NBA Playoffs 2011: What Constitutes a Successful Season for the Chicago Bulls?

The intriguing question concerning the Chicago Bulls is what constitutes a successful season?

At the beginning of the season, they were projected by most to finish, at best, fourth in the Eastern Conference. It was widely viewed that a big step forward for the Bulls would be to make it into the second round.

However, they greatly succeeded expectations.

They rode a rookie coaching performance for the ages, and the youthful back of Derrick Rose, to the NBA's best record, winning 62 games despite missing two of their best players for a significant period.

Coach Tom Thibodeau was rewarded with the league's Coach of the Year honor. Also, Derrick Rose became the youngest MVP in the history of the game. Expectations for the team rose because of their remarkable regular-season success. 

While a second-round trip would have been a success at the beginning of the season, it's now widely considered a disappointment if they don't make it (at least) to the Eastern Conference finals. 

It's hard to recall, if ever, when a team with a rookie coach and a 22-year-old star had so many postseason expectations laid on them. Especially a star player that is a year behind Kevin Durant, who last year had a similar breakout, finished second in the MVP voting and had no postseason expectations thrust upon him.  

So the question remains: Is it fair to place so many expectations on this young Bulls team? Are they a team that overachieved in the regular season and deserves credit for that, or are they a team that has been underperforming in the postseason and deserved criticism for that?

What defines a successful year for these Chicago Bulls? While a series loss to the Atlanta Hawks would certainly fall under the category of "disappointment," would it be a "failure" for the team if that was how the season ended?

It certainly would still be a season that was beyond any preseason expectations.

At this point, it seems impossible that the Bulls season could be called a failure, considering the preseason expectations.

They might end up being a victim of their own success though, and inappropriately labeled a "failure" and "chokers" because they were so successful in the regular season.