A player like Bulls’ Boozer ... he just can’t win
Sometimes silence speaks more profoundly than a million words, like in a Bulls crowd’s response to Carlos Boozer.
When he scores, United Center fans don’t go “B-o-o-o-o-o” and broadcasters don’t have to explain, “They’re not booing, they’re going ‘B-o-o-o-o-o-zer.’”
If fans do go “B-o-o-o-o” in the direction of Boozer, they are booing.
Otherwise fans politely applaud a Boozer basket, follow the basketball back downcourt, and hope that he will be gone the next time they turn their attention toward him.
Seriously, how many teams have a player with a name oozing like Boozer’s and their fans don’t endearingly “o-o-o-o-o-o” him?
Check it out Tuesday night as the Bulls attempt to avoid elimination against the 76ers in Game 5 of their NBA East first-round playoff series.
Bulls fans don’t like Carlos Boozer and haven’t since about 15 minutes after he signed to play here two seasons ago.
They might not even have known why they couldn’t embrace Boozer, but they soon figured out that he wasn’t born to be a Bull.
To be accepted here, a basketball player must at least attempt to play defense, and that isn’t one of Boozer’s strengths.
Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen spoiled Bulls fans. Not only were they franchise greats who accomplished a lot on offense, but they also excelled on the other end of the court.
Remember, Sloan and Van Lier first set the Bulls’ tone by working their butts off on defense, flying through screens after opponents and diving on the floor after loose balls.
Boozer isn’t that kind of player, is he? He’s an offensive-minded player who will give the Bulls some points and some rebounds, not look underwhelming doing it, and then talk a great game afterward.
Worse than that, though, the suspicion has been since shortly after his arrival here that Carlos Boozer is a guy that a team can lose with.
Which, of course, translates into being a guy who makes it difficult for his team to win an NBA championship with.
The glaring example of that kind of player is Vince Carter. There are countless others around the league. The Bulls had too many of them during the decade after their last title.
Those players’ physical tools — size or strength or speed or some combination — will seduce unsuspecting fans.
So will their numbers, a stat sheet full of some terrific mix of points, rebounds, assists, blocks, double-doubles, triple-quadruples, whatever.
But in the end the player doesn’t win NBA championships.
Boozer didn’t win one in Cleveland. He didn’t win one in Utah. And he hasn’t won one yet in Chicago.
Maybe Game 4 the other day at Philadelphia, when the Bulls went down 3-1 in the series, was a small sample of why that is.
Boozer led the Bulls in scoring with 23 points and added 11 rebounds, which suggests a winning performance.
Except that late, when the game hung in the balance, Boozer had a potential tying shot blocked and dribbled another possession out of bounds.
So this is the reputation Boozer has now: Play well in a game but not with the outcome on the line; play well during the regular season but not in the playoffs; play with style but not with substance.
So when you hear “B-o-o-o-o-o” Tuesday night, broadcasters won’t follow with, “They aren’t booing, they’re going ‘B-o-o-o-o-o-zer.’”
If fans aren’t silent, they really will be booing Carlos Boozer.
mimrem@dailyherald.com