That leap, though, isn't enough to vault last year's eighth seed in the East into the conference's elite.
In fact, while Chicago may have gained on Milwaukee and Atlanta in 2010, they really didn't get any closer to Orlando, Miami or Boston.
Chicago was able to replace the unproven Vinny Del Negro with long-time assistant Tom Thibodeau at head coach, a move that may be a net positive, but is far from significant. Del Negro had been credited with the development of young players like Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah, as well as his success in making the Clippers a near respectable team. However, Thibodeau has improved the team's defense and fostered Rose's major leap into the elite class.
Still, the Bulls do not have the coaching advantage over Boston or Orlando, and who knows about Erik Spoelstra?
Rose's development, also, appears to be overstated. The Bulls point guard has been compared with Amare Stoudamire for their improvements and MVP considerations. In truth, Rose has just moved from scoring 21 to 24 points per game, largely because he is now attempting three extra long-range shots each game — and making one of them. The rebounds and assists are up as well, but with a player efficiency rating (PER) of 22.4, he ranks just 19th in the NBA — right below Al Horford and Kevin Martin.
Chicago is a very skilled team but has several missing pieces. Rose is a great point guard, and Carlos Boozer is a skilled big man, but their weaker teammates can disrupt its team's matchups with other opponents. Chicago's lack of a shooting guard — apologies to Ronnie Brewer — allows teams to ignore one of the five players on the floor when defending. On the other hand, if Kyle Korver is on the floor as the shooting guard, the Bulls face the issue of virtually having only four defenders.
Chicago has several solid role players – Noah, Gibson and Luol Deng – but the team does not match up well with Boston's or Orlando's depth. Even if they are deeper than Miami, Chicago's two stars are less dangerous than Miami's superior big three – James, Wade and Bosh.
The Bulls may be 23-12 and appear to be among the East's elite, but that may not exactly be the case. Until Dec. 18, Chicago hadn't lost to a team with a losing record. They were 16-8, with all eight losses against winning teams. Provided that, they were able to take care of business against the lower teams, but couldn't compete with those of winning records. Now, Chicago faces Boston having dropped two in row to the struggling Nets and Sixers.
Those results may be surprising, but it would be just as extraordinary if the Bulls are able to compete with Orlando, Boston and Miami come April.
Are the Bulls good enough to compete with the best teams in the East? Leave your thoughts below.
Friday, Jan. 7: Can any Eastern Conference players catch Kobe Bryant in All-Star voting?
Are Tom Thibodeau's Bulls good enough to contend in the Eastern Conference?survey software
