(670 The Score) I can't help but feel that somehow this was all done for my benefit, because it sure seems like it.
I know that when he took over as the Bulls' top basketball executive, Arturas Karnisovas described his ideal style of NBA basketball as one that so happens to also be aesthetically pleasing -- ball movement and player movement functioning with clear purpose to space the floor, taking advantage of matchups and finding the best available shot. It was part of a larger cultural shift designed to put players first, ensuring that they be deployed to do what they want to do in the best ways for them to succeed and grow.
And while these early stages of such transformation have clearly and already engendered more comfort and confidence in the players just as planned, we're the real winners here. Those of us who endured the dark times now get to revel in glorious liberation.
We're free from Jim Boylen's onerous yoke of stupidity and despair.
Who cares if the Bulls win or lose, even? There will be plenty of time for that, when it all matters more. Even as brutal as it was to be eclipsed by the latest star turn from the Blazers' Damian Lillard on Saturday, what a game! And then we have the feeling of turning on the TV for the next episode and actually letting ourselves believe them when they insist that they will be better for it ultimately. And then the Bulls pull away late to beat the Knicks, because that's a thing that can happen, now.
It fits in the grand scheme too, as we emerge from years of much more significant awfulness, ignorance, malfeasance and cruelty, reconditioning ourselves to not have to think everything is always coming apart. And just as that fabric can be repaired with intelligence, care and time, so can that of the team that at the least is supposed to provide a pleasant enough distraction from that.
When a timeout is taken, we're treated to the rare delicacy of the players listening to the coach and then returning to the floor better informed and aware of a given situation or adjustment. Who knew such things were still possible? I thought timeouts were reserved for the ends of blowout losses, so some G-leaguer could be lectured about his spirit while his teammates discussed dinner plans.
Billy Donovan likes to throw wrinkles into the defensive schemes, stealing a possession with surprise full-court pressure or a novelty zone coverage to not only keep a given opponent from getting too comfortable but to put the possibilities on tape so the next one has to prepare for them. This is pro ball for grownups, even in the outset of this initial phase.
And instead of one isolation play after the next in a depressing string of offensive turn-taking, they Bulls actually make passes intended to set up the next one. Aggressive cuts to the basket or an open spot beyond the arc are rewarded so regularly and democratically that the Bulls are eighth in the NBA in assists per game and are fourth in the league in "screen assists points," which is the percentage of times a screen leads to a field goal. Each individual player hasn't only had at least one signature positive performance to this point but can be seen reasonably as a piece that has fit or can fit -- and can be part of a number of competent permutations.
If competence seems like a low bar, forgive me. There will be time and good reason to raise it.
Let's just enjoy the moment, even if we have to remember how.
Dan Bernstein is the co-host of the Bernstein & Rahimi Show on middays from 9 a.m. until noon on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.