Chicago Bulls: Epitome Of Playing to Their Opponent's Level

If somebody told me at the beginning of 2010 that the Chicago Bulls would do something that no other team in the NBA has ever done, I would've probably check to see if any franchise has ever promoted an assistant to interim head coach three times.

Yet here we are, a month removed from the start of a new year and a week from the Bulls becoming the only team in NBA history to win five straight road games against winning teams in the same road trip (by the way, when did Tim Kurkjian start analyzing basketball stats?).

Along with the announcement of Derrick Rose joining the Eastern Conference All-Stars, the Bulls began garnering national attention as a possible late bloomer in the East. A new style of play and a new attitude had the team not only competing with, but beating perennial playoff teams like the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs.

However, there was still something fishy about this team.

After all, wasn't this the same roster that lost to the  4-win New Jersey Nets...at home (still a feat no other team has been able to replicate)?

Then came Tuesday. Fresh off of their record-breaking road trip, the Bulls were home against the L.A. Clippers. Granted these aren't the Clips of recent years (21-28 is pretty impressive for not having Blake Griffin all season), but they were at the tail-end of an eight game road-trip and brought a four game losing streak to the United Center.

Although the game was fairly close throughout, the Bulls never lead past the 6:31 mark of the first quarter, eventually losing 90-82.

The team then flew down to Philadelphia and met up with the 17-31 76ers the next night. They were able to take it to overtime, but Derrick Rose's game high 30 points and nine assists weren't enough to hold off an Iverson-less Philly team.

Something did come with those two losses though.  They finally helped me realize the true identity of the Bulls...they play to the level of their competition. How else could someone explain road wins against Cleveland, Boston, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and New Orleans and home losses to Toronto (by 32 points), New Jersey, Sacramento, and the Clippers?

The only question that remains is who's to blame?

Is it the ill-fit "head coach" Vinny Del Negro?  As I've often pointed out, he's not one of my favorite Bulls and often if a team can't get up to beat lower-tier teams one will often look at the man in the suit, but this time I'll let Vinny slide.

How about the six roster players under the age of 25 (four of which are regular starters)? Playing against guys like LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Durant has to get some inexperienced guys more amped than lacing it up against Devin Harris, Eric Gordon, and Tyreke Evans.

Or maybe it's just that everyone's jumping on the back of the All-Star and letting him do all of the grunt work.  Whatever the cause for this lack of motivation is, it will further hamper the chances of this Bulls team being anything more than mediocre, at least while it continues.