Are you ready for some basketball???!!! Bulls v. Pacers, Sat. Oct. 5

Rose looked great.

I'm happy.

I'm not really too worried about anyone else because I feel like they're more or less known quantities.

I've thought about the possibility that Rose-Jimmy-Deng-Taj-Noah will be our best lineup this year, and the lone data point we have so far makes me believe it even more.

Snell and Teague looked a little lost, but I'm not discouraged yet.

I see three potential loose ends:

1). Can Jimmy permanently elevate his level of play?

For this I'm optimistic.

2). Can Taj do the same?

A little less optimistic than #1. I've always felt like Taj could be a 15/8 guy, along with his superb defense. But he's also been the same guy since he came into the league more or less, so it's hard to project.

But he looked primed for a good season tonight.

3). Can Snell, Murphy and Teague help create a new bench mob?

So far it's extremely hard to tell. I went on record saying that I though Murphy would get off to the quickest start of the three since his skillset is so well defined. So far so good.

A stretch four could be BIG for Derrick Rose.

Go Bulls!