A potential title contender is not supposed to start 0-3. The Bulls always seen to get off to a slow start, but something about this year bothers me. A look at the numbers tells me that there is something seriously wrong with the Bulls.

Last year's slow start could be attributed to Ben Gordon's slow start and a lack of chemistry with Big Ben and PJ in the fold. This was no surprise. The year before that we had just lost our only low post scorer, Eddy Curry, and were trying to figure out how to score without him. 2004-2005 was Kirk's sophmore year, Gordon, Deng, Duhon, and Nocioni's rookie years. Nothing was really expected of us then. But this year is so much different. We advanced to the second round of the playoffs, won 49 games, and were expected to make major strides this year.

Enter trade rumors and contract disputes. I don't care what Deng and Gordon say, the trade rumors and contract problems have affected them greatly. But to me it seems that they affected each one differently. Deng seems to be not as sharp as usual, maybe distracted. When you factor in that everybody is concetrating thier efforts on stopping him, it adds up to the play that you've seen so far. Ben on the other hand seems like he has a chip on his shoulder. Noone can accuse him of having a slow start this year, eventhough he had a rough night in Milwaukee. Look at his numbers so far, he putting up 22ppg, 7.75RPG(!!!), and 3APG. Those are the numbers that Deng is supposed to be putting up. Let me just throw in there that a 6'3" guard should NOT be second on the team in rebounding. To make matters worse, if he had one more rebound tonight he WOULD be leading the team.

I like that Kirk Hinrich decided to bulk up to 197, but maybe it slowed him down enough that he is playing defense with his hands. At some point you have to think that maybe all those "questionable calls" aren't so questionable. He is averaging 5 fouls per game. The constant foul trouble is taking out of rythm, 39.6% shooting. You don't want to know his 3pt percentage.

The big thing that I want to know is where the heck is Big Ben? Last year I would say that it didn't matter what his number were, he had an impact when he was on the court. I'm not so sure this year. But, since Big Ben is still Big Ben, I'm going to assume that his anke is worse then what was thought.

To my suprise, Tyrus Thomas is actually playing pretty good. I admit that I wasn't a fan of Paxon's decision to draft him, but he seems to be playing pretty well. I still think that he should have kept Aldridge, and seeing what he's done so far this year doesn't change my mind. But that has nothing to do with how the Bulls are playing now.

For the sake of my sanity, I hope the Bulls start playing better soon. After the Cubs let down, and the Bears disaster of a season, and not sure my fragile physche can take much more.