Bullish on the Bulls Bandwagon

Yes, I believe the signing of Ben Wallace was and is the most overrated move of last summer. However, one reason I believe it to be true is the Bulls were a contender without Wallace, so the addition of his salary was unnecessary and it failed to shore up the Bulls' major weakness, their kryptonite if you will, which a reliable scoring option on the low block.

However, despite the Bulls' poor start, it is not time for panic. While the KG rumors will endure until he eventually is traded or retires, the Bulls remain a contender in the East. Currently, with an 8-9 record, the Bulls have played 6 home games and 11 road games. As this continues to balance out, the Bulls record will improve.

More importantly, however, Chicago's point differential is the best in the Eastern Conference at +2.9. In fact, only four teams (Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Orlando) have a positive point differential in the East. While this may be deceiving and the opening night blowout of the Heat certainly helps, a Western Conference ranking by point differential would not be too far off from many's predicted order of finish:

1. San Antonio +7.5
2. Houston +5.8
3. Dallas +4.8
4. Phoenix +4.6
5. Denver +4.6
6. LAL +4.2
7. Utah +3.3
8. LAC +0.9

In fact, only Utah's 15-4 start would be hard to predict based on the point differential. However, the top 8 teams are positive in point differential while the remaining non-play-off teams (at this point) are negative. It's not a perfect science, but it is an adequate predictor.

Between the positive point differential, which suggests Chicago is playing better than its record illustrates, and the lack of home games thus far, Chicago is positioned nicely to contend, just as everyone believed they would.