Key Takeaways From The Bulls 25-26 Schedule Release

Key Takeaways From The Bulls 25-26 Schedule Release

So, this is a little bit late, but obviously, as you guys know, the NBA schedule was fully released on Thursday. Not really liking the way in which they’re releasing the schedule in these weird phases where we get some of the key matchups that were announced earlier in the week for new streaming services, but whatever. Not worth going into that here. But, in any event, we finally got to see 80 of the Bulls games announced for next season. Of course, two of those will be decided after the finish of the NBA Cup depending on the outcome of that tournament. But, I have some thoughts on the Bull schedule. I’ll also share some key statistics around the number of backtobacks versus going up against opponents on backto-backs. And yes, I’ll even try to make some highle predictions, way too early predictions based on what we know of their schedule. So, what’s going on everyone? You’re listening to Bull Central here. Hope you’re all doing well. By the way, guys, be sure to subscribe if you’re not already. It does help out a lot in the dead of the offseason for the YouTube algorithm. Let’s see if we can get to 45,000 subscribers before the start of the season. Now, the first thing that jumped out to me when looking at the Bulls schedule was the difficulty, the strength of schedule in those first 10 or so games. Like, these are the Bulls first 11 games of the year. All teams that are quote unquote trying to win. Like, yes, we can say Sacramento was a disaster and they probably won’t be that good and should blow it up, but they’re still a team that is trying to compete with the veteran star talent they have. And yes, that includes Zack Lavine and Demar Rosen unless either one of them is traded before the start of the year. But you look at this, you see the Pistons twice, the Knicks twice, the Cavs, who finished with the best record in the league last year. Yeah, we’ll see what the Sixers are going to be able to do. But if they are healthy, big if. But if they are, they’re a team that is going to be tough to face off against. Not to mention the fact that they just added VJ Edgecom in the draft, who looked really nice in summerly. The Magic, who of course just added Desmond Bane. They’re now fully healthy as well with Jaylen Suggs coming back. like I don’t think this is going to happen because we know this group of guys, this young roster, they like to play fast, hard, uh, and generally speaking has played better than expected, but there is a world where they could conceivably start the season 1 and 10 or 2 and N. I don’t think that’s going to happen because I like to think that we’re going to see more of that magic and success that we saw at the end of the year last year. Uh, if they do come out playing like that, then they will win some of these games. But man, even if they do come out swinging, I still see this being a 500 star at best because that is a brutal stretch to start the year. The good thing is it’s quite a few home games, although even that I’m not sure you can say is a good thing because the Bulls actually played better on the road last year than they did at home. Uh, as far as key takeaways in this bowl schedule, so they’ve got three nationally televised games, which is tied for the fewest in the league. Two of those being on streaming services, Prime Video, and Peacock. Again, hate that the NBA is doing this so that we have to pay for additional streaming services just to watch basketball. But also, just one game on ESPN against the Brooklyn Nets of all teams. Weird. Uh, and none of these nationally televised games will be played at home. Not really surprised by this because I’m sure the league doesn’t have high expectations of the Bulls. Uh, and they’re not going to feature them prominently on the national stage. Uh, their other two national games being against the Magic on December 1st and against the Raptors on February 5th. Uh, the Bulls do have a few pretty long home stands, which is nice. They have a six-game home stand at the end of December and early January and a sevename stretch in late February, early March, which will be capped off by playing the defending champs, Oklahoma City Thunder on March 3rd. Feel like the league has been a little more intentional about this and reducing teams travel where they can and giving teams longer homestretches. Uh, we’ll see if that actually pays off for the Bulls. The biggest thing I noticed, and this was put together by other folks, not me, but when I saw this breakdown of the number of backto-backs the Bulls play during this year versus the amount of times they’ll be facing off an opponent on the second night of a backto-back. And you’ll notice that the Bulls have 13 backto-backs this season, which is tied for the fewest in the league, tied with a lot of teams, but still the fewest. uh while they only face