Bulls make unBullievable comeback
By Nick Meyers
IV Leader Sports Writer
It seems like only yesterday that the Chicago Bulls were
set to take on the Utah Jazz the day before Thanksgiving and were looking to
pick up there first win of the season. They were 0-9 and people were already
throwing in the towel nine games into a 82 game season.
I, on the other hand, was sticking to my guns of the fact
that the Bulls would win at least 35 games and make the playoffs. They defeated
the Utah Jazz that night and began to cause havoc in the NBA. Eddy Curry and
Tyson Chandler received reality checks that game by Scott Skiles, who did not
start the two cornerstones of the franchise, and they have responded ever since.
Curry is back in the starting lineup and playing like the
Bulls knew he could. He is running the floor, blocking shots, actually jumping
for rebounds and playing defense.
Yes, I said it, playing defense. Chandler has stated that the
fourth quarter is his time. He is a blocking machine, averaging 3.4 blocks a
game after the 0-9 start. The Bulls are 20-19 right now.
They are tied with Indiana for seventh in the East. The top
eight make the playoffs. The Bulls have a better record than Boston, but Boston
would get the three-seed because they lead the pathetic Atlantic Division.
Why the recent success for the Bulls? Why are they turning
things around suddenly?
That is what I hear everyday by radio, TV, newspaper writers
and fans who haven’t watched the Bulls since Jordan left and want to know why
the Bulls are better now.
The Bulls got rid of a lot trash over the last two years.
They got rid of players who were selfish, didn’t want to play hard or play
defense and people who didn’t buy into Skiles’ system. The Bulls traded Jalen
Rose and Donneyll Marshall last year for Antonio Davis and Jerome Williams. Rose
was a great scorer but a even better cry baby.
This summer they traded shoot first Jamal Crawford and Jerome
Williams to New York for Dikembe Mutumbo and Othella Harrington.
Just days later they traded Mutumbo to Houston for Eric
Piatowski and Addrian Griffin. The last move of the summer that they made was
buying out Eddie Robinson’s contract and letting him go.
The Bulls also have one big advantage on the rest of the NBA.
They don’t have a star player. The Bulls don’t rely on one guy each night like
the Lakers and Kobe or the 76ers and Iverson.
With the Bulls it is somebody different every night. They are
balanced. It could be Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Curry, Harrington,
Andres Nocioni, or Chandler; you just never know.
With the All-Star break coming up, it is safe to say that the
Bulls will make the playoffs.
They will not only make the playoffs but realistically can
compete for the division and get the No. 2 seed in the East. Just to think,
these Bulls started 0-9.
To close, I would like to say to all the doubters, “I told
you so.”