting to be coached like he’s an alldefensive team player. It’s like, oh god, this is a guy who like knows what he needs to work on. he needs to be better defensively and like there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him defensively given the rest of the starting five around him. And so he does need to be at that level, but it’s also like he wants he wants to get there. And I just I like I know I know we’re going to talk about like accountability and our tourists and um some of the the commentary that he had. Uh, I’m not going to like hold it against Modis if the Bulls don’t win the championship this year or if Modis is not most improved player of the year, which is what he said his goals were. But I am going to like appreciate the fact that he wants to be great and like isn’t afraid of setting those kind of goals for himself. And I think that is just kind of like the difference of of what we saw there. But for me, having a guy like Modis on the team who um does have that kind of self-belief, isn’t afraid of the spotlight in the moment. Again, I’m not going to like hold him to it. But I do uh I expect him to work towards that. And I feel like there’s sort of this combination of like him being like so young and still new in the league and like not really knowing what it really means to get to that point as an athlete, but also understanding how hard he works and how hard he has to work in order to get there. It’s like a funny combination of like just screw it. I’m going to say whatever I want and I’m going to be as good as I possibly can be. Um, but also understand that like he does know that that’s a lot of work to get there and like he’s not afraid of that either. No, he’s not afraid of the work. You say what you mean and you mean what you say. And that is how he is carrying himself out there. I’ve watched this thing three times. Three times. I just let it play. Watch three more. You know what I’m saying? Like, yo, man, cuz this is the stuff I want to hear. Like, I want to hear them speak on this kind of situation and these kind of things, Matt. this is what I want to hear from the guy people are expecting things from. He was like, “That’s cool.” Cuz the point is, it’s cool for you to expect things from me. You’re not going to expect more from me than I’m expecting from myself. And that is the key of all of this. His goals are much loftier than the ones that we have for him. He’s like most improved player of the year. Shout out to Matt Peek and his prove it. He’s like, I want to be that defensive guy. That’s what I want to be known as. Coach me is that. I loved when he said, “I’m I’m talking to everybody. Coaches, security.” He’s like, “I’m talking to everybody.” All right? Because I’m trying to be the best out here. The best. Not one of the best, the best. That means when it comes down to it in that fourth quarter, it it alleviates some things for me as far as who I know will have the right mentality. When it’s a two-point game and it’s two minutes to go, I know he’s going to be ready mentally. I know he’s going to be ready. He’s going to want the ball. He’s going to want to do everything possible to get this victory on both ends of the floor. He wants it. Why can’t we just allow him to have it? Let him encourage. Let’s encourage him. Let’s continue to encourage this young man and hope he gets to the level that we want him to be at because we need him to be at that as fans. We need Moders to get to that level. We need him to be that guy for us so we can continue to champion him in this way. Now, of course, they’re going to be steps. They’re going to be bumps in the road. There’s going to be some pitfalls and there’s going to be some things that are going to, you know, struggle. I love what Billy Donovan said in his comment. He’s like, “Mike, I am exhausted in my rookie season. I am tired.” All right. I am tired. He was tired out there, but that’s fine. Those things happen. Those things are going to come. It’s about how you continue to work and continue to overcome those things. Modis has the right mentality to attack this and to be that guy for the Chicago Bulls. And that’s just not me wanting him to be that guy. It’s him saying he wants to be that guy. And he wants to do everything possible to get him to that level. So, it’s not just the lip service, y’all. It’s also the foot service. Uh, shout out to everybody hanging out with us in that chat. Bulls nation, hit the like button if you haven’t done it already, as Katie told you to do. Speaking of Bulls fans and Mod is all wanting this very badly for him. Uh, Gaty’s in the chat saying, “Manis is the only player currently who has a chance to become a star player. Our only hope other than maybe Noah Sen in four to five years.” So, that would be a disagreement from AK’s opening statements where he said he believes that both Kobe White and Josh Giddy have star potential in this league. Um, but I think Bulls fans feel, you know, across that spectrum. A lot of a lot of Bulls Nation and I will use the word us right now speaking about myself. A lot of us among Bulls Nation feel that Modus is the one great hope when it comes to this team actually oh I don’t know winning a playoff game a playoff series dare I say only hope uh Fish our guy saying um that Mattis speaking on how hard he wanted to be coached was awesome. Viper Strike Zero prediction Modis will slap the ground at one point this year. bring it to me. You both talked about that as as well as what Viper was just talking or Fish was talking about about how he wanted to be coached on the defensive end. Okay. Do we have that clip as well from Modis? Let’s go ahead and watch Modis. Just play it, play it, play it. I’ve been telling the coaching staff, I want to be coached as a alldefensive guy. That That’s how I want to be coached. I want to be held accountable. It doesn’t matter if it’s if it’s um being yelled at in front of everyone in uh in uh solitude in um in a video in the video room. It doesn’t matter to me. Like I want I want to be coached and and uh held to that standard. Yeah. In the media. That’s fine with me. That’s fine with me. I mean, did y’all hear that? Yes. I want my coaches to coach me like I’m an all defensive team candidate. Coach me hard. Call me out. Call me out in front of my teammates. Put me in the corner with a dunce cap on if you feel like that’s what’s best for me to learn my lessons when I need to learn my lessons. Media, y’all throw it on the pile. I want to be held accountable by all of these people. As Bulls fans, my god, how is that refreshing to hear? My god. cuz you know we’re gonna we’re going to talk about some people we also heard from today a little later on in the show. And you know what it sounds like compared to what we heard from them? The exact opposite. Setting goals, holding accountability. Mhm. A young 20-year-old entering his second year in the league. And again, I get those Bulls fans who say careful, careful, careful. Let’s not put too many expectations on this young man. Bump that. Compared to expectations for what? This team, this organization as a whole. Yeah. maybe not losing in the playing tournament for the fourth straight time. Maybe we heard from somebody out there today who was talking about winning championships and meaning it and putting it on himself. Who was that Matt? Young Modis Mousellis. Like my god. My god. It’s It’s such a silly concept for Bulls fans to hear a young player speak like that and be like, “Oh, oh, we can dare dare to dream. Dare dare we dream? dare that this young man who’s oozing with confidence and also always mentioning accountability put this weight on my shoulders. I’m going to look in the mirror before I start pointing a finger at anybody else. I’m I’m I’m going to look in the mirror again and go back to the weight room before I start making excuses about why this team can’t be good enough, why I can’t be good enough. It just it sounds a lot different than the people he works for. Don’t you just want to hug his parents? Don’t you just want to just like I’d like to take you out for a meal of food and hang out with you because y’all you did it right. You know what I’m saying? You did it correctly with this young man right here. This is what you want, you know, from young man. Now again, that’s one way to talk and then another way to do it. This is why I keep like him so much because it ain’t just talk, man. It is not just talk. We see him out there trying and giving his all and trying to improve. the improvement you saw it even last season because he was talking this but he understood the process of it is you know there’s still like you said goat there’s still a realistic view in how he’s looking at the goals are lofty but he understands the realism in what he’s saying and understands the realism and the work that has to take place and what he needs to do to show up like you said being in that weight room like he talked about um what did he say the three things he was working on