Are the Bulls for real?

[CelticsGM]

Here's the facts:

in the first five games of the season they played three of the top 5 teams (Santonio at home, Celts and Cavs on the road) plus a 2nd tier playoff team (Heat on the road). Only "weak" game was a shorthanded Bucks team at home.

The Bulls are 3-2 now with impressive wins over the Spurs and in Cleveland, a lousy escape at home vs. Bucks, a last-minute loss in Florida, and a blowout loss in Boston.

Looks better than expected, at this point of the season ... but
- are the Bulls for real?
- can they keep it up?
- will the make the playoffs behind Rose, Deng and a bunch of role players?
- and what's the ceiling for this team?

 

[PacersGM]

no they aren't 

so far from what i have seen and i have watched all 5 games, their overall play is subpar to their own standard. their defense and rebounding is well above league avg, but their offense is a mess. granted rose isn't at full strength and salmons has troubles to read the defense accordingly. so far only brad miller and noah are playing well at both ends. most of the team has no clue how to utilise their teammates strength. one prime example is the lack of plays for deng. almost all his points are hustle points or quick jumper taken in the early offense. rose, hinrich and salmons seem to forget about the easy pass for a wide open jumpshot. instead they are forcing their own offense or try to find the open man under the basket way too often. in the cavs game noah run the floor hard at least 10 times, was in front of every other player and always got nice position deep inside against a smaller player. still the bulls guards never found him. one time hinrich even through the ball over Noah and pargo instead of the easy pass.

overall i think the bulls will get better with rose and salmons getting back their confidence. well in fact the best lineup so far mgiht be the small ball with deng at PF and salmons at the 3.

[MagicGM]

No. The magic have 4 all stars on their team and arguably the deepest team in the league this year. The bulls are fake. We will crash the bulls' dream and turn the bulls into persian meals. Hihihi

[SixersGM]

Sorry, but it's derrick rose surrounded by a bunch of overrated role players.

But they're definitely better than my 76ers who looks like a D league team.

[CelticsGM]

i know they're far from being contenders for a championship. But I believe they are closer to the 49 win 2007 team than to the 33 win 2008 team. Winning ugly, Brad Gilbert style ...

And if you watch them more closely, you see
- a team with very little offensive firepower so far
- a team playing only good in short spurts
- a team staying in games through defense
- a Derrick Rose still hobbled from injury without the explosiveness he's know for
- a Tyrus showing more composure, but held back by injuries in preseason and twice the reg season already (not that he will be the saviour, but for now a #22 picked rookie plays major minutes at PF

Nobody on that team plays above his potential (or even his known skills) for now. Deng is being the 2007 version of Deng again, Noah nicely improved like he should be. Otherwise that's a team with big room for improvement wherever you look. And still they sit at 4-2 with a tough schedule so far.

In that regard I asked where's the ceiling ...
 

[SixersGM]

The big problem I do see with the Bulls is..

First, the competition. I mean, it's obvious that the elite teams has been power grabbing for the previous seasons. And the product of that is ending up with teams that has 3-4 all-stars like the Magic, Lakers and the Celtics.

Second, as good as Derrick Rose is he isn't good enough carry his team alone. And even if he has the capability to carry his team, history tells us that he still needs 2-3 more players of his caliber (all-star caliber) to be competitive in the league. And that leads us to my third problem I do see.

Third, with this roster set, how can the Bulls improve their team? They already put their team on stalemate by committing alot of money of role players like Hinrich, Brad Miller and Luol Deng.

By draft? I don't think they are going to end up with the lotto anytime soon. Right now, they look like a team that is headed for a first or second round exit.

By player improvement? Well, aside from D-Rose, I think every Bulls player has already reached their ceiling. Yes, Tyrus Thomas included.

The only way I can see them breaking out from being classified as a "first to second round exit" team is by trading all players (Hinrich, Salmons, Tyrus and Brad Miller), other than Rose and Noah for an all-star caliber player who can carry the bulls with Rose. Or the so called "Danny Ainge" strategy. Then sacrifice a season for another big time player in the lotto.

With all that set, then you go find your Salmons, Hinrichs and Brad Millers of your team.

Those guys are the icing on the cake. And not the cake itself.

[CelticsGM]

well, Brad is expiring, Salmons has an opt out clause, Deng showing some value to justify his huge salary, and it's basically him, Rose and Noah that are the core of the franchise currently. They will have big cap space next FA and there's reason to believe this team will look a lot different next season.

But this is about NOW. Current success will greatly impact their chances of a big name signing here

[PacersGM]

well noah is playing out of his minds right now. he is pretty much the only reason that the bulls are over 500. He is leading the league in rebs and is 5th in blks. He is the emotional leader, sometimes even leading the break and always runnig hard. he is now strong enough to hold his ground and is showing very nice defense skills as well.
if rose can get back his confidence this team should be able to be make the POs easy maybe take homecourt advantage. You have to keep in mind this team has just 8 healthy players and the 8th person has no clue what his role is right now. With all the options they will make a trade at the deadline for sure.