The Bulls presently sit with a 4-4 record. There's been a lot of panic over our guards lately, on this blog as well as others. So I want to take a step back, a deep breath, and ask you to do the same. Rose, Hinrich, and Salmons are all probably falling short of our expectations right now, but enter the not-so-way-back machine and transport yourself to Oct 26th before the NBA season started. It's Oct 26th. I don my swami hat. "The Bulls will be 4-4, and the combined record of their opponents is 41-23". Who here isn't saying one of the following: "No way!", "I wish!", "I'll take it happily". None of you. Unless you were completely irrationally optimistic, ultra-homer fan, you have to admit the Bulls have overachieved.
They're .1 and a questionable review away from being 5-3 against that group. One of the biggest fears Bulls fans had going into this season was Luol Deng would not play well and cement himself as a league albatross. Bam. Luol Deng is playing at a high level. If he keeps this up through February, not only could the Bulls dump him for an expiring, they could dump him for value, and they probably are so happy with his play that dumping him is the last thing on their mind.
After Deng, who are your core players, Rose and Noah right? Joakim Noah's a legit candidate for the MIP and is playing tremendous defense, rebounding like an animal, blocking shots all over the place, and has shown flashes of a diversified offense that he can use so he's a threat on both ends of the floor.
Derrick Rose has struggled, but he's been hurt, and missed preseason. I haven't given him one, but it's not unreasonable to give him a pass. The other two guys who appear to be here long term are absolutely kicking ass. In fact the three guys you'd consider locked in for awhile are your three best players.
On top of that, James Johnson may have struggled, but Taj Gibson is showing he belongs. He's playing at a very high level for a late first rounder, and he looks like a future rotation player that we plucked unexpectedly low. So not only are the Bulls surprising so far, but it's the long term pieces that are performing the best on the court.
The defense, which is a measure of scheme, desire, and chemistry, is playing at a championship level. Seriously. The Bulls defense has played at an incredible level every night except in Boston. The offense sure is dicey, but VDN has these guys wanting it, getting after it, and doing it against the best teams in the league every night.
Coming out of November, my expectations were something like this:
8-7 or above: Get out the Defib panels, because I had a heart attack in disbelief.
7-8: I'm thrilled
6-9: I'm content
5-10: I understand and am not panicked
4-11 (or worse): What the hell?
The remaining seven games are: Phi, @Sac, @LAL, @DEN, @POR, @UTA, @MIL.
The Bulls should be favored in two of those games (Phi, @Sac), but when you play another five games that you're an underdog, you should pull at least one upset. I think the Bulls go 2-5 or 3-4 over the next seven leaving me with a feeling somewhere between content and thrilled.
They could still easily best my expectations though, so have 911 ready just in case they finish November above .500.
I know it's hard to wrap your mind around it, but this team has overachieved right now. The worst team they've played is Charlotte, and they're 3-5 and playing well. Even Milwaukee is 4-2 right now.
As fans, we tend to focus on everything going wrong, but sit back and look at what's going right so far this year, and it's quite a bit. Not every team has championship expectations, and the Bulls certainly aren't a team that was ready to win the title this year. However, they're 4-4 against a brutal schedule, and their entire backcourt has played horribly.
There's so much head room for this team to improve down the stretch. Let's sit back and see if they do it. I know I was on the optimsitic side of the prediction world with 45 wins, but this team looks like it could pull it off.
To top it off, LeBron announced on TNT that he's changing his number to #6 next year, clearly a move to join the Bulls [okay, I admit it, the feel good train is coming off the tracks now.. time to shut it down]
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tags: bright side, chicago bulls, defense, derrick rose, good start, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Vinny Del Negro
I agree on all fronts...pretty cool for Lebron to change his number because he thinks #23 should be retired throughout the NBA.
Man, that trip out west looks rough..pretty important they pick upa W against philly...
Obviously, we have to take warning signs like the lack of outside shooting seriously, but I've not felt one second of panic so far. This is a respectable start and all of our guards will pick their games up (although perhaps not necessarily their outside shooting). With Deng and Noah playing well, we're already able to check off some of the items on our Bulls season to-do list. We just need to wake up those pesky guards.
Agreed. I never predicted both Hinrich and Salmons both playing soooo poorly. They are both better than they have showed this season... We've been doing this well AND our offense has sucked hard. We start making these open looks teams are handing us (even if they are the less desirable long 2's) and we could be scary good.
Deng has been proving himself. Noah=Insane. Taj has come along ok for a rook I guess, atheltically he's nowhere near Thomas but his head IMO is actually on better.
Rose Im giving a pass. The horrid shooting and bad ankle cant be forgotten, its been 8 games for heavens sake. Injurys to the leg in the NBA take a while to get back from, woudln't surprise me if Rose started coming on towards the end of Nov. ..
Lebron is such a media whore period. The next two games are must wins. Sixers are not playing that well but the Kings have since losing kevin Martin to injury which has been a blessing since Tyreke Evans has let loose. I see three straight losses after that followed by two wins. The jazz dont scare me as they have no legit wing players and their post players are not what they used to be.
so I feel we will be 8-7.
I think it can. The sixers have no true pg, Younge is in a slump, and Elton Brand is not even a shell of his former self. The Kings have been playing well however they make plenty of mistakes because they are a young team but our guys shouldnt go in there expecting an easy win. The next 3 games are sure fire loses, c'mon seriously lets not even question it (we just arent on the level to beat them). The Jazz remind me of the Hornets as they are teams that have taken a step back, other than their point guards they really dont have anything that scares me. As for the Bucks they are a team that we have owned the past few years, yes they are doing well however they are a young team and they are playing not so great teams so far.
Agree with the sentiment of this post. However, by far the most interesting part of it is the last paragraph.
I watched the Lebron interview several times. Even though Lebron is a marketing machine, I felt that he was being geniune in his respect for Jordan.
It never occured to me that this announcement could have been a prelude to his announcing his desire to become a Bull. While it is wishful thinking, it is not as preposterous as it might sound.
Unlike, you and/or Sam Smith, I believe that Lebron, like Kobe would relish the opportunity to come to Chicago and challenge the Jordan legend. I think that enough time has passed, that it is safe for superstars to come to Chicago and establish thier own identities.
I look forward to seeing #6 in a Bulls uniform next season.
^^^^^
Chris Jeffries is coming back? holy crap
Championship #7 baby.