The Ballad of Ricky-Bobby: Oh, Bulls.

BOBBY: The Nets loss, to me, was obviously the worst everything. In so many ways, every other loss can be justified (road games, back-to-backs, monster talent disparities). But losing at home -- rested -- to the freaking Nets? Come on.

A line that really stuck with me following the game was Matt over at Blog a Bull: "[The Nets] proved that they're just as good as the Bulls...or that the Bulls are just as bad as them."

So yeah. I think the Nets loss was the worst. A total punch in the face. The most complete way of bottoming out. But man, the Nets' talent level really is pretty close to ours. Harris and Rose are a wash (Harris might be better right now, though Rose played one of his best games of the season) and Lopez dominated Noah. From there, the Bulls roster is either comparable with the Nets, or, in some cases, worse.

We're a team that goes about seven-deep missing 29% of that production (yes, I calculated that). You say injuries, over-matched coach, and a tough schedule -- all of which I'm on board with -- but what about the disappointing performances of Brad Miller and John Salmons? Is it an aberration or will it be a continuing trend? It's certainly troubling how little both guys -- who did so much to push the Bulls over the top last year -- have helped the cause this season.

I'd like to see if Kurt Kirk (wow, who am I, VDN?) can regain any form. I'd love to see if Tyrus can make any sort of an impact. But it's hard to shake the feeling this season is totally dead already.

RICKY: I'm glad you brought up Noah. Commenter RPK shot this at Trib beat writer KC Johnson during last night's beat-down:

@KCJHoop Noah with anther terrific stat line of 2 points on 0-4 shooting in 28 minutes. How is Noah immune to all the criticism?

If we're going to count Noah simply as a "nice player," I think we can cut him some slack. But remember, at least in Chicago, Noah was getting some pretty serious All-Star buzz as late as last week. "Cornerstone" seemed to be the consensus. "Second best center in the East" was being floated around. So what do we make of the last three games, when Noah went against some of the other top centers in the conference and struggled?

Noah really only got his shit rocked by Bro-Pez, but he failed to make a statement against Bargnani and Horford. Those guys didn't get Noah, Noah didn't get them. They canceled each other out numbers-wise, pretty much. But wasn't this a great chance for Noah to prove he's better than those guys? I know everyone loves Noah (and I do too) but I have to admit that I've been pretty disappointed with him lately. I may even be the only Bulls fan in the city who thought his shit-talking routine with LeBron was lame.

As for Salmons, I've given up all hope. He's awful. Everyone feared that he played over his head last year. That would appear to be the case right now, huh?

This team needs a starting-level power forward and shooting guard before they can be taken seriously.

BOBBY: People probably passed or were reluctant to rag on Noah for three reasons. 1) He's been outshone -- or out-dulled -- by the poor play of so, so many others, that his bad games can fly under-the-radar a lot easier, 2) He's been one of the only good things about the team all year long... as in the, "we can't rag on him because he's all we have" mentality. Yes, it's come to that, 3) Off the top of my head, he's the only person on this team to show that this epic losing is actually pissing him off (LeBron call-out, throwing ball into the stands). I don't know, I really like that.

He might not be the second best center in the East, but it's incredibly reassuring to know he's not a bust.

Seriously, the Bulls screw up everything. They broke up the Jordan trio prematurely (I mean, that was probably the most swift dismantling of a super-dynasty in sports history), they traded Elton Brand after an incredibly promising start to his career, they drafted Curry and T-Chan, they signed Ben Wallace, they took Tyrus over Aldridge when they already had Wallace (for "defense" and "athleticism"), they refuse to pay the luxury tax when they're one of the most profitable teams in the league, and they egregiously let Ben Gordon go this off-season. That BG move basically threw up a huge middle finger to the 2009-10 season. These recent epic losses are an extension of that middle finger.

Going back to my "Noah doesn't get noticed because everybody sucks" analogy. The Bulls organization is like Noah, and the Bears are a lot like the rest of the Bulls' roster. Sure, there's been a Bulls resurgence since the epic dark ages of 1998-2003, but it's been over a decade since this team's been in the Eastern conference finals. Sure, not every move has been awful. Last year's Salmons-Miller trade was great, and they got a few guys like Deng, Hinrich, and Gordon with lottery picks -- but that was simply due to terrible regular season performances.

And, at least for this season, we might have to get used to a lot more of those.

My best advice is to turn your brain off and try to enjoy the bright spots from Derrick Rose. If you can't do this, watch the freaking Blackhawks -- the only team in this city that doesn't suck. While the Bulls were getting depantsed in Atlanta, the 'Hawks won in OT against the Rangers on a Big Buff breakaway score.

It's probably time to limit stress.


BobbyStompy can be reached at stompaberdeen [at] aol.com. Follow him on Twitter.