No person with common sense can explain how the Chicago Bulls have won eight of their first 12 games. So, that’s why I attempted to conduct an explanation of the current Chicago Bulls.
On the Opening Night of the NBA season, the Chicago Bulls defeated LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch from their series during last year’s postseason. Exactly one week later, the Bulls gave up 100 points in three quarters on the road to the Charlotte Hornets and lost by 25 points in the most embarrassing fashion possible.
That’s who the Chicago Bulls are in a nutshell.
The Bulls are one of — if not — the NBA’s most confusing team. Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers don’t count in the discussion with their “Trust the Process” campaign because … well, they’re just not good.
How are the Bulls confusing? Here’s another example just from this season alone.
Last Monday, Derrick Rose tweaked his left ankle late in the Bulls’ win against the Indiana Pacers would miss the next two games as the Bulls started a four-game road trip. The first game Rose missed was against the Phoenix Suns and the high-powered backcourt duo of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight.
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So of course, backup guard Aaron Brooks strains his hamstring, Kirk Hinrich makes six of his seven shot attempts on the night in his first action since coming back from a toe injury and the Bulls won 103-97.
To further go on with this specific example, the Bulls were leading the undefeated Golden State Warriors by one point with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors would go on a 23-10 run to improve their win streak to 14.
The point is that the Bulls took the champs into the fourth quarter and had a chance to hand them just their third home loss since the start of last season.
And yet, this is the same Chicago Bulls team that failed to register a point in overtime at home on Nov. 7 against the young Minnesota Timberwolves.
Who are the Chicago Bulls? Nobody knows.
Matt Moore, a NBA writer for CBS Sports, released his “NBA Power Rankings” on Monday and his thoughts on the Bulls hit the nail on the head.
"I do not get this team, at all. They’ve looked so shaky in racking up an 8-4 record, but they have both the overall record, and the signature wins. They only lost this week to Golden State, on the road. They have wins over Cleveland and Oklahoma City. How do I put them any lower? I’m baffled by the disconnect between how this team plays, and their overall results, but I also can’t dock them for it with that resume. MAKE SENSE, BULLS."
(Asking the Chicago Bulls to make sense is like asking your mother not to yell at you for bringing home a bad report card as a kid. You’re just asking for bad things.)
“The Bulls will be much better on the offensive end under Fred Hoiberg.”
During the 2014-15 season under former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls had an offensive rating of 107.5 (11th in the NBA). In Fred Hoiberg‘s first 12 games as Bulls head coach, the Bulls have an offensive rating of 101.4 (23rd in the NBA).
“The defense will take a step back under Fred Hoiberg.”
Thibodeau’s last season was a step back for the Bulls on defense. Injuries were a common thing again, but the Bulls had the 11th-best defensive rating of 104.3 and were ninth in the NBA in points per game given up (97.8).
Under Hoiberg so far this season, the Bulls have a defensive rating of 100.3 (seventh-best in the NBA) and give up 99.4 points per contest (10th-best in the NBA).
“Nikola Mirotic is poised to break out in his second season.”
I wonder who the idiot is that said that. (Hint: It was me. I even wrote about it this past summer.)
Nikola Mirotic‘s first 12 games under Hoiberg have been quite the adventure. In the first three games of the season, Mirotic started all three games and averaged 19.7 points per game on 51.4 shooting.
In the nine games since, Mirotic has averaged 9.7 points on 30.2 shooting and has looked like the non-March version of himself during his rookie season last year.
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There’s 70 games to go for the Bulls this season and more to come in the postseason. Are the Bulls a legitimate Eastern Conference favorite? Only one team currently has a better record than them in the East (Cleveland).
The perfect word to describe the Bulls would be “roller coaster”. Because that’s exactly what the Bulls are 12 games into this season. They’re an up-and-down roller coaster of a team that has no identity and have won eight of their first 12 games.
To put this in more simpler terms, the Bulls will probably win the final two games of their road trip in Portland and Indianapolis, beat San Antonio in their return home on Nov. 30, and then lose to Denver and Charlotte in back-to-back games.
I would ask the Bulls to please find themselves and starting establishing who they are for the sake of everyone’s sanity, but that’s not going to happen because it’s the Bulls.
(Stats via Basketball-Reference.com)