The young Chicago Bulls basketball team has gotten off to a perfect start!
Undefeated through the first three games, the team has been one of the surprises of the early NBA season. Picked for the bottom half of the Eastern Division, instead, the Bulls have flipped the script and been one of the best teams—so far.
Can they keep it up, and is this a trend for the season? We shall see, but the early returns are in, and they are all positive. Victories over Detroit, Orlando and Atlanta have all been hard-earned, but unlike recent seasons, the Bulls are finding ways to win these close games.
The biggest key so far has been the team depth. No real superstars have emerged, but instead, a blend of ten or 11 players has meshed and caused real problems for opposing teams.
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Which jersey in red and black do you concentrate on? Is it leading scorer Josh Giddey, who really is a pass-first player, or maybe it’s super sophomore Matas Buzelis, a human highlight film (sometimes good, sometimes bad—but never dull!), who is dangerous with the ball in his hands. Coby White was supposed to be the third of this main contingent for the Bulls, but he has been injured and won’t play yet for a couple of weeks.
Here is where the Bulls’ depth has come into play. Maybe, thus far, the Bulls have the best contributing bench in all of the NBA.
Tre Jones has been a revelation at the point guard spot, Nikola Vucevic has been a scoring and rebounding machine from his center position, and Isaac Okoro, new to the team this year, plays tough D and finally hit some shots in the Atlanta game.
Add in the all-around brilliance of Kevin Huerter, the comfortable maturing of Patrick Williams, the emergence of backup center Jalen Smith, the continued development of scoring guard Ayo Dasunmo, and little dash of pizzazz from Julian Phillips and Dalen Terry, and you have the makings of a pretty good team.
One thing is quite clear: Win or lose, they are going play a fast and upbeat, exciting style of basketball. NBA fans used to seeing the walk-up-the-court, slow down, half-court style of hoops will be taken by surprise.
You watch this year’s team perform, and it is almost as though you are watching a game in fast forward. They get up and down the court in a flash. Wherever they are going, they get there in a hurry!
Next up for the Bulls are home games against Sacramento on Wednesday, Oct. 29, and a big one Friday night, Oct. 31, against the New York Knicks and their Chicago-born star, Jalen Brunson.
Can the Bulls keep the undefeated streak going? It certainly won’t be easy against those two tough teams, but so far, this young squad has proven it might just be up to the challenge.