Chicago Bulls Setting Themselves Apart from NBA Elite

With the NBA season approaching the halfway point, some things are starting to become apparent.

Teams like the Boston Celitcs are showing that they still know how to win games despite their rough start, whereas teams like the New York Knicks continue to underachieve despite their star power.

What’s even more intriguing are the teams that are starting to set themselves apart from the pack.

Out West, the Oklahoma City Thunder are asserting themselves as the clear conference leader.

The Eastern Conference is starting to look like the two team race it was expected to be between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat.

As the NBA teams look to either further their reputation as the team to beat or assert themselves as a force to be reckoned with, there are clear signs that show that the Bulls are even more apart from the other top teams.

1. They Are Able to Win Without Key Personnel

Chicago stands at 20-6, good enough for the most wins in the league and the second best win percentage.

What’s even more impressive is that 12 of those games were played without key players Derrick Rose and Luol Deng, chalking up eight wins against four losses.

Their run without Rose totaled five games and the Bulls won four of them.

During the stretch, Chicago was still able to play great defense allowing just 85.4 points per game.

When the Bulls played seven consecutive games without Deng, the competition was tougher and their 4-3 record proved that.

Chicago dropped three games to the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers, and that was to be expected considering each team had a very athletic small forward who benefitted from Deng’s absence.

Despite barely coming out over .500 from that stretch, the Bulls showed great resiliency by avoiding consecutive losses. In fact, Chicago has yet to lose back-to-back games so far this season.

Giving the crazy pace of this lockout schedule, the Bulls are showing great poise when it comes to playing through adverse circumstances.

2. Their Strong Play Has Carried over from Last Season

One of the best ways to prove that something is not a fluke is to repeat the action with the same result.

Last year Chicago had the best record in the league and a defense that was rivaled only by the Boston Celitcs for the No. 1 spot.

This season the Bulls continue to post the most wins and have a defense that has remained at or near the top in fewest points allowed.

Even though Eastern Conference rival Miami Heat are checking in at a similar win-loss pace, their defensive prowess has somewhat declined. Their once top-five defense now languishes at No. 17 in the league allowing 95.5 points per game.

Chicago’s continued high level of play is indicative of the team’s attitude that they are among the NBA’s choice teams.

Before the start of the season, players made it clear that the goal was a championship while everyone went on clamoring about whether or not Chicago could beat the Heat.

Even with a third of the season in the books, Chicago is still considered the Heat’s biggest obstacle to bringing the title back to Miami.

When you stack the top three teams in the NBA against each other though, Chicago is the only team maintaining their high level of play across all major categories.

The Bulls are in ninth in the league for points scored and are third in rebounds, assists, and points allowed.

Winning championships require playing championship basketball and the Bulls are certainly putting that on display.

3. Players Buy-in into Team Philosophy

The Thunder have had to deal with an alleged rift between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Down in South Beach, the LeBron James is not pleased with Pat Riley’s authoritative management style.

If there are any internal feuds within the Bulls organization, they are certainly doing a good job of keeping them under wraps.

To be such a young team, Coach Tom Thibodeau and company have done an excellent job with getting the Bulls players to buy into the organization’s formula for winning.

And why shouldn’t they? This team has been an instant winner since Thibodeau took the helm for the 2010-2011 season.

Each player knows what is expected of them and goes out to deliver every night.

There have been no whispers of players being dissatisfied with their involvement or being envious of another player’s attention.

The Bulls understand that is their job to go out there and play their brand basketball if they are going to have the best chance at winning.

Every win is talked about in a way that divvies up the credit and every loss is handled as a collective lack of effort and execution.

The most important thing that Thibodeau has brought to this team is a champion’s air.

Thibs has these guys walking, talking and playing like champions.

Each Chicago player knows that winning it all will take hard work and sacrifice and they demonstrate that belief in every game they play.

The camaraderie and selflessness of the Bulls will be the biggest boon in helping this team reach championship status.