Making the jump

If the Bulls proved anything over the past two seasons, it's that they don't lay down for anybody. Not the Celtics in 2008. Not King James last year. What they're trying to do this season is move up. They've been the feisty eighth seed two straight seasons, they've given the powerhouses scares, but their offseaon mission was to become one of the East's powerhouses themselves.

They added a big name in Carlos Boozer. They also missed out on a few big names. Still, they were able to assemble a roster that could threaten for one of the top four spots in the East. They also took a key piece from a rival, luring longtime Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau away to become the head coach. They'll definitely be in the mix with Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Charlotte.

Key adds: Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver

Key losses: Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller

Celtics games: Nov. 5 at Boston, Dec. 3 at Boston, Jan. 8 at Chicago, Apr. 7 at Chicago

Strengths: As he comes off a summer with Team USA, this could be Derrick Rose’s best season as a pro. He’s spent the offseason working on his 3-point shot (26.7 percent last season), which should make him an even more potent scorer. Joakim Noah’s made a calling card out of the “energy player” cliche (10.7 points, 11.0 rebounds). And altogether, the Bulls blended depth and youth (second-year man Taj Gibson) with experience (15-year vet Kurt Thomas), hoping that after earning the eighth seed and being bounced in the first round the past two seasons they can jump to the top tier of the East.

Weaknesses: There’s a gaping hole where the Bulls expected LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or even Joe Johnson to be. The team was custom-fitted for an MVP-caliber wing, and obviously they came up empty. They added shooting in Korver. They also brought in Brewer after losing out on Magic guard J.J. Redick. But one of the key ingredients in their offseason formula -- a bona fide, shake-the-soul-out-of-an-opponent scorer -- is missing.

Schedule: The calendar gods didn’t do the Bulls any favors with 23 back-to-backs (the Bucks and Hawks are the only team with as many), but a cushy last few weeks could lead to a strong finish going into the playoffs.

The Thibodeau Effect
For everything the Bulls added this offseason, you could argue the most important piece is probably Thibodeau -- and despite his ablity a lot of the argument would center around reasons completely unrelated to Thibodeau. The Bulls' coaching situation was combustible from the start last season. Vinny Del Negro was under fire all season, and blowing 35-point leads didn’t help his cause. It ultimately ended uglier than anyone could have imagined with Del Negro and team executive John Paxson getting into a shoving match not long before the Bulls’ late-season meeting against the Celtics.

Enter Thibodeau, the blue-chipper of this year’s coaching carousel. Bulls GM Gar Forman said the first person they called was Thibodeau, but with the Celtics in the NBA Finals he was a hard man to reach. His resume as a defensive guru spoke for itself and kept echoing as teams were looking for head coaches. The Bulls hope he can turn a solid defensive team into the menacing force that the Celtics became over the past three seasons.

Truehoop asks if Thibodeau can do in Chicago what he did in Boston:

The Boston Celtics' return to the NBA's upper echelon was predicated first and foremost on their defense. They unleashed a pressurized force field designed and implemented by Tom Thibodeau, and ultimately adopted by other teams around the league, including the Los Angeles Lakers.

This June, the Bulls tapped Thibodeau to fill their head coaching vacancy. He joins a Bulls team that put together a strong defensive season last season, finishing 10th in efficiency. Skeptics might look at Derrick Rose -- whose defensive instincts are a far cry from Rajon Rondo -- and Carlos Boozer and conclude that Thibodeau doesn't have the personnel to succeed the way he did in Boston. Yet in 2007, Thibodeau took a quintet that featured Ray Allen (who had a horrendous defensive reputation coming from Seattle), an undisciplined big man in Kendrick Perkins, a second-year point guard in Rajon Rondo who'd started only 25 games and made them one of the best defensive units in basketball.

With Joakim Noah anchoring the interior, the lanky tandem of Luol Deng and Ronnie Brewer on the wings, Boozer's sharp basketball IQ and Rose's gifts, Thibodeau should have the tools to sculpt a top-5 defense. If the Bulls buy in, we'll have a better understanding whether Thibodeau's kind of tactical expertise is transferable -- and an inkling of just how dangerous the Bulls could be.