First Impressions (Bulls and NBA Wide)

Having missed the first Bulls preseason game I will give my first impressions now that I've seen them play the Mavs.

Derrick Rose appears to be rushing his jump shot. The fundamentals look the same, but everything seems a little sped up. And for someone who spent most of the offseason working on his jumper, there is no way he should be rushing or pressing on his shot. My hope is once he trusts it he will take his game from All-Star level to superstar level.

With no Boozer, this is just a slightly upgraded offensive team than last season. The ball moves a lot better than it did last year which is a plus, but it's still drive and kick with average shooters on the perimeter (Korver is a great shooter, but he can't shoot all the shots for the Bulls). Hopefully, if Boozer does come back healthy in December they will be able to play a little more inside/out and that will take some pressure off of Rose to always create for everyone. I will say it's nice to see that the Bulls don't run the pick and roll every single time down the floor like they did last year, that is a BIG POSITIVE to the new coaching regime!

The Bulls Defense is everything I hoped it would be, even the backups. Guys are constantly moving, jumping out to double team, getting hands in the passing lanes. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Bulls had a top five D at the end of the year, and if they do they will earn a top three seed.

Kyle Weaver (Bulls backup shooting guard) does not have a guaranteed contract with the Bulls. However, he SHOULD make the team and he SHOULD take Keith Bogans (who owns a several million dollar contract) spot on the bench. He is a much better player and has a lot more potential moving forward than Bogans.

Dwayne Wade is going to be out for two weeks or so with a strained hamstring. I'm obviously hoping this is a long term problem and affects him throughout the season. Unfortunately, even without him the Heat are the best team in the East. I'm not saying they would win in the playoffs if Bosh or Wade went down, but during the regular season, as long as they have LeBron they will end up with 60+ wins. Watching the Heat first preseason game was just like watching the Cavs last year. LeBron was everywhere and it doesn't matter who he plays with, his team is going to dominate, at least until the playoffs.

A lot of talk is that the Mavs or Oklahoma City will challenge the Lakers for the West, while I like both of those teams, I think the only legit shot of taking down the Lakers will be the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have a good mix of youth and veteran leadership and they have a lot of size. Splitter is big, Blair, and of course Timmy Duncan. And let's not count out Tony Parker, Manu and Richard Jefferson just yet. I think they have a lot left in the tank and proved it when they took apart the Mavs in last year's playoffs. I was all over the Mavs last year and thought they had a real chance to reach the Finals, but this year I refuse to believe they can be elite in the playoffs until they prove it. As for OKC, I think they can run off 55 wins or so, but they don't really have the size to compete with the Lakers come playoff time. Of course if Durant and Westbrook get even better then anything is possible.

I'm pretty tired of all this Yao Ming and Houston Rocket talk. HE'S ONLY GOING TO PLAY 24 MINUTES A NIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON! that means, they are going to be a bottom rung playoff team at best. Plus the Rockets refuse to extend any players this off season and I think that is going to piss some guys off. Mainly Aaron Brooks, and I think it's going to be an issue for a long time. Bottom line, they just don't have enough talent to compete with the top of the West.