CHICAGO - The iconic horns are dulled and the thick, angry smoke that used to billow out of their nostrils now look like a harmless thin vapor that scares no one.
You guessed it. I'm talking about the Chicago Bulls.
Here's how they're started their season so far at home at the United Center.
They trailed by 40 before losing to the Atlanta Hawks, 124-104, last December 23. Three days later they watched the Pacers erect a 30-point lead on the way to a 125-106 mauling.
The Bulls got trampled.
Stampeded.
But regardless of your choice of words, I think we can all agree to arrive at the same conclusion that this team is simply not good.
But don't jump off the bandwagon just yet. Not when there's 70 more games to come or whatever number it is you feel is enough to collect sufficient evidence.
You have to remember that Chicago hasn't played NBA basketball since March because the pandemic forced a league shutdown and their 22-43 record at the time of the stoppage did not merit an invite to the bubble that eventually crowned the Los Angeles Lakers as 2020 champs.
Obviously, there's a lot of rust here. And I'm willing to cut them some slack. And maybe you should, too.
Also, it's hard to plant both feet on the ground and expect to immediately get meaningful traction when there's a new coach, a new system, and a new brain trust overseeing basketball operations after the unpopular GarPax combo was taken off the shelf.
EVERYTHING IS NEW AROUND THESE BULLS. EXCEPT FOR THE LOSING, WHICH IS GETTING OLD AND TIRESOME.
When talking about the adversity during this trying 0-2 hole, head coach Billy Donovan mentioned a "level of sacrifice" needed to go through the ordeal.
"Somebody who is starting may not start; somebody who is off the bench may be starting. Those things could happen. I've got to try to find the right combinations," he told Hall-of-Fame NBA writer Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
As he challenged these young Bulls to rise above adversity, Donovan mentioned being "fortunate" to coach Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook during his time in Oklahoma City.
While bringing up great examples was well-intentioned, it can't necessarily be a good thing to hear if you're a Bull.
It's like having dinner with your girlfriend and all she talks about is her ex.
But hey, didn't Kelly Clarkson immortalize these words in a song?
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
In the NBA, though, playing bad defense kills you most of the time.
Which was what the Bulls did when they allowed Atlanta and Indiana to shoot a combined 95 of 173 from the field, a high 54.9 percent clip.
Sometimes, a sloppy defense gets away with some Ws if the offense strikes hot,
Unfortunately, the Bulls didn't have that escape hatch after they made only 70 of 177 shots (39 percent) and 24 of 74 triples (32 percent) through two games.
Per BasketballReference, the Bulls are currently 27th among 30 teams in offensive rating and 23rd in defensive rating.
This is going to hurt a while.
Rebuilding, fixing something that's broken, is never easy.
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