Go, Bulls! (Again)

I have had a lot of references to the Bulls in the last few days, but it really has been a magical season so far.  With their win tonight and Boston's loss to the sixers, the Bulls are half a game out of the top seed in the Eastern Conference. In the preseason predictions, most people had the Bulls finishing fourth in the East, well behind Boston, Miami, and Orlando. And I'm sure if you had told people how many games Boozer and Noah would miss, the prediction would have been lower. The success this year is especially amazing because of those injuries. Night after night, however, three things have been pretty consistent: Derrick Rose has come to play, the defensive schemes of Tom Thibodeau have been right on the money, and the bench has done a great job.  

In the list of best point guards, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and Chauncey Biliups were named by the NBA general managers at the start of the season. Biliups was listed on 3.6% of the ballots. So less than 3.6% of the GMs picked Rose as the best point guard in the NBA. Not real surprising, but I think he would probably score higher if the poll were taken now.  As Stacy King says (a lot), "He really is special."

The defense is probably what makes the season so much fun to follow, because defense is a TEAM game.  The players buy into the idea of defense, which is not universally true in the NBA. And the players seem to understand how to play "help" defense. When a switch occurs, most of the time, players are back on their own man before anything bad has happened. That requires effort and basketball intelligence. And the poster child for that is Luol Deng. He is often the second highest scorer on the team, but he works really hard on defense. I especially enjoy seeing Kyle Korver, who is not known for his defensive abilities, running around out there, working hard to defend. That is what Tibs has done as a coach. Players understand that they have to defend if they want to stay on the court (with the possible exception of Boozer, who just doesn't seem to understand how to defend other than by hacking). 

Finally, the bench has been a lot of fun to watch. Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, and Omer Asik are some of my favorite players. They take the minutes they are given and play hard. And lately, they have been doing a larger part of the scoring. Against the Bobcats the other night, the bench scored 51 of the teams 101 points. That's exceptional. And it means more time on the bench for Deng and Rose, who need some rest as we head towards the playoffs. The last few games they have gotten fewer minutes than their average. Now if we could just get the crowd to stop screaming for Scalabrine in the last two minutes of the game.

Tomorrow night, during an extended halftime of the Bulls  - Jazz game at the United Center, the Bulls 20th anniversary of their first championship will be celebrated. Several of the key players will be on hand for the celebration, including Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, and Horace Grant.If the Bulls win, it will be the perfect night: dinner at Wishbone, best halftime show (although the quick change artists are a pretty cool halftime show, too), an evening with Nate and Dana (we'll be thinking of you, Tammy and Mike), and the Bulls tied for first in the East at the end of the game.  I am really looking forward to watching from section 324.   Look for us on TV.