Que, the music.
The Bears stink, and the Blackhawks are horrible. The Cubs and White Sox disappointed us. Our last hope has arrived.
They might be praying for our downfall, but I know these guys are ready to roll. Throughout the off-season, we have been nothing but disrespected again. Reporters say we are going to fall below .500, be an 8 seed, and we are just being straight up disrespected.
I know these guys listen to that stuff and I know they carry a chip on their shoulder because of that.
The Chicago Bulls officially kick off their season tonight against the Miami Heat, and I could not be more excited. After a horrible year of Chicago sports, the Bulls are the only thing I have going for me.
UPDATE: As I was editing this Zach Lavine was ruled out. What the hell is going on with this guy? UGHHHHHHHHHHHH. If it is an injury for load management why the hell was he playing in the pre-season? This could be one of two things. Either one, the Bulls and Lavine are lying to our faces about Zach's knee. Or two, he is legitimately on a load management, but why? Especially why the first game of the season. It does not make sense. Reinsdorf Curse. Back to getting excited.
The Bulls are essentially bringing back the same team from a year ago with a couple of minimal additions, while not subtracting anything important. This is the same Bulls team that started the first half of the season as number one in the Eastern Conference last year, sort of.
The one dark cloud looming over the Bulls season at the moment is Lonzo Ball. Sadly, Lonzo is still dealing with his knee injury and recently just had surgery on it. If Lonzo were to play this season, do not expect him til the 2nd half, but there is also a strong chance he does not play at all.
We should stay positive though. With the injury, it gives the ability for a certain player to step up. In the Chicago Bulls case, it is Ayo Dosunmu. The Chicago kid had a solid rookie season and was one of the bright spots for the Bulls all season long.
Now, Ayo gets to step up and start every day in the wake of Ball's injury. Ayo has shown flashes of being a great playmaker as well as a defender. Now with an increase in minutes, Ayo can develop all the good things we saw last year, as well as some new ones. I truly think Ayo has an extremely high ceiling.
Lets us not forget, we have one of the best duos in the NBA. Demar Derozan and Zach Lavine were both all-stars last season. They combined for over 50 points a game and carried this Bulls team. People said that it would not work, but guess what, it did! These guys are going to go out and prove it every single day, and probably be all-stars again.
Nikola Vucevic needs to have a good season. Two and a half years ago, the Bulls went out put as much as they could on the table, and went out there and got an All-Star center. Since the trade, I would say some people have been disappointed with the trade.
Vucevic needs to get back to the fundamentals and he could probably be an all-star center again. Crash the boards, defend the post, and make your threes. All those things are what makes Vooch great and he has taken a step back in all those categories since joining the Bulls. Prove it to us Vooch. Show us we were all wrong.
One of the biggest factors in the Bulls success is Patrick Williams. This is a huge year in the progression of P-Willy. This is the first time in his career that he is fully healthy and ready to go. We saw steps forward when he came back late last season. He was making plays, and shots and playing incredible defense. We need to see more of that from Williams and see if he can prove to be the guy we were promised years ago.
Besides that, a lot of the gritty team guys return. Javonte Green, Alex Caruso and Derrick Jones Jr. are all back to wreak havoc. New faces Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond and Dalen Terry are all looking to make an instant impact. Finally, big year for Coby White. He is going to have to prove it early on because there is a strong chance he could get moved if he does not.
In the end, just give me this season. It feels so long since we got knocked out by the Bucks and I just want to wash that memory from my head and move on. I do think that this team could get hot at the right time and make a pretty solid run at winning the championship.
As I said earlier, everyone is doubting us, and I absolutely love that. Play with that chip on your shoulder. Play like you did early in the season last year and good things are going to come. Let's bring it back home to Chicago, please!!!
I am going to the home opener on Saturday and I could not be more excited. Life is better when Bulls basketball is good. For tonight, lock it in with Demar over 26.5 points and Ayo over 3.5 assists. I should not be giving out these picks for free.
LET'S GO BULLS! See Red.
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