shooting off the dribble shooting uh when they go on the screen under the screen under Excuse me. Ball handling and setting screens. Yes. In your second year, this is what we talking about. This is what we discussing. A dude setting screens. Yes. This is what I’m talking about, man. I’d like cuz he was like they it wasn’t like, you know, they were calling a lot of screens for me or I was setting a lot of screens. I wasn’t involved in a lot of the offense. Well, guess what? That’s changing. That’s going to change this year. He will absolutely be involved in the offense for the Chicago Bulls this season. So him knowing that and hearing him say what he’s working on and that’s offensive stuff, you know, setting those screens, shooting off the dribble, but then when they ask him what you want to be, start with me being that all defense guy. I want to be coach as an alldefense guy. Both sides of the ball. It’s what I said when we were doing the show and I told you who the most important person to me was on this team and it’s modest. It’s because on both sides of the ball, he is vitally important. And this is him realizing that and understanding that. So him saying get back is why Matt lost his mind when he said most improved. It’s why I lost my mind when he talked about offense and defense about the things he wants to improve on. So there’s no more mind here when it comes to Modis. It’s just feelings and emotions and it’s all awesome. Shout out Mis Mousellis. It’s my guy. Let’s go, man. What did you make of that whole alldefense thing go? Like Yeah. I mean, I think it’s it’s good that he’s setting the bar high for himself. Like, that’s I think you have to do that if you want to be great, right? Like, you can’t say, uh, I want to be a solid player one day and then like expect to become an all-star. Um, I don’t know like what exactly Modis’ path to becoming a star player is. I think it starts with a lot of stuff he was talking about off the dribble shooting, going uh, you know, shooting when guys go under on screens, and then becoming an elite defensive player. Like, those are pretty good bets, right? Like I I don’t know exactly how it’s going to turn out. I don’t know exactly what the the picture will look like when it’s fully painted, but like I can tell you one thing. When guys are really good at basketball, they’re often times able to score off the dribble and defend at a high level. And like what are two things that the Bulls really need on this roster? Defense at a high level and somebody being able to score in isolation. So I I think he has like and that’s kind of what what we’re both talking about Dave with like having it grounded in reality of like what are the specific things that I need to work on in order to take that step that I want to take and I think he has isolated some pretty important qualities that can help make him better. Again I think that you know progress is not always linear. I asked him about like going into a second year um and some of the challenges associated with that. Uh, I think he’s aware of that, too. But, um, I just think that he’s thinking about his own growth in the right way. And I do think that that’s really important. It’s not just like, and he kind of said this, too. It’s like you can’t just go out there and like try to get better at everything. Like, you have to focus on specific things. Uh, and I think he it sounds like he’s picked some good ones to work on, and I think that will help uh just bring the rest of his game along, right? Like if you’re able to score a little bit, create a little bit off the dribble, now you can attack closeouts a little bit more, now you can create a little bit more offense when things break down. Um, and now you’re even more important to the team because you’re a better floor spacer and a better defender. And so I think he’s just like stacking the right skill sets. Um, and we’ll see how it looks, but I I just think he’s on the right path. Yes. We got to knock out our first ad break right there. We come back on the other side. One more little sound bite from Modis that I wanted us to touch on. And then we’ll also hear from Josh Giddy and Kobe White both at the podium at the UC for media day earlier today. Hit that like button, Bulls Nation, while you listen to these words from our friends and sponsors. Bear drops. Great. Today’s show brought to you by Bet 365. With the new Bet 365 early payout offer, you are a winner if your team goes up by 17 points with an instant payout on straight bets and parlay selections marked as winners. So download that Bet365 app and use promo code CHGO365 when you sign up because when you do, you’re going to get $200 in bonus bets when you bet your first $5 bet. Win or lose the bet, doesn’t matter. You’re getting that $200 in bonus bets either way. And bless it, we are here in football land and it is great. Thursday Night Football, $10 safety net bet. Sunday Night Football, a $365,000 jackpot on the table. Monday Night Football coming up tonight. 50% off Super Profit Boost tokens on same game parlays. So many options, so many great offers and deals. What are you waiting for? Double your winnings on parlays with Bet365’s 100% parlay boost. Download that pro uh download that bet 365 app and use that promo code chgo365 when you sign up. Must be 21 and older if you or someone you know has a gambling problem. Crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1800 gambler inapp only. Matt, you look a little thirsty. Ah, I almost am always there. Well, I’m going to need you to grab that, sir, and I’m going to need you to punch yourself in the dang on thirst. Well, look at here. Yeah. See that? Punch. Punch coming. Punch happening. Punch happened. Punch delivered. Oh, right to the face in the thirst. And the only drink that can do that, the only cola that can do that is R. See, cola, ladies and gentlemen. Some sodas have kick. They ain’t about all that stuff. No, they about punches. All right. Straight to the thirst. Damn. The OG cola in the world of spineless soft drinks. No trends, no gimmicks, no woozies, and no wazies, y’all. RC hasn’t changed his stripes since 1905 cuz you didn’t need to. Same bold, crisp flavor. It has always been that punch right in the dangon thirst. So, do yourself a favor, grab some RC from your local store. Stock up for all your end of summer parties or beginning of fall parties, back to school celebrations, or just like Matt do, watching a game. RC is the move for whatever, and I mean whatever you’re doing, cuz it’s RC Cola, y’all. the true taste of Chicago. We’re back rolling along CHO Bulls on Monday media day for the Bulls kicking off their 2526 season. Uh shout out if you’re hanging out with us in the chat. Hit that like button if you didn’t do it during the ad break. Uh speaking of that chat, referring to all of Modis’ brimming confidence today. Bulls all day saying last person we had on the Bulls with that kind of confidence which D Rose said he can win MVP. It’s true. Uh, and along those very same lines, uh, wanted to play one more little snippet for MA is when he was asked about benchmarks of success. This was his answer. Katie, oh, Katie wasn’t ready for it. The benchmark for success as a as a team to win a championship. That’s the benchmark for me at least. But, um, I want to win most improved player this year. That’s what that’s what I’m striving for. But this is this is a team sport. This this like this is everything about the team. The individual stuff will come once you win. So I’m worried about winning. Hello. Hello. Everybody else hear that? I heard it. Benchmarks of success in a team sport. Winning a championship. He said that’s what it is to me anyway. Does anybody else catch that? To me anyway. Maybe some people don’t feel that way. That’s personally MIP award. Yeah, my prove it was for Mis to finish top five in most improved player award voting this upcoming season. This is true. I’m guessing he did not watch that episode. I don’t know if he’s a regular viewer. Please come on board. Modis. Yes. Join us on set sometime if you want to. Please. And Kinkad Inc. How about that? I said, Modis, finish top five in MIP. He said, I’ll do you one better. My goal for myself is to win the damn award. Mhm. Let it go through your veins. Last tiny bits of sanity up here. All of them are going modus minus minus minus minus minus minus. Oh, for the love of god. Yes. Let it flow through you. I need this young man to take this franchise away from itself. God. Hey Julia, it’s true. And I and that’s why I loved it as well. Him talking about defense because that was my prove it was I wanted 130 blocks. You know what I mean? I wanted that. He’s like, “Yeah, maybe he did want to prove it.” He did because, you know, also it means growth. Shout out to the goat. It means growth. It’s going to happen, too. But yes, man. This is why we’re so excited about it cuz we know it’s there and we see the possibilities of it being there for this young man. And it’s not just us