10 Reasons Why the Chicago Bulls are 3-10

Not only is Scott Skiles speechless about the performance of his team, but so is all of Chicago. In an NBA preseason power ranking, Topupsidepotential.com ranked the Chicago Bulls as the number three team in the East and the number seven team in the NBA. So far, the Bulls are last in the East and are third to last in the NBA. Sad to say, this is not what anyone was expecting. Most people thought that once the Kobe Bryant trade talk ended, the Bulls would be able to focus more on their game. But this was easier said than done. So here is a countdown of the ten reasons why Chicago is playing like "bullshit."

10. Bulls are still lacking a power forward. Tyrus Thomas started the season as Chicago's power forward. After little production, except in Chicago's first win over Detroit, Tyrus was replaced by small forward Andres Nocioni as the starting power forward, even while Luol Deng was injured. Joe Smith has provided a good spark from the bench, but he isn't capable of putting up big numbers or double-doubles. I say just keep on working with Tyrus until he mans up because a smaller line-up is not what the Bulls need.

9. Chicago's rookies aren't adding much depth to bench. Joakim Noah started off the season with an injury, Aaron Gray's surprising preseason performance did not carry on into the regular season, and JamesOn Curry ended up being shipped off to the D-league. Not that we were expecting much, but we want to send one of them to the Rookie Challenge in New Orleans during All-star weekend. All we ask is to do what they did in college...whenever they get the chance to play.

8. Charity stripe is not so generous for the Bulls. The Chicago Bulls are averaging 78% from the free throw line. Chicago shouldn't be surprised by Ben Wallace's 33% free throw percentage, but when Luol Deng is shooting 68% and Andres Nocioni is shooting 66%, who are two of the team's best shooters, then there is a little problem. I sometimes have trouble understanding how someone can shoot a jumper with a hand in your face so easily, but there is only about a 70% chance that you will make an uncontested free throw.

7. Is Big Ben running out of time? John Paxson brought Ben Wallace to Chicago hoping he might fill Chicago's void of a big man. This 4-time Defensive Player of the Year might have reached his peak. At the age of 33, he is only averaging 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks, as well as 4.5 points. So is Chicago back to where they started 2 years ago?

6. Still waiting for Tyrus and Thabo to emerge. The upside of both Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha is so immense that it may be years until we get to see some real game come from them. With Tyrus being replaced by Nocioni in the starting line-up and Thabo not getting as much playing time as undrafted rookie Thomas Gardner, there is not much Chicago has seen from these two...except for the usual sick nasty dunks by Tyrus. Together, they average only 11.1 points.

5. They aren't winning the games they should be. Basically, Chicago should have won their first four games but somehow did not. It's sad that their first 4 games of the season (New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers), were also some of the easiest of the season. They can't beat them, but they manage to pull off their first win against the then undefeated Detroit Pistons. What's up with that?

4. Umm...they are not playing good basketball?? What more can I say? They just suck at the moment. The past two years, Chicago has gotten off to a slow start, but this time is different. The inconsistency of the Bulls' play is beginning to worry all of Chicago, especially now that they're on their crazy Western conference road tour.

3. Chicago's three-headed bull is being taken by the horns. Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Kirk Hinrich are averaging a combined 42 points, which is considerably lower than last year's 56.8 points. These are the guys who must carry the offensive. If they can get their game together, they will receive more help on offense from Nocioni, Duhon, and Thomas.

2. The Bulls can't shoot for shit...at the moment. I'll just give you cold hard statistics. The Bulls have a field goal percentage of 44%, and they are also shooting 37% percent from the 3-point line. They are only averaging 86.5 points per game, while their opponents are averaging 96.5 points per game.

1. Let's face it...Chicago needs Kobe. With trade talks involving Kobe being thrown out the window, so were Chicago's hopes of being one of the greats of the Eastern conference once again. Everyone figured Chicago's emerging talent would be enough, but their record says otherwise. Kobe is currently the NBA's second leading scoring, averaging 27.9 points per game. I'm sure he will continue to be unhappy in Los Angeles, but at least the Lakers have him.

I will continue to cheer for my Chicago Bulls. All I can say is that they have to start getting their shit together.

When will the T-n-T explode?

Last season, rookies Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha were able to dip their feet into the NBA waters. Scouts and analysts said that these two players possessed the most potential out of the top fifteen players drafted last year. Both of these players had limited minutes, but somewhere during the season, they showed sparks of greatness. The question that Chicago has been asking is "How long will it be before Tyrus and Thabo break out of their shells?" No one knows...not even me surprisingly. But there is no doubt that star potential is there. But fuck...how much longer does Chicago have to wait???
Thomas wowed everyone with his hops incorporated into unbelievable blocks and sick-nasty dunks. This LSU freshman came into the NBA as the overall 4th pick by Portland but was traded to Chicago, along with Victor Kryapa, for Texas Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge. Tyrus was the guy of the draft that everyone had high hopes for. He was 2006 SEC Freshman of the Year and Co-defensive player of the year. In one season, he had 99 blocks...what a freak! However his post game doesn't go much more beyond dunking. Tyrus is a guy where as soon as you give him the ball, all he thinks about is dunking it. He will throw in a post move every so often, but it is usually unset and out of control. He has tried to develop a short-range jumper. If he did develop any type of shot with the hops that he has, Tyrus would be that one step closer to being unstoppable.

Sefolosha was one of those rookies that was under the radar. Being apart of the Swiss National Team, Thabo's game was unknown to many, and no one knew if his game would fit into the NBA. The first half of the season started slow for Sefolosha. He would usually only come into the game if a guard was in foul trouble. The second half brought forth the Sefolosha that everyone had heard about but no one saw. He eventually found himself as a key player off the bench during Andres Nocioni's injury. His 6'7" height and even longer wingspan allowed him to shoot over defenders and even slip by through the lane. His defense is another story. At practices, he usually works with Ben Gordon in order to teach Gordon how to shoot over taller defenders. In the playoffs, Thabo was the key to locking down Dwyane Wade. He brought down Wade's playoff scoring average from 28.4 points per game from 2006 to 23.4 points per game in 2007. When his game was on, people realized that experience was not a factor with this guy.

All in all, defense is taken care of by Tyrus and Thabo. But last time I checked, the Bulls were already leading the NBA in defense. It's time for some offense. It's time for some buckets. As Happy Gilmore would say..."Time to go home there ball." So here's what will happen this coming up season. Thomas and Sefolosha will definitely see more playing time, and Thomas might even find his way into the starting line-up if Joe Smith doesn't show up. For now, they will be the fire off the most feared bench in the NBA.

I leave you with some sick-ass shit from my two boys.