In 2004-05, the Bulls rallied from an 0-9 start to make the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons before exiting in the first round.
Last season, they finished 12-2 just to make the playoffs and again lost in the first round.
This season, with eight new faces, they started 3-9, again finished strong and then took the next step by winning their first-round series.
Their seemingly inevitable hurdle came in the form of the Detroit Pistons, who own a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, which continue Sunday in a win-or-go-home game for the Bulls at the United Center.
“There’s always something to come back from,” coach Scott Skiles said Saturday. “But I think long term that’s how you build real professionalism and mental toughness. You have to go through some adversity. Can it be too much to overcome somebody? Absolutely it can. But I don’t get the feeling that’s where we are.”
Skiles started to walk away, then stopped and smiled.
“But what do I know?” he said.
Indeed, Skiles and the Bulls continue to search for answers to lofty philosophical questions, such as: Can lessons be learned or development gained from such a lopsided series?
This is what happens when the competition is so compromised, the play so unbalanced.
“Whether it’s good for development, bad for development, whatever it is, we have to win one game and try to prolong the series and then go through the experience of having a closeout game in Detroit,” Skiles said. “To me, that would be something interesting to see this group go through because it’s such a chaotic atmosphere there. I’d like to see our guys have that opportunity.”
The players threw out the proper usages of pride and cliches like “one game at a time” after Saturday’s practice. Questioned more thoroughly, they agreed this series — no matter its outcome — could be another step on the developmental path for a team whose core is still relatively young.
“I think the majority of us, the guys who have been here, we’re learning from this,” forward Luol Deng said. “We learned from the first round. We finally passed it, and I thought we played great.
“But mentally, this is another level. And you have to be stronger. You’re down three. You have to keep playing hard and learn from it and try to get stronger.”
Added guard Kirk Hinrich: “This team has proven to be resilient. I expect a good effort.”
Of course, in the next answer, Deng offered a somewhat startling admission.
“They’re experienced, and I think we weren’t ready for that,” he said. “Detroit goes deep in the playoffs first. Then they win [a championship]. Then they go to the Finals and lose. Then they lose Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals and they go through it again.
“Passing the first round is a first for a lot of us. It’s the first time in the playoffs for some of us. I think mentally right now they’re more prepared for this situation than we are.”
That’s why players acknowledged they were still down about the crushing Game 3 loss. Skiles joked that if he based his sleep patterns on his team’s mood, he would have managed just one hour instead of the five he got.
The Bulls know Sunday’s opportunity is no laughing matter.
“A series loss is a series loss, but you don’t want to get swept,” Deng said. “There has to be pride. This is a season where there have been a lot of ups and downs. But a lot of us have improved and learned in the system. We did a lot of great things. We don’t want to go down like this. We want to keep playing.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
