The Bulls are BACK and the league has been put on NOTICE!

[Lunartic]

3 games in, this is about as much of a conventional overreaction thread as anything. 3 games means absolutely nothing. Especially against a bunch of sub-50-win teams. Far from bad teams, of course, and on the rise, but still.

Let them face more interesting competition over a larger sample before we start talk of them being "back."

Magic and Pistons were young playoff teams with big potential last year. These are teams with 50 win potential. Hawks also added Porzingis. They're all playoff teams.

I'm not saying the Bulls are contenders. But they may be contenders for the 4 seed.

Magic still can't shoot to save their lives and Mosley is still their coach.

Pistons lost 3 of their top 6 players in playoff minutes this summer, Ivey is still not healthy, and jb is still their coach.

Hawks were not a playoff team last season but are trying to work in 4 new free agents as well as JJ back from injury.

And the Bucks are without Lillard and the Lakers without Luka/Bron and the Knicks have a zesty player at C and the Celts don't have that ruffles guy and the Suns lost KD and KD lost FVV and the Griz suck and the Nets suck and the....

Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size but nearly 70% of the league has some outstanding deficit whether from injury/trade or they just suck. If the Bulls beat all the bad/average teams, they're by definition above-average and thus are........BACK

[tsherkin]

Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size but nearly 70% of the league has some outstanding deficit whether from injury/trade or they just suck. If the Bulls beat all the bad/average teams, they're by definition above-average and thus are........BACK

The bolded portion is the only relevant part. Nothing that happens at this stage of the season is relevant, except injuries and remarkable individual, single-game performances. Projection is fruitless this early in the season. They won 3 games in a row on 2 different occasions last season, and 4 in a row twice on top of that. And won 39 games on the season overall.

[JujitsuFlip]

Magic and Pistons were young playoff teams with big potential last year. These are teams with 50 win potential. Hawks also added Porzingis. They're all playoff teams.

I'm not saying the Bulls are contenders. But they may be contenders for the 4 seed.

Magic still can't shoot to save their lives and Mosley is still their coach.

Pistons lost 3 of their top 6 players in playoff minutes this summer, Ivey is still not healthy, and jb is still their coach.

Hawks were not a playoff team last season but are trying to work in 4 new free agents as well as JJ back from injury.

And the Bucks are without Lillard and the Lakers without Luka/Bron and the Knicks have a zesty player at C and the Celts don't have that ruffles guy and the Suns lost KD and KD lost FVV and the Griz suck and the Nets suck and the....

Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size but nearly 70% of the league has some outstanding deficit whether from injury/trade or they just suck. If the Bulls beat all the bad/average teams, they're by definition above-average and thus are........BACK

It's still October. Can we at least make it to Thanksgiving or Christmas before we make declarations any team is back?

[Fat]

Absolutely

[cocktailswith_2short]

Zach lavine had the team in ball and shackles .

[KingFox]

They're certainly back to being very competitive and will be back to giving teams a very long night if they think ish is sweet. I think they'll spank my Kings tomorrow night after this OKC game tonight

[CP War Hawks]

Giddy is the engine. He's doing really well as their top option.

[HMFFL]

Hawks are easy to beat thanks to Trae Young.

He shot 31% from the field
1/10 from 3
But he managed to get 17 ast "So All Is Well"

Dyson Daniels
1 for 8 from the field

[Lunartic]

Magic still can't shoot to save their lives and Mosley is still their coach.

Pistons lost 3 of their top 6 players in playoff minutes this summer, Ivey is still not healthy, and jb is still their coach.

Hawks were not a playoff team last season but are trying to work in 4 new free agents as well as JJ back from injury.

And the Bucks are without Lillard and the Lakers without Luka/Bron and the Knicks have a zesty player at C and the Celts don't have that ruffles guy and the Suns lost KD and KD lost FVV and the Griz suck and the Nets suck and the....

Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size but nearly 70% of the league has some outstanding deficit whether from injury/trade or they just suck. If the Bulls beat all the bad/average teams, they're by definition above-average and thus are........BACK

It's still October. Can we at least make it to Thanksgiving or Christmas before we make declarations any team is back?

Well yeah, that's why I prefaced my post with "Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size"

However, you didn't argue that it's too soon, you argued that the Bull's opponents weren't good or were hampered in some way. If the argument was simply that it's too soon (it is ) than why bother breaking down all the reasons those teams lost?