off against an opponent coming off a back-to-back 15 times. So a plus two game advantage when it comes to backtobacks versus playing against teams on a backto-back. The Mavs actually have the best rating. They’re 14 backtobacks versus 18 against opponents. And you know to me this is actually significant for the Bulls because we know they’re focused on playing pace and space transition basketball where they wear teams down. We saw that towards the end of the season last year and they won a lot of games as a result of it. not having the same level of talent as their opponent necessarily, but as a young team, they were winning games by getting out ahead in transition. And for a young team like the Bulls who like to play fast and facing off against more teams coming off a back-to-back and a lot of these older teams, by the way, it may just help the Bulls to their advantage where they can actually get the best of a team that on paper is better than them, but the Bulls using their youth and athleticism to wear them down. Now, as far as some of the key games I’m going to be looking out for, obviously the home opener against the Detroit Pistons, uh it’ll also just be a fun matchup. Two young, hungry teams. Both teams play with energy and grit. And of course, it’ll be exciting to see the Bulls back in action and playing in front of the home fans. October 29th against the Kings. Another game I’m looking out for, not necessarily because it’s the Kings, but more so it’ll be Zack Lavine’s first return to the UC since being traded. And if Demar De Rozan is still with the team, we’ll get to see him as well. November 10th. Always looking forward to seeing Victor Wanyama uh and the newish look Spurs uh who also added Dylan Harper in the draft. They’re going to be a fun team to watch this year, especially now with Wimby and Fox being healthy. I’ll definitely be looking out for the Bulls first game against the Mavs on January 10th to see the new rookie sensation Cooper Flag in action. January 26th, Lakers. Of course, I always love seeing the Bulls go up against the Lakers and seeing the rematch of that epic game winner that happened last year. This, of course, the January 6 game is going to be at home in the United Center. And then, of course, March 10th when the Bulls come to the Bay to take on the Warriors. That’s really more for my own selfish benefit as I always go see the Bulls when they come to town in San Francisco. I’m looking forward to the days when Steph Curry finally retires, by the way. That way, tickets actually start going down in price. But yeah, those are some of the key matchups I’ll be looking out for this season. Now, as far as predictions on what to expect from this team now that we have the schedule in hand, to be honest, I really have no idea. Like, this season could go every which way for the Bulls, where it could be horrendous because of the challenging start to the season. They just never recover from that. Or it could be much better than expected in an Eastern Conference that we know is going to be wide open, a team that is young, hungry, and trying to prove they’re better than everyone is saying they are. So, yes, there is a world where they make the playoffs and finish as a top six seed in the East. I don’t think that’s out of the brim possibility. If I had to predict, my guess is it’s going to be better than expected. Yes, I am biased, but I do think there is something to be said about the Bulls using their youth to their advantage, having the fewest backto-backs in the league, but also facing off against teams that are playing a lot of backto-backs and also for the Bulls for the moment anyway, a fully healthy team. While there are injuries throughout the Eastern Conference to some of the better teams, I also think Aoro is going to help out more than people expect. Uh, I think he’s going to play with a chip on his shoulder after getting traded by the Cavs and is going to add some defensive tenacity to this team that the Bulls absolutely need. I need to do a dedicated video on this guy, by the way. I think they’re also going to see a big leap from Modus Buselis. I think we’re going to see more of what we saw last season from the Bulls backcourt and Kobe White and Josh Giddy, assuming they’re both still with their team to start the year, but I imagine they will be. So yeah, I usually don’t do my win losses and conference prediction videos until we get to training camp as there are a lot of things that can still happen between now and then. But I do think the Bulls are probably going to win more games than people expect. That’s just my take on the matter. I would love to hear what you guys think though. You let me know in the comments. As always, be sure to subscribe and I will see you in the next one.

Discussing The Chicago Bulls 25-26 schedule with key takeaways for their upcoming 82 game season

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