The start to this year’s Bulls season has been nothing short of disappointing. If you asked me at the start of the season if they would have 15 wins a month into the year, I would think you’re crazy. But this team is driven, it has one goal, and that is a championship.
You can start with the overall team defense. We knew that it was one of the best defenses in the league last year, but it is absolutely tenacious this year. They are holding teams to 85 points a game, best in the league. At home they are even better, with teams only being able to put up 72 points a game through five games at the United Center. It is so much fun to be able to sit down and watch this type of team defense every night. You can tell through the way they play that they have one motive on their mind.
On offense, one thing is apparent. Even though he has had limited time, Richard (Rip) Hamilton has been a significant upgrade over last year’s two guard Keith Bogans. He is averaging 13 points a game and last night dropped 20 points on Charlotte. The overall team offense has been stellar to, averaging 96 points a game, good for thirteenth best in the league. Derrick Rose scoring average has dropped a bit, but his assists are up because of the great play of Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng (vote them both into the All-Star Game). It may not be the high power offense of the Miami Heat, but their defense makes up for it on the other end. This offense if much improved and something the Heat are going to have to be worried about come playoff time.
The one thing that worries me is the amount of injuries this team is sustaining so early. Derrick Rose’s turf toe is going to be a lingering injury all year long. As long as the Bulls can keep resting him and the team keeps winning, I see no reason why they need to play him. The only time he needs to be on the court is playoff time. But let’s get away from the negative. This team is good, scary good. I almost want to skip right to the Eastern Conference Finals now. But hey, it’s nice to see Scalabrine get so many minutes this season.
