Bulls Lose Opener

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of this game. I went to bed before the fourth quarter really got underway, and was working through most of the first half. I was able to listen to Chuck and Bill on my way home, then caught the beginning of the third quarter on the tube.

From what I heard and saw myself, the Bulls look like a pretty good team, even without Carlos Boozer. Their weakness seemed to be at shooting guard. The guys they have seem to have size, and can defend, but there isn't a lot of offense coming out of that position.

That might be okay when the Bulls get Boozer back. Then they will have a low post scoring threat to go with Rose, and their team will seem a whole lot more balanced. When you think about the really good Bulls championship teams, or even the Celtics of the past few years (before last year), their scoring wasn't coming from their point guard, as the Bulls' scoring is. Rose is this team's Jordan, their version of Paul Pierce, perhaps, a player who can create with the ball in his hands. If Boozer can be their Garnett or their Pippen (the secondary scorer), and Noah can be the Rodman for this team, it could be pretty darned good. Especially if Deng can become a guy who can play the whole 48 minutes instead of giving a half of good basketball followed by a half where he isn't a factor.

I understand that the roles are very mixed. Rose handles the ball, ala Pippen, or Rondo for the Celtics. He scores ala Allen or Pierce (or Rondo now), or as Jordan did. Boozer gives the Bulls a dimension they really haven't ever had since Grant left - a big low post scorer. Jordan was a post up player at times, but it's Boozer's specialty. But the ingredients are there for this to be a very good team.

The season hinges, perhaps, on Deng's ability to perform at a high level. He's got to be more consistent and much better down the stretch than he was last year. Playing 2 or 3 quarters is not going to cut it.

It's only one game. It seems in the past I've blogged (elsewhere) about Bulls' season opening victories, only to be more or less disappointed as the season progressed. I'd rather write about a loss starting off a highly successful season. We'll see...

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