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NBA Award Watch: Russell Westbrook is Oscar Robertson, the Chicago Bulls are good?

By John Buhler

Oct 28, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after defeating the Phoenix Suns 113-110 in overtime at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after defeating the Phoenix Suns 113-110 in overtime at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg watches action against the Atlanta Hawks at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg watches action against the Atlanta Hawks at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

Coach of the Year: Fred Hoiberg

Of the teams that didn’t lose in October, the most shocking undefeated team in the NBA has to be the Chicago Bulls. It’s not really that Jimmy Butler, Rajon Rondo, and Dwyane Wade are undefeated that’s surprising, it’s how the Bulls are winning games this year.

Chicago has the best offense in the NBA. Many thought this team was going to struggle shooting three-pointers. Outside of Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic, the rest of the Bulls were kind of sub-par in that part of the game.

While he entered 2016-17 on the hot seat, Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg would win Coach of the Year if the season ended today. Nobody saw this coming. Chicago had the look of a fringe playoff team, but could end up getting home court advantage in the first round of the 2017 Eastern Conference Playoffs if this kind of offensive firepower is here to stay.

Chicago is No. 1 in offense and No. 5 in defense. Maybe the Bulls front office knew what it was doing in poaching the Mayor of Ames away from the Hilton Coliseum and injecting him into the United Center last year?

Next: Toughest NBA Teams Of All-Time

To think that the Bulls were going to be this good on offense this early was not predictable. How much credit Hoiberg deserves is debatable, but he certainly deserves some of it.

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