looking at I mean the league looks at it the same kind of way as well. You know, he wouldn’t be having the offseason that he had as far as and I like the question they asked about, you know, him hanging with celebrities. You know what I’m saying? And getting that kind of love. Um because it’s them also looking at what he’s doing on the floor. They’re not just putting him in that stuff because he’s tall and and some people may find him good-looking. It’s because he’s balling out there on the floor. He’s doing some things that people are like, “Man, we need to take notice of this young man, man. I like what this skill that I’m seeing from him. I’d like to see more of it.” Yeah, us too. Yeah. Modest as well. And he’s putting in the work. So, you can see it. I love that he said he’s not, you know what I’m saying? Uh, putting bulking up so much. You know, he doesn’t want lose that fluidity when he’s out there on the floor because that was a superpower of his game. Just how smooth and how fluid he kind of moves. um his ability, you know, to get on the block. He’s going working on that kind of stuff. His ability to get to the line. Oh my god. He can go to the line and eat and feast there. And all of that stuff can come together and click for him this season when it’s just about getting better. And when I say click for him, I don’t mean 30 points a game and 15 rebounds. I’ll take it, but that’s not what I mean. I’m just talking about when it comes together and he’s just playing. And it’s not just him thinking out there. He’s just playing because it’s just all natural to him and he’s working on that on both sides of the floor. Man, that is difficult to do to improve both of those things on both sides of the floor. But he is saying, “Hey, it may be difficult. It don’t mean it can’t be done.” Alvin Robertson, Kevin Duckworth, love it. Kevin Johnson, Rooney Sakali, Ronnie Cyley, Ronnie Cycley, excuse me, Don Mlan, Syracuse, shout out. Agent Gilbert Arenas, Monte Ellis. What do those seven players have in common? You’re gonna tell us the only players to ever win most improved in their second season. So be joining some very wow interesting company and not not many recently. And that was where I was going next. Monte Ellis most recently in 2006 2007. So almost 20 years since somebody has done that, which would be crazy. Um and yeah, I just think it’s hard for those kind of players to do that. But again, this isn’t about like is this a good idea? Is this like a good bet to make? And who’s our who’s our sponsor right now? The Sport 365. They’re right behind you, baby. Bet 365. They’re amazing. Shout out. Um this is like what is an NBA player who has irrational confidence in himself saying that he wants to be? And so I think that’s great. I I want him to do that too. And you know, you even I believe wasn’t it you who asked the whole like the second year expectations. That was before my time. I apologize. The fact that secondyear players can also sometimes see struggles and you even mentioned his teammate IO kind of going through some trials and tribulations of his sophomore campaign and teams uh you know scouting you a bit more aggressively when they get a little taste of what you could do as a rookie and then that makes things harder for you in year two. Uh and M’s like yeah heard but so I’m going to work my tail off. Yeah. Get better. And I like like you just said I man saying those things like that because like hey dude I’ve been through this. Yeah. I know how hard this is, bro. And having that person that can give you that knowledge of what they’ve been through is invaluable, man. It really is invaluable. And he’s like, “Yo, I appreciate him for that. For snapping on me, for yelling at me, for demanding more of me.” And the reason I doing that because he sees what we all are kind of see and modest that there’s something there. And he’s putting in the work to do it. So he’s like, “Well, if you got that, you need to put that work in with that talent.” And that’s how you create that kind of level of goodness that’ll lead you to greatness. All right, so let’s move on to Josh Giddy. Uh did make it to media day, right? And um highlights all summer long, all the contract talk. He finally was able to sit down in front of the media at large and talk about his side. Yeah. Of that long saga of the summer. Uh Katie, he talked about the whole I think it was Callie, shout out to our pal Calli, about the whole like was there any hard feelings thing that some Bulls fans were worried about? And Josh addressed that, Katie, if you want to play that clip next. There was never any bad feelings. It’s a negotiation. It’s how it goes. Um not just for me, but for every free agent. It’s kind of the the nature of the business. And um finishing the season, I knew that was what was going to happen. It was a negotiation. It’s how business works. So um never any hard feelings. Um obviously this is where I wanted to be. Very happy to be locked in for another four years. And um I’m glad that the deal got done. So, that was one of a few remarks or I guess actually one of a few answers because there were lots of questions thrown at Josh about the long saga of contract talks this summer. But basically, I heard what I expected to hear from a professional athlete. Yeah, there are two sides. It’s a business. I wanted to be here. I felt wanted here. We got a deal done to me as somebody who was like, “Oh my god, enough of I’m like great, done.” Yeah. Anything G did he say about the contract specifically goat that you found to be interesting? No, not really. I mean, I think it was just like it’s a tough situation for him to be in and he’s like trying to let his agent handle it and this is a really difficult situation for restricted free agents across the board this year. Um, but I I felt like it was worth putting this in our show today because there was so much commentary about like you’ve got to keep this guy happy. You’ve got to make sure that he’s like coming back on the right terms. You don’t want him locked into a long-term deal. And it I think it just speaks to the fact that like he is a professional. Like he really gets it. Um he understands the situation. I think he is like self-aware enough to know like yeah I probably wanted x amount of money and that was never going to happen. And so like how can we get a deal done that works best for both of us. I think the bulls came up as we’ve talked about before like probably more than they necessarily needed to. But to me like that’s a show of good faith that they did want to keep him happy. So ultimately, I think he did very well for himself. Um I think the Bulls got him on a fine contract and it should be all, you know, all good moving forward. But I just felt like it was worth pointing out that like for for me at least, the way that Josh handles this stuff and and this is just like him in the media. This isn’t like his deepest darkest secrets or whatever, but it’s like he’s just a professional. Like he’s just a professional and he’s gonna handle his business in a way that uh I was never really worried about. Yeah, very professional. That’s a great way to say about his press conference. Like you could tell like yeah dude this this is kind of what I’ve do. This isn’t my first kind of rodeo. Like I’ve been dealing with this internationally uh as well. So I know what to say and and how to say it and how to be honestish about the situation. He did it perfectly. Uh also shout out to the highlights that he says in the comments highlights. Okay. Yeah. I saw the highlights and I saw the and I saw the trim. You know what I mean? On the D just natural sundai, you Yeah, it it looked a little trim. A little That is not natural. Maybe maybe a little trim. Maybe just spritz a little lemon juice in his hair. Yeah, maybe a little sunbathing. The lemon juice is very possible, but that is not like, you know, it doesn’t come out in screams. