Ouch

Talk about your reality checks. On Wednesday, the Bulls lost to the Nets at home by a score of 138-112. Then, last night, they fell to the visiting Warriors, 138-96. This was the second game in two nights for Golden State, after losing in Milwaukee by nineteen on Thursday. The Bulls are coming off a recent nine-game win streak, so some sort of streak in the other direction is to be expected. But losing to two very good teams on your home court casts doubt on your being very good, too. Color the Bulls something of a mystery right now. My problem centers on—if you’ll pardon the pun—center Nikola Vucevic. In the eight full seasons Vucevic played with the Magic, his teams never won more than forty-two games. So, I wonder how big the big man is. We’ll soon find out. The one cause for hope is head coach Billy Donovan, who was calling out his team for sloppy play during the win streak. Well, those chickens have certainly come home to roost, now haven’t they? Thirty-one turnovers in the last two games doesn’t exactly spell focus. Donovan strikes me as being new-school old-school. He holds his players accountable without feeling the need to humiliate them. That’s good. God invented January so winter-sports teams would have their own dog days. Approaching the half-way point of the season, that’s where the Bulls are. Maybe they’re just a good team that got hot and is now falling back with the rest of the pack. But they also show signs of being more. That’s why God made February, March and April. By then, we’ll know who the real Bulls are.