It's only one month, but if the Chicago Bulls have a few more like it they'll destroy the image of their own 1995-96 team.
Remember the '95-96 Bulls? Greatest team of all time, or so they claimed. They put a lot of effort into a public relations campaign to establish their supremacy.
Now it's almost as if they are trying to undo it all.
At the current rate of play, this season's version of the Bulls is even better than last year's. So much so that after one month the Bulls have a team TENDEX rating of 117.2. The rating of last year's team was 112.2.
Actually, the 1995-96 Bulls fell a bit short of the all-time TENDEX record of 112.8 set by Milwaukee in 1970-71. But the way things are going, that's academic.
HERE ARE THE TOP 10 TEAMS this season through November:
If these team ratings show one thing with clarity, it's that Miami and Detroit probably won't be able to sustain their outstanding starts. They don't have good enough players to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
A team TENDEX rating is nothing more than a composite of all individual player ratings on that team. It follows that the Bulls must have players with good individual ratings. As a matter of fact, they have four players who rank among the leaders in the NBA at their respective positions:
Others who started slowly but should show improvement: Joe Smith, Golden State,.421; Larry Johnson, New York, .492; Jerry Stackhouse, Philadelphia, .378; Jason Kidd, Dallas, .466.
Average rating for an NBA player is .500.
For every player who starts slowly, there's one who starts fast. History shows the following players, like Kukoc, probably won't maintain their current high ratings: Kendall Gill, New Jersey, .637; Latrell Sprewell, Golden State, .586; Joe Dumars, Detroit, .615, Ervin Johnson, Denver, .652. These four players all are between 100 and 200 points higher than their norms established the past few seasons.
Marcus Camby is having back problems, but he is off to the best start overall of any rookie. His rating of .684 exceeds the start of Allen Iverson (.554). Iverson has better bulk numbers because he has played more minutes. He is the front-runner for Rookie of the Year honors because of apparently superior durability.
Here are the top 10 players overall:
| Player | Team | TENDEX |
| Karl Malone | Utah | .933 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | Houston | .897 |
| Michael Jordan | Chicago | .874 |
| Shawn Kemp | Seattle | .862 |
| Charles Barkley | Houston | .857 |
| Grant Hill | Detroit | .855 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | LA Lakers | .848 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | Portland | .835 |
| Vin Baker | Milwaukee | .810 |
| Alonzo Mourning | Miami | .767 |
The top 10 at each position:
CENTERS
| 1. Hakeem Olajuwon | Houston | .897 |
| 2. Shaquille O'Neal | LA Lakers | .848 |
| 3. Arvydas Sabonis | Portland. | .835 |
| 4. Vin Baker | Milwaukee | .810 |
| 5. Alonzo Mourning | Miami | .767 |
| 6. Patrick Ewing | New York | .759 |
| 7. Marcus Camby | Toronto | .684 |
| 8. Shawn Bradley | New Jersey | .652 |
| 9. Ervin Johnson | Denver | .652 |
| 10. Vlade Divac | Charlotte | .612 |
POWER FORWARDS
| 1. Karl Malone | Utah | .933 |
| 2. Shawn Kemp | Seattle | .862 |
| 3. Charles Barkley | Houston | .857 |
| 4. Chris Gatling | Dallas | .759 |
| 5. Kevin Garnett | Minnesota | .702 |
| 6. Chris Webber | Washington | .698 |
| 7. Dennis Rodman | Chicago | .691 |
| 8. Rasheed Wallace | Portland | .669 |
| 9. Tyrone Hill | Cleveland | .637 |
| 10. Christian Laettner | Atlanta | .634 |
SMALL FORWARDS
| 1. Grant Hill | Detroit | .855 |
| 2. Toni Kukoc | Chicago | .708 |
| 3. Tom Gugliotta | Minnesota | .657 |
| 4. Scottie Pippen | Chicago | .628 |
| 5. Detlef Schrempf | Seattle | .621 |
| 6. Danny Manning | Phoenix | .612 |
| 7. Anthony Mason | Charlotte | .592 |
| 8. Glenn Robinson | Milwaukee | .570 |
| 9. Juwan Howard | Washington | .570 |
| 10. Chris Mullin | Golden State | .549 |
POINT GUARDS
| 1. Michael Jordan | Chicago | .874 |
| 2. Terrell Brandon | Cleveland | .742 |
| 3. John Stockton | Utah | .710 |
| 4. Gary Payton | Seattle | .678 |
| 5. Tim Hardaway | Miami | .633 |
| 6. Sam Cassell | Phoenix | .627 |
| 7. Kenny Anderson | Portland | .627 |
| 8. Charlie Ward | New York | .618 |
| 9. Joe Dumars | Detroit | .615 |
| 10. Rod Strickland | Washington | .610 |
SHOOTING GUARDS
| 1. Kendall Gill | New Jersey | .637 |
| 2. Bob Sura | Cleveland | .629 |
| 3. Clyde Drexler | Houston | .601 |
| 4. Reggie Miller | Indiana | .600 |
| 5. Latrell Sprewell | Golden State | .586 |
| 6. Mitch Richmond | Sacramento | .578 |
| 7. Bobby Phills | Cleveland | .553 |
| 8. Jeff Hornacek | Utah | .552 |
| 9. John Starks | New York | .536 |
| 10. Eddie Jones | LA Lakers | .521 |
Dave Heeren invented TENDEX in 1960 and is the author of an annual TENDEX report. You can reach him at (561) 243-6606.
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