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever floats your boat. Yeah. But I I didn’t mind. Whatever. Whatever’s going to make him play better, I’m with it. They look great on you to me, sir. Shout out to you. I I love how he just closed the door on it, though. Go. Like, he’s like, “Look, man. I signed it. I’m here for four years. I’m ready to play basketball. Are y’all ready to watch me play basketball? Because I’m ready to play basketball. I like that way the way he approached that and how he said it and how he closed the chapter on it. And that’s what I wanted. I didn’t want anything kind of lingering about it. I don’t want to talk about, you know, how much you’re getting per year and how you feel about that anymore. I don’t, you know, I I appreciate Joe Calli getting that out the way for the first question, you know, like, dude, we heard about this, the rumors about you not sing with your team, this and that. He was like, “Yeah, you know,” he’s like, “Well, you know, there’s things you got to go through in the league. You know, there are parameters, there are situations, this and that, but the bottom line is this. I signed it. I love it. I want to be here. I’m here four years. I can’t wait to get to work. Let’s get to work.” No, I I totally agree. And I just think the the closing the door part is probably the best way to put it. Like, it’s just it is what it is. It’s a tough situation for any restricted free agent. Um, and that’s why I wanted to ask him about basketball because I was ready to talk about basketball. Shout out to you. Uh, with that, let’s knock out our second set of ads real quick. We’ll come back on the other side. A few more thoughts on Josh. We’ll get to Kobe White as well as Bulls VP of basketball ops AK and head coach Billy Donovan. All next. Hit the like ads. Hit it. Today’s show is brought to you by Ray Ray Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Ram. Right now is your chance to score a great deal at their drive into fall event. Right now, get up to $15,000 off MSRP or get 0% financing for 72 months on new 2025 models. Plus, shop over 125 vehicles priced under $20,000. Bargain bargains. And with a friendly team of brand experts, the team at RCDJR is here to help you during each step of your car shopping journey. Plus, they prioritize affordability, which means you know you won’t overpay for the vehicle you need. And with that raised price promise, another layer of comfort and certainty, knowing that you won’t overpay for that vehicle because there are no hidden fees and no add-ons ever. The price you see is the price you pay. So don’t miss out on their drive to fall event for huge savings on new models. For more information, visit racecr 12 in Fox Lake or online at racejr.com. They’ve been serving the community since when? 1963. That’s what I heard. What? Katie, what time is it? Game time. Game time. Hoot. Oh, she was ready in on top of those things. Cuz NFL tickets, you want them, you need to be getting them from Game Time, ladies and gentlemen. That is the only place cuz they have exclusive discounts like those zone deals. You choose the section and Game Time will go on and do the selecting. All right. They got the priority seating because guess what? Fees are included. There are no games being played. They tell you up front what you’re going to get, ladies and gentlemen. Of course, they got that lowest price guarantee, that game time ticket coverage. You know, they got them seat views that Matt and I love so much. But that game time ticket coverage, y’all, it’s the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. So, take that guess work out of buying NFL tickets with game time download HG. Get yourself $20 off your first purchase. Supply one time. I said C H O get yourself $20 off your first purchase. Turns fly. Turns fly. Download any time today. Download it. Tap ticket and go. Man, that those are media day right there. There it is. It’s got a little extra juice. Extra juice. Just a little bit. Little modest. 30% more modest in your juice. Hope everybody out there in Bulls Nation have their juice cups adequately filled, if not their optimism cups for a fresh season. Okay, diving back in. We also and chat out. Goat, I’m gonna give you a little assist flex here. A lot of talking and a lot of questions to Giddy about the contract and understandably why you were like, “Hey Josh, can I ask you a basketball question?” Uh, if you want to be that guy now that you have the contract of that kind of guy on a team who means so much to a team, what do you want to do specifically on the court to make yourself a bigger, better version of being that guy for an NBA team? And this was Josh’s answer. Katie, I think leadership was the big one. You know, that’s it’s obviously on court and offc court skill, but just continuing to to use my voice. Um, continuing to push guys, continuing to to make others around me better. Um, I think shooting the ball from from an encore perspective is the big one. You can never get too good at that. So, continuing to to continue to get reps in, um, stay locked in on that. Um, defensively, I think was a big big area of improvement for me last year. And, um, it was it was a slow kind of burn and I wanted to keep getting better at it. And I think back half of the year when when I got those, you know, roles of guarding other teams better players, it it keeps me, you know, a lot more engaged on that side of the ball. And that’s not to say when you’re not on the best players, you’re not engaged. But just guarding those guys, it kind of gives me a sense of um, you know, a different level of intensity on the defensive end of the floor because you know that you’re guarding these primary guys and that’s kind of the key to the other team success. So, you know, the back half of the year, I thought the defensive side for me picked up a lot and it wasn’t always perfect. You know, there’s games where we played in LA and I was guarded Luke and he had 30 in the first half. So, there’s there’s uh you know, there’s experiences where you grow and and it’s not always positive growth. It’s it can be, you know, what did I do wrong here to to let a guy get off the hook? And defensively, not just for me, but as a team, it’s kind of where we we need to hang our hats. Um, you know, we don’t have, you know, some teams have these elite, you know, you know, big versatile defenders. We we we have to do it by committee, and it has to be a five fiveman defensive unit on the on the floor. So for me, um, I want to continue to take steps in that area, but I think we as a whole need to and and we will, you know, go into this year. What did you think of that answer, Goat? I think again, pretty self-aware. I think there are some key areas where it’s like you can make improvements to your game um, and like get incrementally better. For me, the thing that I think he really needs to add is the off the dribble three. And that’s probably like not something that he’s going to add to his game this year. But, uh, to me, like as we’ve talked about, that’s like what turns a player from like good to great. And I think he does need to get more consistent defensively. I think that’s a a hard thing to ask a player who’s got super high usage. Um, I think he does need to continue to work on the shots. And then like I’ve kind of been saying this for a little while here now, but like whether you know we can sit here and say that Giddy is like an all-star caliber player or not. Like he is effectively the Bulls allstar. Like maybe he gets there, maybe he doesn’t, maybe Kobe gets there, maybe he doesn’t, maybe modest, but like at the end of the day, guys who dominate possession of the ball on their team, like you’re only going as far as they can take you. And so for the Bulls to go further, Giddy needs to take them. And for me, that’s why I feel like the off the dribble three is a big thing. But if he can just be consistent shooting when he’s open and off the ball, u if he can get to a point defensively where he is not negative and you know he can be a positive contributor at times, like that really raises the floor. And I think if he looks at all like he did down the stretch of last year, like those things will be true and we can kind of worry about some of the other stuff that he needs to add to his game. Um because again like the difference between like improving a skill and adding it uh I think is a big one. But um I do appreciate how self-aware he is and like understanding the things that he does need to improve on. Um and wanting to do that and so I think he will continue to get better. And uh for me it’s just about like seeing that consistently over the course of a year because we’ve seen this with Kobe. We’ve seen this with you know Mus had a great second half of the year. Obviously he’s a rookie. It’s a different situation. But over the last couple years, so many of these guys have had real hot stretches and then stretches where they look kind of average or worse. And like they really now like those are the guys on the team. So like they need to be consistent otherwise the team’s just not going to be very good, right? Like that’s a fact. The best players on the team have to be really good otherwise the team’s not going to be good. I feel like it’s kind of a simple equation. Yeah. Two plus two is four. Yeah, that’s that’s what it is. Um, I this is the modest I I would say it’s a continuation from what I learned about him from media day last year when he was here and why I was impressed with him at media day is when he starts talking about the game and you’re right like I love how self-aware he really is about he was self-aware about it last year talking about working on his three-point shot and you also had that line about like obviously I’m never going to be any kind of Alex Caruso defender in this league exactly so he understands that and I love watching you know, the gears start to move, you know, in his head when you’re watching that guy and his his his eyes get a little tighter because he’s getting a little more