The Bulls at the break

Derrick Rose has the Bulls in a good position for a second half push

I thought I’d step away from the unemployment talks to do one of the things I enjoy, talking about basketball. Thus this will be the Bulls mid-season report, in my own words.

The Bulls are 27-8 entering the break, they are a half-game behind the Miami Heat for first in the Eastern Conference. This is their best start since the 96-97 season. That said it hasn’t all be glory for the Bulls. They have suffered numerous injuries and have for the most part played a very easy schedule this far.

They have played a total of 35 games, most in the NBA. Of those 35 games they have played 21 games against teams that would not make the playoffs today. Of the 14 games they have played against playoff teams, they are 8-6, going 4-6 over their last 10 games against playoff teams. Those games have not come easy and injuries have been a factor in every single one of those losses.

Bulls vs Playoff Teams – 2011-12 seasonGameMonth@OppW-LTmOppSMarginNotes1Dec@LALW888714Dec@LACW114101135JanMEMW1046440No Rip6JanATLW76742No Rip8Jan@ORLW978314No Rip9Jan@ATLL94109-15No Rip13Jan@BOSW88799No Rip15Jan@MEML86102-16No Rose, Rip20JanINDL9095-5No Deng, Gibson22Jan@MIAL9397-4No Deng, Watson24Feb@PHIL8298-16No Deng, No Rip25Feb@NYKW1051023No Deng, No Rip30Feb@BOSL9197-6No Rose, Rip32FebBOSW89809No Rose, Rip34FebATLW907911No Rip

As you can see the Bulls have had someone important injured in every game against playoff teams except the first two. Richard Hamilton has had a lingering groin injury since December, Luol Deng has a torn ligament in his non-shooting hand, Watson has had a sprained elbow and now has a concussion. The Bulls most important player, Derrick Rose, has suffered toe injuries and severe chronic back pain.



The Bulls expect to have Hamilton back by March and hopefully have him for the extended playoff run. If the Bulls want to look different than they did last year in the playoffs, they absolutely need Richard Hamilton to score. If he can’t go, teams won’t be scared of Ronnie Brewer at all, nor will a team like Miami get tired chasing a guy like Brewer around. The Bulls need their starting lineup at top notch.

One surprise this season has been the unexpected health of Carlos Boozer. Boozer has had some sort of injury every single season of his career. He has never played a full season. This season Boozer did drop a significant amount of weight, and painted his head black before games. Boozer by no means is a favorite player of mine, I am generally with the crowd that would gladly get rid of him at first glance. However, Boozer can provide for the team in the post and has a nice fade away shot from there as well. But, Boozer does not play defense, and Boozer seemingly lacks offense against the better teams in the league. He also has some fear of dunking lately.

Joakim Noah came into this season with a terrible  start. However over the past month he has been fairly consistent. In February he’s averaged 11.2 ppg, and 10.8 rpg, which is on par with his performance most of last season. So Noah has hit his stride right now. Even finished out the first half with a triple double, the first of his career.

Now onto to defending MVP Derrick Rose. Rose has missed a career high 10 games this season due to various injuries. The Bulls went 7-3 in those games and pretty much put up the same stats as a team without him. They also for the most part played easier teams. The only playoff opponents they played without Rose were Memphis, Boston, and Boston again, and went 1-2 in those games. The Bulls obviously will need Rose to survive the playoffs and advance, they can’t get there without Rose though. Rose, coupled with his injuries, and noticeable less value to the team this year (as they are still winning without him), its pretty safe to say Rose will not defend his MVP this year. Right now, the front-runner for that would have to be LeBron James with Kevin Durant a close second behind him.

Looking forward,the Bulls have a tough schedule ahead of them. The final 32 games will future 20 games against playoff opponent. In the beginning of April, they play 6 straight games against playoff opponent of which include Oklahoma City, Houston, Boston, New York Knicks (2x), and the Miami Heat. Add in they still play Miami three more times, Indiana twice, Philadelphia twice, Orlando twice, and several tough games against top Western Conference teams such as San Antonio and Dallas.

The Eastern Conference right now stands at:

1. Miami

2. Chicago

3. Orlando

4. Philadelphia

5. Indiana

6. Atlanta

7. New York

8. Boston

Miami and Chicago are all buy guaranteed the top 2 spots and would avoid each other until the Eastern Conference Finals. Most think that is enviable to happen anyways. I happen to agree with that assessment.

Orlando or Philadelphia will likely top out third seed unless New York really catches fire. Philly is on a 5 game losing streak right now and New York is 8-2 in their last 10. Indiana as a much improved team this year will likely grab the 4th or 5th seed (depending on division winners and such). That leaves New York, Atlanta, and Boston to fight for the bottom tier. But for all we know New York could catch fire. They are currently 5 games out of 3rd seed, so its not impossible at this moment in time.

If the playoffs started today, the Bulls would face New York. I personally think they’;ll climb and likely be the 6th seed, if not take the division with Linsanity. So its hard to say who the Bulls will face in the 1st round. Personally I see it being Boston or Atlanta. Boston would be an interesting series as it would be about the opposite of the 2009 series, of course will Boston have the fight in them for it? Who knows. It could make things interesting (and tiring) for the Bulls. Then again this is a lockout season, no team will have a cake walk in the first round really (Remember the 1999 season, #8 New York beat #1 Miami).

When all is said and done, the Bulls need to be healthy in March and April and continue to win (obviously). Many of those games against top teams are Sunday afternoon games on ABC. Every single one of them is on the road (I fail to comprehend why the NBA and ABC did not want a home game in Chicago).  So it’ll be interesting to watch, but most importantly, the Bulls need to get healthy, and get healthy fast before the stretch run begins.