So where do the Bulls go now? They've won three in a row, sadly they've just finished one of the two weakest parts of the schedule (the other is the month of April where they only play two teams with records above .500), and they are clearly keeping the coach for the rest of the season. In my mind, I still think they end up at .500 for the year, but my prediction of 45 wins seems pretty lofty at this point. But, the team is finally healthy and even John Salmons is contributing now that he's been moved to the bench so anything is possible. The team should have at least one all-star in Noah. He is without question the second best center in the East behind Dwight Howard. Brook Lopez is solid and better offensively, but the defense, rebounding, and just overall swagger of Noah makes him the back center in my book. I also think Derrick Rose has an outside shot at making it as a back up point guard IF the Bulls continue to win and he dominates in January the same way he's been dominating in the last few weeks. He still has a lot of buzz about him and a big January could put him contention with Mo Williams, Devin Harris etc...
Other NBA Notes...
*I was obviously wrong about T-Mac, but I was right they didn't want him anywhere near the team. T-Mac was "showcased" in 7 minute increments and has now taken a leave from the team because Rick Adelman (one of my favorite coaches) refuses to increase his minutes. I've been tired of McGrady and watching him settle for jump shots for years, so I'm really excited about this. As I said earlier in the year, he'll either be traded or bought out right after the trade deadline. He has a 20 million dollar expiring deal, so there should be plenty of teams interested (Pick up the phone Houston, it's the Hornets) and it might be possible to pick up a pretty talented player for that type of savings.
*I am not as high on the Lakers as I used to be, because Kobe is in serious JACKER mode this year. He's averaging almost 3 shots more per game than he did last season. Kobe fans will see that as a plus, me, not so much. I think this could doom them come playoff and Finals time. The two weaknesses of the Lakers, Derek Fisher sucks (even though he gets away with murder. Like in the x-mas day game where Fisher jumped in front of LeBron who was jogging up the court and FISHER got the foul call! Who gets that? If Fisher is getting calls AGAINST LeBron, clearly he can do whatever he wants.) and when Kobe starts missing in jacker mode, he just keeps shooting. That's why the Celtics beat them two years ago and why a defensive team like the Celtics, Cavs and Spurs could all beat the Lakers.
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