focused about what he’s discussing and what he’s talking about and that’s ball and and he loves it and he loves playing it. Um, him talking about what he needs to improve. I that was great. I the one thing I really like what he talked about was improving as a leader and he talked about his leadership skills and again very self-aware of how he is. He was like I’m not a vocal guy. It’s not how I roll. I’m not a guy rah yell at you kind of person. Of course when I hit a half court shot that’s a little different but I’m not that kind of player. He was like but I I will you know say something you know what I mean and you know about the game and how it’s going on. He said on the court he said but off the floor when they’re in the huddle or or when it’s after the game he needs to improve on that. He was like I don’t really uh I’m not really vocal in that sense uh when it comes to those guys and I need to be and I need to be that guy and he is absolutely right. He needs to be because as you said go like he’s the one like he has it’s on him like the engine he’s the one and this Bulls team has shown at least from what I’ve seen watching them they are better when they’re more vocal. They are better when guys are really truly communicating with each other. Kobe White is a best example of that when he wasn’t the guy you know who was really loud and vocal and now he’s all about that you know he’s in the guys with that kind of thing. I Dumu wasn’t super loud and vocal. Now we got Modis at the media they talking about IO was getting on me man like for real. So hearing that Josh Giddy basically reading the tea leaves about what this team kind of needs and the type of leader he needs to work on becoming is great to hear from a guy that is going to be the engine of the entire offense for the Chicago Bulls this season. Yeah, that was the point that I forgot to wrap up with. So, I’m glad you brought that up because to me, like if you are going to be that guy, obviously you you want to be good, but you also need to be like an effective leader of the team. So, I like that he brought that up as well. Yeah. Yeah. I I liked his answer as somebody who again skeptical that Josh can be one of the best players on a very good NBA team that’s making deep playoff runs and that that can happen here with the Bulls. He he brought up with a lot of things that I want him to be better at, right? Which is great. you know, if I if I’m would nitpick and I don’t even feel like nitpicking, but like I don’t think I heard him say the phrase, you know, I I really want to get better at creating my own shot off the dribble because I wanted to do that, too. But leadership, great. Better defense, great. More confident shooting, great. Let’s go see it. Um, you mentioned you mentioned Kobe, Dave, go sell it. Go sell it. No window. No window. Um, Kobe um had some interesting thoughts. goat. You asked him about what he is trying to do differently and build upon this upcoming season. And much like Modus and some similar things we heard from him as far as what and and what we set out for goals for these players when we did our proit over the past month or so, Kobe uh you know talked about wanting to be a 40% shooter, which is great. Uh and he expanded upon that a little bit, Katie, if you will. I think with the stuff I’ve done this offseason is going to help me um in terms of um looking back and seeing why I was so productive during that time um and getting better at those things and and for me it’s just I think a lot of it had to do with just just mindset kind of you know with Zack whenever Zach went to sack I was kind of like thrusted into that role. Um, and I think, you know, this year I got like a, you know, a feel for it last year and I think this year obviously defenses are probably going to be more aggressive with me. So, um, I take it as a challenge. Um, continue to get better. I’m excited for it. I’m excited for new responsibilities I have going into this season. That was different from last year. Um, so, but like I always say, like I, you know, I trust my team, my guys. It isn’t really about me. It’s about all of us. Um, so I think that um this group um we all have belief in each other to go out there and compete every night. So go you were asking Kobe about that great finish he had to the season including winning that Eastern Conference player of the month award and how he can bridge that into trying to be that good for a whole season. And that was Kobe’s answer. And I think it’s something that you have talked about a lot in the past Dave. I’ve talked about about Kobe is like consistently. Yeah. consistency. Can we see this crazy hot score from anywhere on the floor version of Kobe that exists spanning the entire 82NBA game season? Can we can we get rid of the month-long shooting slumps, right? The the cold streaks where he shoots 17%, you know, all of these things. So, I mean, go what did you make of his answer as far as trying to bridge that good streak to end last season and to trying to prove that he’s that guy all the time this season? What did you make of the fact that he included Zack Lavine’s departure in that transition in his answer? Yeah, I mean I think like we’ve talked about this a lot with Giddy and even Modest to a certain extent everybody. I mean they just played so well down the stretch, but it’s like okay it’s cool to do that in March and April, but like can you do it for 82 games? And I I think like people forget how good he was during those final I mean in March. I mean he’s averaging 27 points a night. Like again same thing with Giddy. if he if the Bulls are going to be good, it’s going to be because Giddy and Kobe continue to play at that level. And so we’ve seen this and it was even the year before too when he had a great uh stretch down the year after Zach got hurt and he was kind of playing co- captain next to Demar um where we saw it the year before that where uh in Miami he had that great playing game and then didn’t close. Um and we just we have not seen him do it for like a consistent stretch. Um, and it’s not to say he was terrible in the first half of the year, but he just wasn’t that same level. And so I think him with the Zack thing, like I don’t I don’t think it’s so much like Zack’s on the court so I can’t play or be myself, but it’s like, and that’s kind of why I framed the question this way, but it’s like the Bulls, he’s a very team oriented guy. Like anytime you ask him a question, it’s like, well, I just want the team to win. I just want to be successful as a group. In order for that to happen, he needs to keep playing at that same level. And so for me and and hearing him say this too, it’s like he has to go in with the mentality of I need to be 25 a night. I need to be downhill every single possession. I need to be pulling up from three because that’s what makes me a dangerous player. And like Kobe can be effective if he’s like floating off the ball. Um if he’s the one that’s kind of playing secondary, you know, second fiddle to a Zach or whoever. But like that’s that’s great for the Bulls to be successful. They need him to be elite 25 a night Kobe. And so I think like getting his body right. Uh they talked a lot last year about like not being prepared for the type of minute load that he was playing in the year before and that was a big part of his training. And so now going into that again understanding you’re going to be playing that many minutes but also you’re going to have to play with this kind of effort now. Um it’s going to be an exhausting year for him. And so I think getting his body ready um and just preparing himself mentally for how he needs to play. To me that’s the biggest thing cuz we all know the talent is there. It’s just about doing it consistently and for him I think the mentality part is crucial because again it needs to be because of him not he’s a byproduct of it. Oh absolutely right and it has to be on him in a way that it hasn’t been on him previously and I’m saying that because you you hit it on the head like he has to believe this team is going to be good. Also, he has to be that if he wants to get that cash like he wants it and feels he rightly deserves. It’s a lot riding on the line for Kobe White uh this season. That the reason that it was easy to point out and accept that he would start slow and then, you know, just finish fast towards the end was because of what we were expecting from him. We weren’t expecting him to be the dude to save us, right? We weren’t expecting him to be the guy to carry the basketball team, right? We just wanted Kobe White to be Kobe White, do cool stuff. Oh my god, he dropped 30 tonight. This got us to a victory tonight. This helped us get to a victory tonight. March Men going into this season, it’s expected. Like, if you’re not the guy, if you’re not getting those 25 tonight, we’re not winning. So, it has to change. That whole mentality of Kobe getting to the slow start and then wrapping it up and then ramp ramping it up and