What We've Learned From the Chicago Bulls' "Circus Trip"

The Bulls have been in basically every game they have played this season, with the exception of the dismantling Portland did to them. Yet they are 2-9 against teams with winning records. The frustrating thing is that in each of these games the Bulls either hung with their opponent or had the lead for some time, and yet in each instance, they faded away and lost the game. 

Take their loss to San Antonio on 26 November. The Bulls had a nine-point lead with under seven minutes left in the 3rd Quarter. A victory against the Spurs, in San Antonio would have put them at 3-3 for the road trip with an opportunity to finish above .500 for the first time since 1998. Further, it would have been a victory, against San Antonio in San Antonio! The Bulls, however, systematically shut down for the remainder of the quarter and let the Spurs fight their way back into the game, take a double-digit lead and cruise to a moral-boosting victory. 

The important thing, this early in the season, is that the Bulls are beating teams they should beat, and competing with the great ones. In the next three weeks the Bulls face six teams with losing records. Their first game against a dominant opponent is when they travel to Boston on the 19th of December. Following that game, they have a tough stretch of games, Utah, @Detroit, @Miami, @Atlanta, @New Jersey, Orlando, and @Cleveland. The Bulls need to use the next three weeks to dominate, humiliate and demoralize these weaker teams that they should beat in order to position themselves with a winning record and confidence to win. There is no reason, that if the Bulls play smart basketball, that they cannot win their next seven games in preparation for their big test at the end of December.

The Bulls are off to a pretty good start in '08-09, Derrick Rose is showing regular signs of greatness, the Bulls are playing well with each opponent and the childish fights that tore the team apart last year have seemed to fade away. That being said, the Bulls can definitely be better and should take the steps to address their issues and continue to emphasize their strengths. As this season unfolds, there should be no reason for the Bulls not to be in the hunt for the playoffs.

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