On Halloween night the Bulls officially put the NBA on notice. They handed the Nets a 118-88 beatdown. The win puts the Bulls record to 3-0, against some of the so called "East contenders". They have now had two convincing wins in a row. With their start they are the hottest team out of the gate for this very young NBA season.
The Bulls made a lot of splashy moves in the offseason by trading away Derrick Rose, letting Joakim Noah walk, signing Rajon Rondo, and signing Chicago native Dwyane Wade. The Bulls had instantly been reshaped into a whole new team. Nobody doubted wether or not the talent was there but everybody questioned the fit for each player. Fred Hoiberg since coming to Chicago has preached pace and space. The Bulls management gave him (on paper) exactly the opposite. They went out and got what the rest of the NBA thought were non-shooters in Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, and Michael Carter Williams, to go alongside a mediocre shooter in Jimmy Butler. Along with that every single one of those players had been deemed ball-dominant since coming into the NBA.
None the less the Bulls have surprised everybody and showed that their game 1 victory over the Celtics was no fluke. From there they have demolished the Pacers and Nets. In those three games they have hit a franchise record 31 threes on 42.5 percent shooting to start the season. For what many thought was a team that couldn't shoot the three, that's pretty damn good. Not only has the three point shooting been there but also the spacing and ball movement have been near perfect. The prefect example of this was on Monday night versus the Nets when the Bulls got the rebound on defense and threw two passes without dribbling and gave Dwyane Wade an alley-oop on the other end.
The Bulls players have given credit to chemistry for the reason why the offense and the team has been so good. Rajon Rondo was quoted saying "Until your inside the locker room, you don't understand our chemistry and how we fight for another." Not to say that chemistry hasn't played a huge role (you can't play in Fred Hoiberg's offense without chemistry) the credit should really be given to second year coach Fred Hoiberg. He has figured out a way to get each one of his players to put their egos aside and play true "team" basketball. None of the Bulls core in Wade, Butler, or Rondo seem concerned about getting their own baskets. The way the Bulls have moved the ball in three games is better than it had been all last season. The offense is just more free flowing and fluid.
Hoiberg's dream offense for the Bulls is starting to look like it might come to fruition. The Bulls pace has visibly been improved, the ball is moving more efficiently than ever, and have you ever seen so many dribble handoffs by a team? Hoiberg in his second year has gotten the players to buy in to what he had wanted to do all last year. Even with players who didn't necessarily fit what Hoiberg's plan was, he has adjusted to all his player's strengths and put them in positions to succeed all the meanwhile still playing the offense that he envisioned. It's a beautiful thing to see when the Bulls are moving the ball around so much and the combination of Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler look like they are just free to do their own thing on the court and that should be scary to the rest of the NBA. You give just a little room to Dwyane Wade and Jimmy "Buckets" Butler and they are lethal when attacking the basket.
The Bulls still have a lot to prove. There is no way they are going to keep shooting at a 42.5 percent clip from deep and they are going to have to prove they can play consistent defense every night. But for right now Fred Hoiberg and the Bulls look more dangerous than they have in years.
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