being better as the season goes on has to change. Has to be from day one for Kobe White if the Bulls are going to have that success as go. We should know before moving on that we did also hear about a Kobe White calf strain injury at media day. AK brought it up first and then Kobe addressed it himself, but don’t like it. Would it be a Bulls media day? fully complete and beautifully gift wrapped were it not to include Bulls fans learning about an injury for the first time of a very important player on the roster. Very true. Remember Josh Giddy last year? Yeah. When he said the name of his injury and I went, “What the heck is that?” But it doesn’t sound good. Turned out it was okay. You know, maybe he needed to play his way back into shape and that’s what maybe some of his early season struggles were about. Yeah, could be. But man, and then like Sam Smith and I think maybe an additional person on the beat asked him like, “Well man, you thinking about all these other players who had calf strains that turned into ruptured Achilles?” Yes. On my brain. Why would you say that? Uncle Sam. Ah, Sam. And you’re right to say it, sir. Don’t put those bad thoughts in Kobe said. But it made me think immediately and I was like, “Oh my god, he’s so right.” But so it sounds like it might um limit what Kobe can do in these training camp practices. it might keep him out of their first handful of preseason games. AK expressed some guarded optimism about seeing Kobe active towards the end of preseason. We’ll see. My educated guess would be if there’s any question whatsoever in G preseason games 1 2 3 four and five. The answer is no. Have a seat. Go right there. Um so you know everybody fingers crossed on that. Yeah. Moving on. Moving on to other things we heard AK say. Moving on. H shout out to Justin in the chat who I am guessing and hoping is sarcastically talking about AK’s levels of excitement and intensity at the podium today. Okay, get getting him all riled up for a season. Intensity. Nothing says intensite like an AK press conference. Just kidding. Oh, dear God. Oh, it’s so it’s like pulling teeth. Um, okay. Opening statement. Fine. Whatever. Okay. highlighted some key players, whatever. It’s when he gets to answering questions from the beat and go, credit to you and your fellow members of the Bullsby. I thought AK was throwing some pretty difficult and in my, you know, importance-wise as a Bulls fan, that means good questions at AK. Uh Dave, were you surprised at any answers that AK gave us today? Oh man, that uh Let’s just start there. Was I surprised? Uh, I I can’t I don’t know if I would say surprised because I’ve kind of heard these, you know, these themes before. I’m kind of used to it by now. And I don’t mean that in a positive way, but I’m kind of used to it, you know, by now. That questions are going to be answered. That questions are going to be asked that I want to know the answer to that will not be answered. They are answered. They are answered in the sense that AK opens his mouth and words come out. Yes. Exactly. After a question is asked. And shout out to my man Drew Stevens who was asking some awesome questions, throwing fire, and just him asking about why do you think this team is different? Um, why do you think this team is not the 19-point loss team in Miami, but you feel they’re more towards the second half of the year, the 15 and the 15 and five squad, which and it wasn’t really an answer. Actually, I I tweeted that answer from our team account before we get to his answer to goat’s question or attempted answer to goat’s question. Neo the the Drew Stevens question about why are you the 150 and5 team and not the team that got blown out in the playin tournament again. AK said quote I think during that 20ame stretch we learned certain things and then obviously we learned a lot losing to Miami as well. The way we couldn’t handle the physicality of Miami in that game. Those are the lessons we have to take into the season. Great. So, you learned lessons about what you were doing well when you were 15 and five and then you learned more lessons about how you got your ass kicked and that’s important to to think about all that as you move into this. Well, I think with that he was trying to say basically like they brought up this idea these two points like over and over again which is physicality physicality and like defensive presence. And so like to me it was identity. Okay, we played a certain style but it got sort of we got overwhelmed physically against the Heat. So what do we need to do? establish a defensive identity, go out and get Isaac Aoro. I think that was kind of what he was trying to say with that, which honestly like we’ve talked about this. I know it’s like hard to hear when a team wins 39 games for the second straight year and loses in the playin against the same team for the third straight year that like the roster is not going to change. Got to be patient. Like I I I get that. But at the same point, like with where they are in terms of their flexibility and guys coming off the books next year, there weren’t a lot of options. So, I was not like a huge fan of the Aoro Lonzo trade on its face, but I do think Aoro comes in and like multiple guys shouted him out today um at the press conferences talking about how physical he was, how much he’s bringing to these scrimmages and practices in terms of inserting physicality, taking charges, you know, guarding one through four, all that stuff. So, I do think he helps there. And I do think that that is sort of their attempt to with limited options, limited pathway without trying to take too big of a swing that’s going to inhibit their flexibility that that really is their solution for the time being. And that’s fine and I get that. And you want to harp on physicality and team defense and toughness is something that you’re going to focus on coming into this season and you learned that you needed to do so because you got beat up again by the same opponent in the playing tournament for the third straight year. Fine. To me, you can’t say that and also say, “Well, gold schmos.” Let’s not get too specific here. We’re just excited about our young group, you know, growing and getting better again together and us as, you know, the front office and coaching staff evaluating what we have to make some long-term decisions. But, you know, we want to build while being competitive. You cannot say the while being competitive part when you lost in the playing tournament for the third straight year and talk about well we learned this important valuable lesson about the heat and how important physicality is and defense is. The team that beat you in the playing tournament for the third straight year went off on their merry way to the first round and did what? Got swept by an average margin of loss of 30.5 points. That’s the team you lost to in the pre-playoff, not big boy playoff playoffs. So, you can’t say it’s all about growing with this young core and building a defensive identity with this young core while being competitive. Cuz losing to a team in the playin tournament that gets swept in round one by an average margin of 30 points a game is not by this Bulls fan’s definition competitive. You cannot use that word anymore. I ban you from using that word. Until you win a playoff game, you are not allowed to use that freaking word anymore. God damn it. First of all, can I just I’m so impressive because he threw two hats at the same. Was it two or was it three? I thought it might have been three. That was three. The I’ve never seen the double hat throw in since the basket is empty. That is No, it’s still still few bullets in there. But he threw at the same time. I count five hats over here. So I think it might have been three. We might need to replay the tape on that one. That was incredible. Like for real, that was absolutely spectacular, man. You all just witnessed some history out here. Um but yeah, some of us are in mid-season form. Yeah, he’s ready. Oh, he’s ready for the season, man. You can say grow and build. You banned them. Or you can say we’re gonna try and be competitive. You can’t say both. They’re two completely different things. But I think that’s I mean, isn’t that really like the whole thing? I was about to say that. Yeah. You may not like it, but like that is the whole thing. And he said um Oh man, I should have had this up. I was pulling it earlier. I thought you got thrown by the triple hat throw. Yeah, I got thrown by the triple hat throw. A triple hat throw, man. But basically, he said like we’re going to build by being competitive. Everything will revolve around that. Um, let me see if I can find it here. Uh, in any event, like they aren’t, what he’s trying to say is they’re not going down to try to improve through heightened lottery odds. Yeah. and they can’t go up by accumulating star players out of thin air because they have no cap space and they’re unwilling to trade draft picks. So basically their goal is to overturn the