Depth, chemistry look good, but Bulls have a tougher road ahead
The Bulls should feel confident they have the deepest roster in the NBA.
They’ve gone 4-1 over the last two weeks without MVP Derrick Rose (sprained left toe) and beat Charlotte on Saturday while Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and backup point guard John Lucas III were also out with injuries.
Team chemistry appears to be another strength. Richard Hamilton and Mike James — two of the team’s newcomers — raved about it in the locker room after beating the Bobcats. Both players are impressed with the way the Bulls’ reserves cheer for the starters and vice versa.
“In order to win a championship, that’s what you’ve got to do,” Hamilton said. “Everybody’s got to be in it for one reason and that’s to win. You look all across the league, you see it all the time, guys playing for totally different reasons other than just trying to win basketball games.
“That’s not just the chemistry on the court, but the chemistry off the court is important. I think guys in this locker room really like each other.”
How much this will matter when the Bulls reach the playoffs is the great unknown right now. But it’s tough to complain with a 15-3 record and three home games coming up this week.
Most observers expected the Bulls, Miami and Oklahoma City to get out of the blocks quickly this season. With the condensed training camp, teams that returned with rosters mostly intact figured to have an advantage.
Overall, though, the NBA has been tough to analyze so far in this lockout-shortened season.
If the playoffs started today, Indiana would be the No. 4 seed in the East, while the highly-touted New York Knicks would be headed home.
In the West, the top five seeds, in order, would be Oklahoma City, Denver, Utah, the L.A. Clippers and Memphis.
The Pacers, which gave the Bulls a battle in the first round of last year’s playoffs, and Philadelphia, with short-term success coach Doug Collins, are both off to fast starts. But they have also played some of the softest schedules.
Many of the Western Conference contenders have played home-heavy slates. The Clippers’ ratio of home to road games is 10-4; Utah is 10-5. The Lakers and San Antonio are both 9-1 at home, but 1-6 on the road.
However it works out, it’s safe to say the toughest part of the Bulls’ schedule has yet to be played. They haven’t seen Miami, Indiana or Philadelphia. The Pacers visit the United Center on Wednesday, while the Heat and Sixers are two of the first three opponents on the Bulls’ monster nine-game road trip, which begins next Sunday.
Flexing their depth has been a nice luxury, but the Bulls would prefer to be full strength when the road swing begins. Rose, Noah (sprained ankle) and Lucas (groin strain) could be back as soon as Monday against New Jersey, but Gibson figures to be out a while with a high ankle sprain.
Luol Deng suffered a left wrist sprain against Charlotte and had it wrapped in ice after the game, but he didn’t think it was a big deal.