5 Key Factors to Chicago Bulls’ Surprisingly Hot Start
Published by Kelly Scaletta on November 3, 2016
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
While the Chicago Cubs were winning their first World Series in 108 years, the Chicago Bulls‘ undefeated record went up in flames as they lost to the Boston Celtics.
Despite the loss, Chi-Town is looking better than anyone expected.
Based on Basketball-Reference.com’s Simple Rating System, which is based on average margin of victory and strength of schedule, the Bulls (3-1) are currently the top-ranked team in the NBA.
According to NBA.com, they have the second-best offense (111.4 offensive rating), the best rebounding percentage (57.7 percent), the fourth-best assist percentage (65.8 percent), the seventh-best true shooting percentage (56.3 percent) and the fifth-best net rating (10.9).
However, we are just four games into the season, and the Bulls have had some convenient scheduling (with two of their opponents coming in on the second end of back-to-backs). Plus, some of their players are shooting uncharacteristically well from deep.
Most people projected Chicago as an at-best bottom-tier playoff squad. Are the Bulls simply enjoying a hot streak, or are there indicators that suggest they could be a contender? The truth is somewhere in the middle.
We’ll look at five factors that have been key to the Bulls’ hot start and how sustainable they are (on a scale of 1-10). They are not “ranked” but are put into a logical sequence, evaluating the sustainability of each one.