roster without bottoming out. And that’s why he said building while competing is the goal. Every decision is tied to that. Like he can’t state it any more clearly that he is and I’ve like I think we all have kind of come to the come to accept that that’s the reality of situation. We may disagree with it. We may think it’s not going to work, but that is how it is. And um now for me, it’s like you come into the season, you sign Giddy to this new deal, like the best thing that they can happen now, the the days of we can just offload all of our assets for picks and start over with like a good foundation are gone. You can’t get anything for Caruso anymore. You can’t get anything for D Rozan anymore. The fact that they got as much as they did for Zack, I think remains underrated. like teams are just not taking on money right now and they got basically a first round pick out of it and shorter term contracts. Um like the best thing that they have that they can do right now is have their guys turn into value contracts. They’re in a position now where they don’t really have tradable assets. Maybe you could get something for Kobe, maybe IO. At the end of the day, they need Giddy to become a value asset. They’re not going to trade modest. They’re probably not going to trade Giddy. but like can can Kobe turn into uh a player that a lot of teams want to give something up for? Can uh can IO like can you bring somebody else in? And now you’re starting to accumulate your asset base again. But they just don’t have one right now. And so the idea of like tearing it down and rebuilding there’s nothing to tear down. They just have to hope that their roster turns into value contracts and then they can move forward with flexibility from there. And so to me it’s like those days are are behind us and the best thing for them is their best players who are going to play a lot playing really well. And it feels like when they talk about and the thing I heart was the development of guys internally it feel when I hear you say that for me when he talks about that developing guys internally it’s like well yeah because you have no other choice. You better develop these dudes internally like you you have no other choice because of the options that are presented to you on this squad. So yeah, I hope everyone, you know, understands that and we get better and you all compete more and you developing a a culture and a defensive identity and all that stuff because you have no other choice. But that’s the only route you can really take if you’re going to do it in a way like you’re saying uh rebuilding while still, you know, remaining competitive is you have to develop internally. So, uh, before we hear from AK, actually, uh, answer to a GOAT question and also a question from Julia Poe, um, just wanted to give everybody a reminder right now. We’re probably going to head into overtime here at least for a few minutes. Uh, if you’re watching on those streaming services, CSO Sports Channel, uh, just head to allcow.com to get that bonus coverage. Okay, so Goat, you asked AK a great question about how they are kind of back in a position now that resembles what the team first looked like when he and Mark Eversley took these jobs in 2020, which was a young team that had a lot of future flexibility, but not a whole ton of talent that had been developed. And that is there any lessons he could have learned or did learn about how to maybe approach this now that he’s kind of back where he was? And again, basically with the idea in mind that like what we’ve been talking about, they have an opportunity at either the trade deadline or next summer to like make some meaningful changes to the roster. They’ve got a young core, same as they did in 2020. Uh they have a period of time to evaluate that young core and then be able to make decisions moving forward. Um and so basically it’s just like what do you what lessons you take from that? What mistakes do you hope to avoid? um and how can you put this roster in a better position moving forward now having done this five years ago? And part of his answer to that was the importance of evaluating this young talent to then inform their decisions of who’s staying around long term, right? And using this season as a tool to do that evaluating and your follow-up question, goat, was about how do you evaluate that young talent to help you make those decisions? And then Katie, take it away from there. How players impact winning. And I think Billy and I, we talk about winning all the time. And uh the the new guys that came in last year, they they found it very refreshing that we focus on winning and how every player can impact winning. So we’re going to focus on winning every game without putting any, you know, you know, goals to, you know, on a team uh besides just getting better and growing together. And just kind of building off that, you said putting try not to put too many goals on this team. Is are the playoffs the goal for this year? And if so, what do you feel like is maybe different about this group about the approach that would help you guys get over the hump that you’ve hit the last three years? Well, again, I think, you know, we don’t have, you know, at the end of the day, you know, our ultimate goal is obviously to win to win the championship, but we in a position where we have to focus on our growth and what we’ve done well last year and what we need to do this year. Uh, you know, we’ve talked with Billy, there’s a certain specific way we have to play in order to win games. We watch playoffs. we saw how physical and demanding physically was, you know, every game. So, our guys got to play that way and uh this year will show if if if they’re capable of doing it. So, for those of you at home, just in case you missed it, part of AK’s answer to Goat’s followup about how you plan on evaluating this young talent to help you inform the decisions about the roster long term. Somewhere towards the end of his answer to that follow-up question, AK said, quote, “We’re going to focus on winning every game without putting any goals on the team besides just getting better and growing together.” End quote. And then, shout out to our friend Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, read her stuff, too. Yes. Jumped in there and was like, “Wait, can we get a quick clarification here?” Basically, she asked AK if making the playoffs was a goal or not. and his answer to that was, “Our ultimate goal is to win a championship.” I don’t believe you. That’s not part of the quote. Continuing on, but we’re in a position where we have to focus on our growth and what we’ve done well last year and what we need to do this year. He like unprompted go. Your question was not is is making the playoffs a goal. He he said, “We’re going to try and win every game, but it’s not about setting goals for the team to accomplish this year other than growing and getting better.” That’s wild. And then Julia put it on him. Playoffs, yes or no? Is that a goal? No. We’re not putting labels on anything. Hey jeers that depending on the context, but I’m in an open relationship with like Yeah, I’m in an open relationship for competing for a championship. I haven’t heard from competing for a championship in months, but I’m still considering myself to be in an open relationship with them. I’m in a championship and the play on Facebook. It’s complicated. I just So again, circling back to when we were listening to Modest at the top of today’s show and the goals that that young man is setting for himself. Yeah. And the accountability that he is putting on his shoulders. Yeah. By the media, by the fans, by his teammates, by his coaches, by everyone. He said, “All of those people, put it on me.” To compare that to listening to that man who is this team’s head of basketball operations when asked about expectations and goals. Yeah. It turns my godamn stomach. Yeah. Because again, just like I got mad at him for saying it’s about growth while being competitive. Uh-uh. Wrong. Two different things. You can’t say ultimate goal is to win a championship because no, it’s effing not. Not this year. Not the last three years. I don’t know how long it’s been. Shout out to Drew Stevens who reminded AK that while it wasn’t all of his tenure, it’s been 10 years since this team’s won even a singular playoff series. It’s been 10 years since this team won a home playoff game singular. Don’t talk to me about Ultimate Goal being a contending for championships when we all know that that is so not the case. And that’s not all on AK. Some of that’s on his bosses. And we all know that to be a fact, too. But good lord, I am sick of hearing people who work high up on this team talking about championship goals. What the hell are you doing if that’s your goal? Cuz you are nowhere freaking close. And there it goes. Let’s watch some basketball. I mean, that was perfectly said. Honestly, you know, the logic and the rage is what I like so much about it. Um, I you kind of get