They went, what, 45-37 last season? They're 29-25 so far and that includes that horrid stretch post Derrick Rose's injury where they went something like 7 games under .500. I have some ideas. Curious what you guys think.
And I'm curious what your ideas are. I don't have a really good explanation for this. After going 6-4 with Rose and then 3-12 after the injury, perhaps Noah or somebody else started a now more then ever attitude. I can see this for Noah, especially after the Deng trade. And the Augustin signing has really helped. Don't see the Bulls 29-25 only with Kirk and Teague.
A few ideas: 1). DJ + Kirk is a better PG combination than Nate + Kirk. DJ is just a more well rounded player and is better at getting offense for others. Since joining the Bulls he's been playing 30 mpg with a 17 PER and .576 TS%......some years that can get you into an all-star game. 2). Deng and Jimmy are both good players, but maybe less than the sum of their parts when they're playing together. The teams offense has improved substituting Deng for Dunleavy, Snell, and the rotating carousel of 10 Day contracts. None of them can touch Deng individually, but defense is as much about the scheme, and the combination of Jimmy's grit and Dunleavy/Snell's offensive finesse seems to bringing more balance. 3). Taj and especially Noah have come into their own this year and are playing the best basketball of their careers. 4). Noah's evolution into our point center has made it a lot easier on our wing players, none of whom do well when they have to shoulder the burden of creating in the half court for others. My $0.02
Are they? I'm not convinced. This said, I agree with rosenthall's observations. Noah and Gibson have both raised their play to new levels. Augustin has simply been a revelation.
Winning is easy if you play a modest amount of defense and score 117 points. Winning is easy if you're playing in the east where teams are blatantly tanking. Look at Washington - they're winning, too. They're just healthy... Maybe this is a fair measure of how good they really are?
The Bulls have topped 100 points in five of their last 10 after doing so nine times in their first 47 contests - one needing overtime and two others going to three OTs.