Surely, if the Bulls beat OKC/DEN/Spurs - that wouldn't matter either.

[jowglenn]

Can you put up a 10 deep team of non isolation players and get the wins necessary to go far? Have we seen a team this "selfless" before?

The 2024-25 Eastern Conference Champion Indiana Pacers. Bulls are clearly modeling some stuff after what the Pacers unlocked last season

[flow]

3 games in, this is about as much of a conventional overreaction thread as anything. 3 games means absolutely nothing. Especially against a bunch of sub-50-win teams. Far from bad teams, of course, and on the rise, but still.

Let them face more interesting competition over a larger sample before we start talk of them being "back."

Magic and Pistons were young playoff teams with big potential last year. These are teams with 50 win potential. Hawks also added Porzingis. They're all playoff teams.

I'm not saying the Bulls are contenders. But they may be contenders for the 4 seed.

Pistons fan here - We aren't the same team you saw in the playoffs last year. Key glue pieces let go (Schroder, THj) and unavailable (Beasley). Basically starting over now trying to develop a new chemistry. I was all over the Bulls in that first game. Easy one.

.

[tsherkin]

Pistons fan here - We aren't the same team you saw in the playoffs last year. Key glue pieces let go (Schroder, THj) and unavailable (Beasley). Basically starting over now trying to develop a new chemistry. I was all over the Bulls in that first game. Easy one.
.

I mean, that reinforces what I was saying. The Pistons are still interesting and everything, but they're not competition that you want to use as a measuring stick for a franchise's return to prominence/relevance.

[flow]

Pistons fan here - We aren't the same team you saw in the playoffs last year. Key glue pieces let go (Schroder, THj) and unavailable (Beasley). Basically starting over now trying to develop a new chemistry. I was all over the Bulls in that first game. Easy one.
.

I mean, that reinforces what I was saying. The Pistons are still interesting and everything, but they're not competition that you want to use as a measuring stick for a franchise's return to prominence/relevance.

Right. I was replying to scrantonbulls.

[JujitsuFlip]

And the Bucks are without Lillard and the Lakers without Luka/Bron and the Knicks have a zesty player at C and the Celts don't have that ruffles guy and the Suns lost KD and KD lost FVV and the Griz suck and the Nets suck and the....

Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size but nearly 70% of the league has some outstanding deficit whether from injury/trade or they just suck. If the Bulls beat all the bad/average teams, they're by definition above-average and thus are........BACK

It's still October. Can we at least make it to Thanksgiving or Christmas before we make declarations any team is back?

Well yeah, that's why I prefaced my post with "Not to suggest 3 games is a sufficient sample size"

However, you didn't argue that it's too soon, you argued that the Bull's opponents weren't good or were hampered in some way. If the argument was simply that it's too soon (it is ) than why bother breaking down all the reasons those teams lost?

Surely, if the Bulls beat OKC/DEN/Spurs - that wouldn't matter either.

It can be both, right? It doesn't have to be one or the other.

It's early and the teams they're playing have incompetent head coaches.

[Ice Man]

We Bulls fans think that Vegas had the over/under too low, at 32.5 games. But "back"? As in, what, a team that can/will win a playoff series? Seems too early for that -- aside from Vuc, the Bulls are a very young team.

[flow]

They're favored tonight for the first time. Let's see how it goes.

.

[tsherkin]

Pistons fan here - We aren't the same team you saw in the playoffs last year. Key glue pieces let go (Schroder, THj) and unavailable (Beasley). Basically starting over now trying to develop a new chemistry. I was all over the Bulls in that first game. Easy one.
.

I mean, that reinforces what I was saying. The Pistons are still interesting and everything, but they're not competition that you want to use as a measuring stick for a franchise's return to prominence/relevance.

Right. I was replying to scrantonbulls.

Oh, I'm super illiterate. I saw the quote block and missed that it was inside another one. My bad, man.

[Narigo]

It helps that most of bulls roster is playing for a contract

[Optms]

Bulls haven't been back since the 90s. So no.

[TK Smart]

Nope, 7th seed incoming. I expect a strong start, a horrific mid season and a strong finish where we eat off the checked out teams followed by a proper ass whupping in the playoffs. This seems to be the formula the Reinsdorf family has concocted to continue to scam money from this fanbase. Capitalize on the start of season optimism and give you something to be excited about going into playoffs and have you irrationally optimistic for the next season. Repeat this awful feedback loop for maximum profit.

I'M NOT FALLING FOR IT