The Bulls had one of their better five game stretches when they beat two (San Antonio and Miami) of the top six seeds in the league. These statement wins were televised nationally showcasing the team itself; but maybe more importantly the nation was able to see Derrick Rose pump up his MVP resume. The third year player out of Memphis scored a total of 68 points, and dished out 14 assists in the two games (he also started the first All Star game of his career between these must see showdowns).
The 4-1 record is right around where Bulls fans expected them to be after this sequence of games. Unfortunately the team lost a game to an unexpected opponent. In a classic trap game, the Bulls got caught coming out of the All Star break looking ahead to the game the next night against an almost full strength Miami team. Toronto put up 118 points in Joakim Noah’s first game since undergoing surgery in December (coincidentally Noah’s last game before the injury was also against the Raptors). The team north of the border scored the second most points Chicago had allowed all season (New York’s 120 is the leader in the clubhouse).
Noah’s minutes steadily have gone up over the last three games. He showed how dominant a force he can be in the most recent contest at Milwaukee. Playing 33 minutes, he had 17 rebounds. Nine of those boards came on the offensive glass. Luol Deng seems to have benefitted most from Noah’s return. He is as confident as ever, showing that confidence when he made the eventual game-winner against the Heat.
Deng averaged a little more than 20 points a game over the last five games. He led all scorers in two of those games. With the extra attention opposing teams are giving Rose now, Carlos Boozer and Deng need to be that much sharper.
The other big news from the last two weeks is the trade deadline and the decision by the Bulls to stand pat. The Bulls were reportedly in search of a shooting guard, but were unwilling to part with two of their big men that come off the bench. The Houston Rockets asked for rookie Omir Asik in deal for Courtney Lee, while other teams were asking about the availability of power forward Taj Gibson. The Grizzlies turned down a deal that would have sent two first-round picks and Ronnie Brewer to Memphis in exchange for O.J. Mayo.
Rasul Butler is reportedly heading to Chicago after being bought out by the Clippers. The 6’7” shooting guard has a career three-point percentage of 36.1, and was scoring 5 ppg while playing 18 minutes a game while playing for Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see how Butler fits into the rotation. The Bulls already play five guards a game. If Butler can learn Coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive system quickly and knock down some shots, he could certainly take the starting job from incumbent Keith Bogans because of the length he provides.
Looking ahead, Chicago continues the road trip they started in Milwaukee. The Bulls play four more games away from home before returning to the United Center to play New Orleans. As the trip continues the games get tougher. After playing in what should be cake walk against the Wizards, the Bulls play in Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. Both of the games played in the Sunshine State will be on the ESPN family of networks. They’ll play the primetime contest against the Magic Friday night. The showdown with Heat will be the early part of an ABC double-header Sunday afternoon. This could be the chance for the Bulls to take control of the two seed in the Eastern Conference (they’re 1.5 games back of Miami, but are tied in the loss column). Obviously they won’t take the game lightly, but each of the wins against the Heat this year has been at home (and LeBron James didn’t suit up for the first game).
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