After one day of the 2006-07 NBA season it's good to be a Bulls fan.

The Bulls came to Miami and ruined the defending champs' ring night by giving them the worst beating a defending championship team has ever received, 108-66.

Chicago was supposed to be improved, but this was just ridiculous. The game started out sluggish both ways (thanks, in part, to a 45-minute ring ceremony and banner raising), but as the second quarter rolled around Chicago got hot and Miami continued to be sluggish.

Unfortunately, this is probably just a case of Miami playing real bad. But, that's not saying the Bulls didn't earn the victory.

Their defense was more stifling than last year's defense, which led the league in field goal percentage defense, this season there is an inside presence with Ben Wallace, P.J. Brown and until he broke his nose Tyrus Thomas.

Those guys limited Shaq and Zo and whoever else tried to get some points in the paint last night. Granted, Shaq looked rusty more than it was the defense giving him problems. But last season it would've been tough for Shaq to look rusty against the former inside presence.

Because of that inside presence and the ability to rebound, it created some transition opportunities for the Bulls. And they took full advantage. The Bulls led 14-0 in fast-break points after the first half and finished the game 21-6.

The Bulls offense also looked more fluid than it did last season. It was pretty much just classic basketball with backdoor cuts, picks and rolls, nothing just incredibly fancy, but it was effective. Chicago constantly got to the basket and drew several fouls. The Bulls got to the line 32 times to Miami's 22.

Overall, a great performance by the Bulls, but it's not time to start talking about a championship yet. Miami is better than what they showed and the game should've been more competitive. There's no doubt the Bulls are improved and will be at the top of the Eastern Conference, but it's not going to be this easy every night and I doubt you see the Heat dropping any more 42-point decisions anytime soon.

This was a good way for me to get back into the NBA. Over the last four years I'd been a more casual observer of the league than I was in my past. I used to plan my day around watching NBA games. Now that I'm a little less busy I can go back to my old ways of NBA fandom.

And it doesn't hurt when my team is blowing out the defending champs.