BullsEye Blog

The Bulls expected more offense from each of their scorers with the departure of Ben Gordon.  In the pre-season you could see signs that Luol Deng was physically ready to play, but there were questions whether he was mentally ready.   He had not played at game speed since last February.    In the first 5 games of this season, you can see that Luol is ready both mentally and physically.     He has adjusted to the players, some of whom he had not played with very much last year, like John Salmons and Brad Miller, who came to the Bulls in a trade just before Deng was injured for the remainder of the season.

The Bulls do not have a leading scorer, but Luol has asserted himself with his play and his teammates look to him not just to make big plays, but to make them at the right time as well.

The injury to Tyrus Thomas and the fact that the Bulls are on the verge of the annual November "Circus Trip" out west will provide Coach Vinny Del Negro many question marks. It will be important to get the rookies some quality playing time. Taj Gibson will start. He has done a great job coming off the bench and has played well as a starter.  James Johnson is also going to have to get some playing time. He has almost become the "forgotten man" here in the regular season. I thought he played very well in the preseason.  The Bulls will need to find a way to depend on Johnson. It is also going to force the Bulls to play a bigger lineup.  Luol Deng is probably going to play some power forward.  Chicago will miss Tyrus' shot blocking. I think in the long run it is not going to have the impact it would have last season. I'm sure Vinny would love to have Tyrus back, but I don't think it will hurt as bad as everybody thinks.

Be sure and watch Bulls Basketball Tonight at 7pm ct On WGN Sports.

* The Bulls are 7-2 all-time at home against Charlotte.

* Chicago is 3-2 despite shooting just 40.9% overall and 23.4% from behind the three-point line so far this season

* After putting up 10.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg in his first two games of the season, Luol Deng has averaged 21.7 ppg and 11.7 rpg over his last three contests.

* Derrick Rose shot just 37.2% (16/43) in three games against the Bobcats last season.

* The Cavaliers won three of four contests against the Bulls last season, with the Cavs winning both games played in Cleveland by an average of 19.5 points per game.

* Chicago is 2-2 thus far in the season, winning twice at home and losing twice on the road. Dating back to last season's first round playoff encounter with the Celtics, the home team has won eight straight contests in which the Bulls have been involved.

* Since allowing 98.0 points per game and .449 opponents' field-goal percentage in its first two games of the season (both losses), Cleveland is allowing only 85.3 points per game and .413 opponents' field-goal percentage in its three-game winning streak.

* Shaquille O'Neal has 3+ assists in three straight games for the first time in more than two and a half years. O'Neal had a four-game stretch between February 25 and March 2, 2007.

* Luol Deng had 24 points and 20 rebounds against the Bucks on Tuesday, the first Bull to record a 20 point/20 rebound game since Marcus Fizer (30 pts, 20 rebs) did it April 12, 2004 against the Magic.

* Since the start of the 2005-06 season, LeBron James is averaging 33.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game against the Bulls.

* The Bulls have won the last seven meetings between these teams in Chicago and are 12-3 in their last 15 contests against the Bucks overall.
* Milwaukee has lost 10 of its last 11 road games dating back to last season, while the Bulls have won 15 of their 17 home games since the 2008-09 All-Star break.

* The Bucks will be without Michael Redd, who is expected to be out at least two weeks with a strained left knee tendon. Redd missed the final 35 games of the 2008-09 after tearing ligaments in his left knee.
* Brandon Jennings is averaging 20.5 points per game, the highest scoring average by any rookie this season.
* Luol Deng has scored 20 or more points in four straight games against the Bucks, averaging 23.8 points in those contests.

* Derrick Rose was held to just eight points on 4-for-15 shooting from the field on Sunday against Miami. Rose hasn't been held below 10 points in consecutive contests since the start of his NBA career.

After a nice opening night win at The United Center the Bulls arrived in Boston in the wee hours of the morning.  Rest didn't come easy for the squad as the hotel fire alarm sounded shortly before 4 am.  The keys to a quick bounce back for Chicago against their 2009 Playoff foes will include...

#1 Withstand Boston's first and third quarter pushes.  The Celtics really get out and play in the first and the third. This is a MUST for the Bulls to gain some control.

#2  Pound the backboards. Hit the offensive glass to help negate Boston running the fast break and that will help keep the Celtics in so they will have to block out. The Bulls will also have to limit second shots.

#3  Make Shots!  Boston is one of the best defensive teams in the league.  There is no way the Bulls can win this game shooting around 35%.

Make sure to tune in to WGN at 7pm to watch tonight's action.

I wasn't too surprised that the Bulls came out and beat the San Antonio Spurs in their Opening Game at the United Center.   I was pleased that they defended so well for all 4 quarters.   We saw some of that last season, but defense was not the Bulls' calling card last year.   They had some terrific defensive rotations against the Spurs.   Their commitment to defense was evident.   The  coaches have preached that commitment to defense and the players have accepted it.

On offense, you saw balanced scoring and unselfish play.  Good teams need go-to guys and that will sort itself out as the season progresses.   You will see Derrick Rose with the ball in his hands at the end of games and he will become the decision-maker.     -Neil Funk

* Including the postseason, Boston won six of its 10 meetings with Chicago in 2008-2009, including five of six at home.

* Chicago held San Antonio to 85 points in its season-opening win. The Bulls allowed 85 points or less just three times last season.

* Boston held Charlotte to 59 points on Wednesday. That is just the third time in the shot-clock era that the Celtics have held an opponent below 60 points.

* Including the postseason, Derrick Rose averaged 18.1 ppg, 5.9 apg and 4.2 to/g against the Celtics in his rookie campaign.

* Kevin Garnett averaged 15.8 ppg in his injury-plagued 2008-2009 campaign - his lowest scoring average since his rookie season (10.4 ppg).

* Including the postseason, Ray Allen shot 46.3% (37/80) against the Bulls last season.