Oh, for those up-and-down performances to open the season. The inconsistency was maddening, but at least it came with some wins.

That sure beats a four-game losing streak, which is what the Bulls now have following Sunday night's 82-72 loss to the Lakers.

After getting swept right out of Texas (good riddance to the Lone Star State on so many levels) by Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Chicago could've really used a win over the whiny Phil Jackson and the even whinier Kobe Bryant.

The Bulls finally held a circus trip opponent under 100 points, even limiting Bryant to 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting, but it made no difference. They shot 34 percent from the field and got outscored 20-11 at the free-throw line in a game that featured two dreadful offenses. Unfortunately, the Bulls' was worse.

There's plenty of blame to go around for yesterday's loss. The starting backcourt of Kirk Hinrich and Chris Duhon shot 1-of-12, accounting for four points. Paired with six personal fouls (five by Hinrich), their performances handicapped the Bulls all night.

Luol Deng, who's excelled early on this season, shot 5-of-16 last night, taking several shots from well outside his range. Ben Gordon's had a big-time scoring trip coming off the bench, but shot 3-of-9 against the Lakers and scored just nine points.

Ben Wallace put up some nice numbers (8 points, 12 rebounds in 42 minutes), but 19-year-old Andrew Bynum's were better (12 points, 13 rebounds in 29 minutes). That's problematic for a guy the Bulls brought in to neutralize opposing centers. Tyrus Thomas, meanwhile, went 0-for-5, very much playing the part of the inexperienced, fish-out-of-water rookie.

In a game when the Chicago offense was often reduced to one-on-one play (or worse, one-on-five) and wild shot-clock-beating heaves, working a few more big men into the rotation, like Malik Allen, Michael Sweetney and Viktor Khryapa, might have gotten the Bulls some easier looks. None of those three logged a minute Sunday night.

Yes, the head coach has to accept a little blame for the loss, too.

If the Bulls' season hinges on the performance of the three-headed Allen-Sweetney-Khryapa monster, this team's in a whole heap of trouble. But in a given game, those are all guys capable of providing a little offensive spark.

In a tight, low-scoring game like last night's, a little offense could've been the difference.

Ten games in, Scott Skiles is clearly unsettled on his player rotations. This is nothing new for Skiles, but this season, that dynamic has been further complicated by the eight new players added in the off-season (welcome to professional sports in the 21st century).

In the end, the new blood could very well pay big dividends, but in the here and now, this team's struggling to jell, and it's showing on both ends of the court. The offense is rhythmless; the defense porous.

Before we jump off the deep end, though, let's also keep in mind that the Bulls have now lost road games to four of the top teams in the Western Conference. Dallas and San Antonio in particular figure to battle for the conference title.

If you check out the current NBA standings, you'll see that the Bulls aren't the only Eastern Conference team struggling against the West.

The past couple years, the East seemed to have closed the conference talent gap considerably, but early this season, it looks like that gulf has widened again. It doesn't excuse the Bulls' losses, or the manner in which those losses are coming, but along with the many new faces, it does something to explain what's going on here.

The Bulls may very well have the firepower to compete in the East, but on this swing out west, wins were never going to come easily. That's the curse of the circus trip, especially with a new-look team that hasn't had much time to find itself. The competition is as tough as it gets, and at this point, the Bulls don't seem ready for it.

Fans have to hope this doesn’t mean Skiles & Co. will spend the next four or five months just trying to settle in. They've taken us down that road before.