You can tell the powers that be at ESPN and TNT (not related to the powers that be from Angel) assumed the 2013-14 season was going to be a striking success for the Chicago Bulls. I'm not going to go through the schedule, but the Bulls have played a considerable amount of games on national TV, and tonight is no different, as the Bulls take on the Rockets at 8:30 on ESPN.
I see no-need to sugar-coat it: the Bulls are probably going to get killed tonight. While the Bulls generally exert far more effort against great teams, the Rockets are really really good. The Rockets have a flurry of weapons with James Harden, Dwight Howard, Chandler Parsons, and Jeremy Lin--not to mention wonderful role players like Patrick Beverly and Terrence Jones. How the Bulls will defend this run 'n gun bunch without meaningfully improving closeouts is beyond me.
The Rockets are a really fun team to watch, though the Bulls could easily stymie Harden with the defensive combo of Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler. However, the Bulls MUST close out on the shooter! It's really not a hard concept. The Bulls have historically thrived on interrupting shooters. This season has been different, with lazy closeouts and sloppy defensive rotations leaving teams wide open behind the arc. That's not cool against Harden, Parsons, Lin, or Beverly.
The good news: I'm not sure Omer Asik plays, so the Bulls Taj Gibson/Carlos Boozer should be able to get on the floor when Howard's sitting on the bench. Still, given Gibson's poor play as of late, I'm not expecting him to dominate the way I would have just a week ago.
Tonight will be an embarrassing blowout on national TV.
Rockets 103 Bulls 85
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