Bulls guard Shaq Harrison a reason for optimism

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Happy New Year!

As I look forward to rest of the Bulls’ season I am trying to remain optimistic. I know, I know, I’m a hero. My Granddaddy used to have a saying, “even a dumpster fire can keep you warm.” Loosely translated it means, “nothing is ever 100 percent bad.”

Now while this Bulls’ season hasn’t exactly been perfect, or heck even up to most basic city codes, that doesn’t mean we can’t find something positive to get excited about. The thing that has me excited as I watch each and every game for Bulls Outsiders (on NBC Sports Chicago and Facebook Live after Bulls Postgame Live- CHEAP PLUG) is Shaquille Harrison. He prefers to go by Shaq. Or Mr. Harrison if you’re nasty...I am not nasty, so  I will refer to him as Shaq Harrison. 

I have loved watching Shaq Harrison this season and it has been a joy to see his minutes steadily rise under coach Jim Boylen. His numbers are unremarkable: 5.8 pts, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. Oh, and he shoots 25 percent from behind the arc which is like 1.5 percent better than Robin Lopez.

But since stats are a Ponzi scheme for nerds, let's focus on the unmeasurable part of his game: his effort/energy. “Effort” and “energy” are fun words because they assign a character value-add or failing to an athlete. Coaches can just say “we didn’t play with effort" or “we didn’t have any energy” and that could mean ANYTHING. But with Shaq Harrison, you can see his effort and you can feel his energy. He seems to be bounding all around the court and the dude is FAST. Like really fast.

I have this fun (annoying) habit of forcing nicknames on players (Shoutout to TIGER BEAT) and the nickname I have been using for Shaq Harrison is “Tails”. Now if we all remember the 90’s, Tails was Sonic the Hedgehog’s best friend. He debuted in Sonic 2 and he was just as fast as Sonic.

When I watch Shaq run the fast break at lightning speed ultimately leading to a turnover, or seeing him bounding across the lane to recover on defense I can’t help but think of Tails. So thank you Shaq “Tails” Harrison for coming in with effort and energy; I cannot wait to see you grow and hope you are a Bull for a long time. Fun fact, Shaq Harrison was born a year after Tails debuted, I am 100 years old.

So, sure, things may seem like a mess but sometimes Tail’s energy can keep us warm. 

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