Possible upset alert

[Bravesfan]

The Bulls are playing at home and getting crushed by the 8-23 New Jersey Nets 73-56 at the end of three quarters! Did the Bulls underestimate this team? Apparently so.

[tornado]

no - it is just obvious how valuable Derrick Rose is, and the Nets hit 9 of their first 10 shots and haven't pulled away any further since

[Bravesfan]

no - it is just obvious how valuable Derrick Rose is, and the Nets hit 9 of their first 10 shots and haven't pulled away any further since

True, but the Bulls are more than deep enough to beat an 8-23 team at home. I can see them losing to a middle tier above .500 team at home without Rose, though not most of the time. And I can also see the Bulls losing to a team like the Nets on the road occasionally without Rose. But not at home, and not losing by double digits most of the game.

I think the Bulls have a few defensive liabilities in Boozer and Noah even with Rose around, and not having Rose may hurt their defense even more, but they still should have more than enough offense to cover for this defensive liability against bad teams. That's why the fact that they lost by double digits hurt a lot more than losing a close game to this team. Hopefully this is a wakeup call, particularly for those two players. I know Boozer as a weak defensive presence is pretty much a given, but he and others need to step up and not take these weak teams for granted.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

There are lots of strange losses during a normal NBA season. This season should be even worse with the compressed schedule. This loss isn't a wake up call. The Bulls just need to get (Rose) healthy.

[Bravesfan]

There are lots of strange losses during a normal NBA season. This season should be even worse with the compressed schedule. This loss isn't a wake up call. The Bulls just need to get (Rose) healthy.

Fine, but I don't think they lost this game because of Rose. They lost because they underestimated a bad team they thought they could walk all over at home, and because some players did not show up. Unlike Bradley who just hit rock bottom tonight, the Bulls have more than enough depth to beat teams like this handily, as they have demonstrated many times already without Rose. But more likely, a lack of effort by the Bulls along with a spirited effort by the Nets led to the "perfect storm" of an upset today.

And I do agree the compressed schedule probably hurt this team as a couple of these losses probably will occur to all teams. But with Miami starting to gel, we can't afford losses to teams like the Nets (with or without Rose) if the Bulls intend on finishing with the top seed in their conference.