dumbfounded when you hear certain things or when you don’t hear certain things. So, not hearing that an actual goal is a postseason when we’ve heard that be the goal for the past few seasons, you know, for this team. But it feels like now having the roster kind of where you wanted as far as the young talent, as far as you building the nine to 10 guys, as far as you, you know, getting in Isaac Coro, trying to establish that defensive identity. Okay, we got all that. Great. Okay, you made the play in last year. What we going to do this year? You know what I mean? What we going to do? We, you know, we’ll see what happens. Like, wait, what? Like, no. I I would again there are certain things I accept when they’re said depending on who they’re coming from and the person who’s running the team I can’t accept that from you know they have to lay out the goal and what this is supposed to be and the foundation of what it is now whether they achieve it whether not we don’t know we’ll see how it happens but it’s very rare and I’m going just say never I’ve never heard anybody who runs a team go in to a media day like this and just be like, I don’t know. We’ll see. You know, unless, you know, unless it was a team that was already, you knew was not going to be competing for anything. So, if the Washington Wizards walk in and say that, okay, I get it. Makes all the sense in the world. You know, if a lower tier team like Utah Jazz, whoever you want to put, go in and say that, it makes sense. But for a Bulls team that has constantly been told, at least the fans have been told, we’re trying to win and we’re trying to compete every year to get to the playoffs. Playin is not good enough for us. We got to get to these playoffs. We got to win these championships. So to come into this and just be like, you know, we’re just, you know, seeing what happens. You know what I mean? Just we’re just out there. You know, let the top down on a convertible. Let’s just ride. Honestly, like for an organization parenthesis ownership group that seems to be so concerned with the bottom line all the time and oh we we’ll we’ll so totally pay that luxury tax if we ever have what we see as a championship contending teams. We know that’ll never happen so we’re never going to pay that. If they’re so concerned about the bottom line, replace AK with a magic eightball where all of the sides of the magic eightball say, “Ask again later.” Because you could pay that magic eightball a lot less money than whatever amount of money you’re paying AK, including the big old extension you just gave him that he didn’t earn. Save yourselves a few dollars. Are the Bulls going to make the playoffs this year, Mr. Vice President of Basketball? Ask again later. Okay, thanks. Clock the T. I’m so sick of this, dude. I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry. I knew today was going to be a pressure point. I’m so sick of listening to this guy. The same dumb crap. Oh. Oh, man. Is a national treasure. I swear to God. Oh. Oh, you know, I think I actually am ready. I was enjoying the dog. I think I am ready now to actually watch some basketball because it will distract me from the long-term ineptitude and failure of the organization as a whole. You are mid-season form, so you are ready. I just I don’t get what the downside of setting that goal is. Like, okay, you said you want to like have a show growth from last year. Yeah. But like you don’t want to set the goal of making the playoffs. Like so what is the goal then to like make the second round of the playin? I just like Yeah, it’s confusing. I and I I just don’t think I said this with Modis. Like I just don’t think like there is no accountability. Like he got his job extension. There’s not like any concern about you know underperforming. Like the goal should be to try to get this team into the playoffs. You can know what’s if the goal is to grow the team and evaluate the growth of the team so that you can make decisions moving forward. Isn’t it like a disservice to them to not have that information in the playoffs? So to me, like I I understand why AK wouldn’t want to say we’re going to make playoffs this year because then he’s like under pressure to do it. At the same point, I do think it undercuts the actual goal that he has, which is to evaluate the team so that he can figure out what to do with it moving forward. If all of us are sitting here saying we don’t believe that Giddy can be a high leveraged player in the playoffs and they never make the playoffs, how can you prove that? If you have the same concerns about Kobe, how can you determine how much to pay him in the offseason? So, I just think like there isn’t really really any accountability to be had. Like the accountability is from his bosses and his bosses just gave him an extension. So, so the point would be now is your chance to like put some goals moving forward so that you can actually move towards something because to me like again we’re not going to like criticize Modis for not being most improved player of the year this year if it doesn’t if it doesn’t happen right we’re going to say he set lofty goals for himself we respect that like let’s evaluate how he gets there when you don’t set any goals for yourself it’s not that you’re like ducking accountability it’s just like you I don’t have any clue of like what is the point of this. Yeah. And so for me I think the goal should be the playoffs. Um I I feel like it’s going to be hard to sit through another season where they make the play again and try to spin that into a success at the end of it, right? When they said they wanted to get better and grow and develop and the outcome is the same. So for me, like yeah, you can you can avoid calling it the playoffs, but like if you’re trying to grow and get better, that’s the next step. So that that kind of is the goal whether you say it or not. Yeah, it has to change, man. Well said. Yeah. And with a much more level head. Yes. Correct. And less hats thrown. You know what? Uh we do also, we were going to talk about some of the things we heard from Billy Donovan today. He was asked about the starting five and maybe that one big question mark in the starting five. Maybe we should save that for tomorrow’s show. We got a whole week’s worth of training camp shows including what we are actually or at least what goat will actually be seeing as far and hearing as far as the Billy and the players with these training camp practices that uh the first of which is tomorrow. So maybe we’ll save some of those Billy sound bites for tomorrow’s show when we’re also reacting to what we heard after their first team practice. Yeah. In the meantime, read goat stuff. We got a fresh season kicking off and there’s great stuff that he’s already written the four biggest questions on the Bulls upcoming season. What are you writing tonight? Tell us. What’s that? M what are you writing tonight about media day? I mean I’m writing a similar column to what we’ve just been talking about in terms of the accountability um and what is the point of going through a season and how do you hold yourself accountable to that so that you can grow like if you want to grow you you have to be working towards something and for me uh yeah like I said whether they say it or not that is a big piece of it. Yeah. Sign up to become a die hard so you can read all of Goat’s great writing and reporting if you aren’t a die hard already. I think we got actually a die hard promo going on right now. Uh 36 bucks for that exclusive uh limited time offer die hard te or $59 for your first year gets you in on that branded Bills collab hat for die hards only. Uh check it out. Also of course if you want the great Bears coverage from our CSO Bears team Bears die hard ited up. Shout out two and two. Let’s go bear down. Uh, follow go_gotle, big David Bow, BWL Sports. I’m Bulls_p. We are CO_Bulls. Shout out Bulls Nation for the likes, for hanging out with us, for the chat, for the comments, and uh we will be here right to uh right back tomorrow, same time, same place. 4:30 Central with another live episode reacting to day one of Pull’s Training Camp. Shout out to the queen of controls, Katie Duffy. Mhm. Have a great night. See, be good. Magic eightball. Ask again later. We all silly like the mayor.

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The CHGO Bulls crew break down all the interviews from Chicago Bulls Media Day, including Arturas Karnisovas, Matas Buzelis and more! Did AK lay out a clear vision for what the team’s goals are this season? Did Billy Donovan surrender any clues on which player will round out his starting five? Buzelis made some strong statements about team goals, as well as goals for himself. Coby White and Josh Giddey sound confident entering their second season as teammates, but first full season as “the backcourt of the future.” Peck, Big Dave and Will Gottlieb react to all the sights and sounds from Media Day!

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