The Breakfast Blend...the best part of waking up

By Willie Mullen

Amare Stoudemire, The Bulls, Tim Tebow and The Team That Cannot Find Coaches

Here's my take on this morning's headlines:

• Numerous media outlets are reporting that the Phoenix Suns have decided to trade 27-year-old All-Star Amare Stoudemire.  Stoudemire is having another great season, averaging 20.6 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game.  Of the guys younger than 30 in the much-heralded free agent class of 2010, Stoudemire figures to be the fourth or fifth most desirable player for teams looking to make add a superstar, behind Lebron James, Dewayne Wade, Chris Bosh and perhaps Joe Johnson (depending on need).  With that being the case, the trade market for Stoudemire should be very competitive between teams looking to shed some salary for a big-time player on loan with an expiring contract and teams looking to acquire Stoudemire with the intention of giving him the maximum contract he is expected to command on the open market prior to reaching free agency.  Then there is Cleveland and Miami; both teams would like to get Stoudemire to show their own superstar (James and Wade, respectively) that they are committed to winning in hopes of keeping them after this year.  These two teams are my favorites to make this trade - they have too much riding on the next six months to not make something happen before half of the teams in the NBA make contract offers to their best players.  And as far as Cleveland goes, they currently have the best record in the league and the addition of Stoudemire would significantly increase their chances of winning a championship this season.  Expect Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry to try everything within his power to get this deal done.


• The Chicago Bulls are playing terrific basketball lately and look like they are going to make yet another second-half run.  Not surprisingly, the teams' good play coincides with better shooting, better defense and, most importantly, better play from Derrick Rose.  Last year's number one overall pick was hurt during training camp and is just now rounding into form.  His numbers tell the story.  In November, Rose averaged 16.2 ppg, 5.3 apg, 2.9 rpg and shot 46.4% from the field.  Last month those numbers jumped to 20.4/6.1/3.8/45% and have gone up in January to 23.3/6.5/4.5/51%.  Right now it would be hard to name ten players in the league playing better than Rose.  There are other factors that have contributed to the recent success.  Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas are healthy, John Salmons has been a more consistent shooter (so has Hinrich) and Joakim Noah continues to play like an All-Star center.  The team also looks to have rallied around head coach Vinny Del Negro after reports surfaced that the coach was as-good-as-gone in late December.  But what is most exciting about the Bulls is the future.  With numerous contracts expiring after the season, the Bulls figure to have a good chance to land one of the big names (listed above) in free agency.  Furthermore, rumors have the Bulls looking to move Kirk Hinrich and, if they could find a taker, the team would have enough money to acquire two big-names.  Several NBA insiders have heard that James and Bosh want to end up in the same place if (and that's a big "if") they leave their current teams.  Moving Hinrich could open-up the possibility of those two coming to Chicago, giving the Bulls a rotation of Rose-Luol Deng-James-Bosh-Noah for years to come.  If that dream scenario does not play out, the Bulls should still land a big-man like Bosh and a guard like Johnson.  I hope the team does not get involved in the Stoudemire sweepstakes; he lacks the rebounding and defensive abilities, not to mention injury concerns, I want in a max-contract big-man.  For now, times are good with this team and the future is very bright.


• For every NFL team not named New Orleans or Indianapolis, all eyes are on this week's Senior Bowl and, specifically, a certain left-handed quarterback who had one of the most decorated collegiate careers ever.  Tim Tebow did it all at Florida but there are questions about how his skills will translate to Sunday's version.  Certainly no one will question his heart and leadership abilities.  But Tebow doubters' point to his run-first strictly shotgun-snap offense and slow throwing motion as reasons why he cannot be an NFL quarterback.  And early reports from Senior Bowl practices have not been good, either.  Tebow has fumbled snaps under-center, has been slow delivering the football and has been very inaccurate.  ESPN's draft guru Todd McShay went as far as to say Tebow was not even one of the three best quarterbacks at the event and should be taken in the draft before the third round.  The interesting thing about Tebow's draft status is his popularity.  With several teams struggling to fill their stadiums (namely the Jacksonville Jaguars), an organization may draft Tebow in an effort to sell-out games despite feeling he cannot play quarterback.  Only time will tell but there is no doubt that the most interesting story of the 2010 draft will be Tebow.


• The Chicago Bears are not looking for a quarterback but they are still looking for both an offensive and defensive coordinator.  In all likelihood, the new defensive coordinator is already on the staff and Lovie Smith intends to promote a position coach (Rod Marinelli is the favorite).  But the team has had no success finding an offensive coordinator.  Most recently, former Ravens quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson took the same position with the Raiders and turned down an interview with Chicago.  It's hard to imagine someone taking a job with the Raiders over the Bears but that is how this search has gone.  Some say candidates are not excited to work with Jay Cutler and that may have something to do with it.  But the underlying message is job security and clearly the coaches who have interviewed with the Bears got the feeling that Lovie Smith is on the hottest of hot seats.  The team will eventually find someone, even if it is option number 32.  But the message is clear: the Bears have to win 10 or 11 games and make the playoffs if Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo have any chance of keeping their jobs.  My ideal scenario is this: the Bears go 5-11, they clean house and Bill Cowher takes over the reigns.  Maybe I'm dreaming but this is certainly a possibility.  I will take another bad season to have Cowher running the show for the next five years.