Shaq's Cavs the early losers as NBA begins

The day before the season opener, the Bulls held a light practice Wednesday at the Berto Center without much news to report.

Coach Vinny Del Negro confirmed that he plans to start the same group we expected all along: Derrick Rose, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

Rose had one interesting quote on the eve of Game 1: “We're looking good right now, so people better watch out.”

Rose also said the Bulls are having trouble scoring against their own defense in practice, which could be good or bad.

Here are some quick observations about the first two days of the NBA season:

--After seeing the new referee shirts, I’m convinced that wearing those had to be the sticking point in contract negotiations.

--Of the teams with big-name additions, Cleveland is the biggest loser so far, starting 0-2 with losses to Boston and Toronto. Without a doubt, Shaquille O’Neal will take some getting used to.

O’Neal’s stat line was respectable – 12 points, 7 rebounds in 25 minutes, 6-of-12 field goals. But according to the nba.com box score his plus/minus was –25. The Cavs were +2 when LeBron James was on the floor.

There was one play in the first quarter when Shaq scored in the post, then Chris Bosh quickly sprinted up the floor. Shaq hustled to catch him and broke up a pass, then immediately signaled to the bench he was ready to come out of the game at about the 5:30 mark of the opening quarter.

When Shaq is on the bench, the Cavs are back to Anderson Varejao and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, which was a problem at times last year.

--Two teams that made major changes in the East, Washington and Toronto, looked good in their openers. The Wizards won in Dallas while guards Gilbert Arenas and Randy Foye were basically unstoppable down the stretch.

Josh Howard was out and the other Mavs are getting old. Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry were all drafted in the 90’s.

--I think the Western Conference advantage over the East is gone. Even last year, there were several teams with good records, but they were able to fatten up on seven bad teams at the bottom of the conference.

This year with Houston having injury issues, the West is really four teams deep: Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, Blazers, then it drops quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if the Thunder makes a playoff push this year.

--San Antonio’s Tony Parker left Wednesday’s blowout win over New Orleans after falling hard in the third quarter. He reportedly had the wind knocked out of him and should play Thursday against the Bulls.

Rookie PF DeJuan Blair had 14 & 11 in his pro debut.

--Boston warmed up for Friday’s rematch with the Bulls by pounding Charlotte 92-59. Tyson Chandler went scoreless with 6 rebounds in his Bobcats debut. Obscure ex-Bull Stephen Graham started at two guard for Charlotte (Raja Bell might be out for the year) and went 2 for 11 from the field. Isn’t Thomas Gardner available?

--Speaking of odd uniforms, I’m not sure how to describe what the Grizzlies wore Wednesday against Detroit. Ben Gordon scored 22 points in 26 minutes as the Pistons rolled 96-74.

Allen Iverson should help a little when he gets healthy, but the Grizzlies’ roster from 6 to 12 right now is just abysmal.