2008-09 Record: 41-41, 7th Seed in the Eastern Conference.
Key Loses: Ben Gordon.
Key Rookies: Taj Gibson and James Johnson.
Probable Starting Line-Up:
Point Guard – Derrick Rose
Shooting Guard – John Salmons
Small Forward – Luol Deng
Power Forward: Tyrus Thomas
Center: Joakim Noah.
The Bulls start the 2009-2010 season with major expectations due to the legendary first round series against the Celtics. Remember people, although it was one of the best series you and I have ever seen, the baby Bulls lost in the first round because they did not take care of business during the season resulting in the 7th seed they held.
Let’s all remember as well how Vinny displayed horrible clock management in a few playoff games and how they struggled to make free throws down the stretch. Now that I have brought you back to earth, I will lay out my case why this team will finish with the 5 seed in the East.
There is an awful lot to like about this Bulls team. They’re young, athletic, and they’ve got a potential superstar-in-the-making. On the plus side, they somewhat unexpectedly made the playoffs last year and gave the defending champion Celtics all they could handle. On the downside, they’re basically the exact same team they were at the end of last year, only swapping Ben Gordon for Jannero Pargo and have a healthy Luol Deng.
Some skeptics will ask; ‘how the Bulls are to replace Ben Gordon’s 21 points per game and instant offense off the bench?’ I choose to look at Gordon’s absence in a different light. Gordon’s absence will make this team tougher on D and will allow them to play more of a team game on offense allowing for consistent play.
Any improvement we’re going to see from this team is going to have to come from the young guys (namely Rose) taking their games to a new level. If that happens, they could contend for the 4th seed and make some noise in the playoffs. If it doesn’t happen, then they could miss out on the playoffs entirely. I believe that the real outcome will be an outcome in the middle of those, the 5th seed and another first round exit. This team looks too young to me in order to go deep this year.
Either way, they’re setting themselves up to have a lot of cap space for next summer’s FreeAgentpalooza, so regardless of this year’s outcome, we could see a contending Bulls team sooner rather than later. There is enough talent to make 2010 an interesting year but with Boston, Cleveland and Orlando as the gatekeepers, the Bulls won’t be going far even if they get out of the first round.
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