The Chicago Bulls may have the best regular-season record but...fill in the blank. There are a litany of things that follow that, but they all have one thing in common, they all want to dismiss the fact that the Bulls have the best record in the NBA.
In the end, you end up with more "but" than you can find in a fat camp. The Bulls have the best record, but they still haven't proven that they can beat the Heat in a seven-game series or but the regular season doesn't count or but the Heat are the most talented team or but they are just winning because they try harder and so on and so forth.
The only team that might exceed them in the "but factor" is the Miami Heat, who have a "but" to excuse every loss they have. The height of this excuse making is perhaps in the excusing of the Bulls' victory over the Heat because the Bulls were without Rose.
Of course, you're free to dismiss all the buts, but if you do, dismiss all of them. If you want to just let the season stand on its own, that's fine too. The Bulls have the best record in the NBA. They have the biggest margin of victory in the NBA.
Let's not make excuses for the Heat about "not trying" or "being tired" and ignore the fact that the Bulls have played over a third of the season without the league's reigning MVP, another nine games from All-Star Luol Deng and another 38 games from key offseason-acquisition Rip Hamilton.
Personally, I think that mitigating factors do need to be considered, but if you are going to dismiss them out of hand, be consistent. Dismiss them all out of hand and accept the Bulls' ownership of the best record for what it is. Don't qualify that and then dismiss their injury issues.
Maybe instead of dismissing the Bulls injuries as "excuses" while we excuse the Heat's shortcomings with "they just didn't try hard enough," we should consider the possibility that the Bulls aren't only the owners' of the best record in the league, but are the best team in the league.
Maybe the record isn't telling the whole story, but the untold part of that story sways in the other direction. Maybe they are even better than their record indicates.
The Spurs have been affected by Manu Ginobili's injury this year. The Celtics got off to a rough start because of Paul Pierce's injury. The Clippers haven't been the same since Chauncey Billups injury. Yes, injuries happen, but when you have a key injury, it affects the team. It's ludicrous to suggest otherwise.
That the Bulls own the NBA's best record in spite of the fact they have had key injuries shouldn't be dismissive of those injuries. In fact, it should suggest that they are even better than their record would suggest—a fact which seems to be easily glossed over.
I'm not just talking about the minor injuries though. I'm talking about the key injuries, the injuries to the All-Stars, MVP Derrick Rose and do-everything Luol Deng.
Sure they are still winning without one or the other but don't let yourself believe for a moment that the Bulls aren't affected when Deng or Rose is out. They are 22-10, a winning percentage of .688 when one or the other is out. They have an average margin of victory of 5.4.
Even without Rose or Deng, they have one of the top-five teams in the league in terms of both winning percentage and margin. But here's the thing. They have Rose and Deng, and when they're both in the lineup, the Bulls are nearly unbeatable.
Here are some startling numbers for you. The Bulls are 21-3 this year in games in which both their All-Stars payed. Going back to last year they have won 50 of their last 57 when they've played. That winning percentage projected over an 82-game season comes out to 72 wins. Sound familiar?
In games where they've had both their All-Stars play, the Bulls outscore their opponents on average 97.8 to 88.6.
Or how about this fact? In games where both Rose and Deng have played this year, they have an Offensive Rating of 110.1 (which is better than the Thunder's league leading 109.8) and a Defensive Rating of 97.5 (which is better than the 76ers' league-leading 98.0).
Or, how about this fact? Of units with at least 250 minutes played, the Bulls starting five of Rose, Rip Hamilton, Ronnie Brewer, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng is the best starting five in the NBA in terms of net points per 100 possessions.
Of units with at least 100 minutes played, the Bulls reserve unit of Omer Asik, Deng, Kyle Korver, John Lucas and Taj Gibson is the best bench unit (where the majority of the players are reserves) of any reserve unit in the NBA with a net total of 33.9 points.
When the Bulls have Rose and Deng playing, they have the best starting unit in the NBA, the best reserve unit in the NBA, the best offense in the NBA and the best defense in the NBA. Now of course, that's "only" counting what happened in actual games this season and doesn't include what happened last year or what might happen in the playoffs or in other people's imaginations.
Yes, some want to believe that Rose's injuries suggest an ominous playoff situation but without any logical reason to indicate why. The toe and back are completely healed, and the groin nearly is. He may be 100 percent tomorrow, and if he is, he'll play.
There's nothing to suggest that the injuries are going to last into the postseason, and without them, you have to consider that the Bulls are going to do what they've been doing with Deng and Rose playing—win.
Now granted, the Heat did narrowly win a seven-game series against the Bulls last year. But wasn't that last year? Why does what happened last year predicate what must happen this year? People say that the outcome will be the same because the cores of the teams are essentially the same.
Now that's a bunch of bull!
Last year, the Heat had an average margin of victory of 7.46 to the Bulls 7.32. This year, the Bulls average 8.0 (eve with the injuries) while the Heat average 6.67. In other words, the Bulls are better than they were last year; the Heat aren't as good as they were last year.
Margin of victory is historically an even better predictor of what will happen than records. Last year, it proved correctly what would happen in a seven-game series. Why should that be different this year?
On that note, I'd also point out that last year a number of writers correctly pointed out that the Bulls had not yet gone deep into a postseason, that for a team to get to to the finals they needed that experience first. That's no longer true.
In other words, it's not the same "core" if in no other sense, in the sense that now this core has experienced a deep playoff run. Last year, inexperienced. This year, experienced.
Beyond that though, there's the fact that Rose's supporting cast is better this year than last. Last year, the Bulls had only one player, Rose, who had a PER over 20. This year, Rose has raised his PER, but Boozer's is also up form 18.8 to 20.1 Furthermore, Noah's is from 188 to 19.5.
The Bulls had only three players with PER over 16.0. This year they have five, Rose, Boozer, Noah, Gibson and Lucas.
In addition, last year Korver was a defensive liability, but his opponent's PER has fallen from 14.1 to 12.3.
Technically, you can say that the Bulls have the same core, but that doesn't mean that the core is the same.
By comparison, the Heat, after the "Big Three" of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have no one with a PER over 13.4. Of players with at least 1,000 minutes played, they have four of the worst 20 PERs in the NBA.
The Heat have the same core, but their core isn't the same either. They are worse than they were last year.
Maybe it's time to stop trying to make the story fit the preseason script. Maybe, it's time to put more stock in what's happening this year than what happened last year. But there will be those who can't get the "buts" out of their heads, and they're entitled to be "but" heads, but even they will still have to admit, the Bulls have the best record in the NBA.
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