[Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview -ed.]

As the Bulls face Philadelphia, we have completed over 10% of the season. Teams' true selves are emerging.

The 76ers'

The Brand experiment has quickly gone from hype to heartburn.The Philly Daily News reports

Now, the situation has been thrown fully into a blender, as new coach Eddie Jordan doesn't appear to have enough confidence in Brand to have him on the floor in key situations. Brand has not played in the fourth quarter in four of the past five games. In those games, he has averaged only 24 minutes, 7 points and 5.2 rebounds.

A bad move by Stefanski to sign the Duke product? Perhaps.

Too early to tell? Again, perhaps.

This much is obvious: Brand is not the player who came to the Sixers with an average of 20.3 points and 10.2 rebounds in nine NBA seasons. He probably isn't as unproductive as the player who has averaged only 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds a game this season. But he is now 30. And maybe finding his old form after the injuries and at his age just isn't possible.

Brand has not finished games despite being paid almost $15 million. Brand's long-term cancer runs through 2012-13 and is over $18 million dollars 2013. The consequences are a team that likely will struggle until after 2013 with more empty seats in Philly.  Iguodala has been a contributor but Lou Williams and Thadeus Young have not played to the high expectations.  Dalembert is a bust who appears to be impossible to trade.

The Bulls

We have our own issues.  A new Bulls team has begun to emerge.

The good

There is a lot to like. This team plays like professionals. Most of them want to win and are good team players. Except for minor Tyrus issues the culture of this team has gone professional. Points against has gone to 92.9 from 102.5 2008-9.  This is a remarkable improvement. Ball movement seems improved. Noah seems to be the real deal.  Players that really want to win, young talent and an inability to take over games makes Chicago ideal for one of the free 2010 agents.

The bad

Hitting shots! We move the ball; find the open man who is excellent at firing up bricks. The main culprits are Hinrich, Pargo and Salmons shooting .346, 351 and .306. This makes you yearn for BG. Despite the urge I still believe we are and will be better off in the long run not signing BG.

The Ugly

Thankfully we do not have the Steven Jackson, Don Nelson, Allen Iverson, New York Knick lunacy going on. With Deng performing up to his contract and with Hinrich's contract contracting, we really have no long-term horrible deals we need to dump to be competitive. No ugly here - a plus for the franchise.

For those of us who

1. thought Kerr was the dumbest Manger in the NBA,

2. who thought Miami would struggle to make the playoffs,

3. who thought Houston would struggle to win 20 games

4. who thought Sacramento would struggle to win 15 games

We appear way off.

The Philly perspective for tonight's game against the Philadelphia 76ers can be found at Liberty Ballers.  This is a back-to-back for Philly as they got mauled 112 - 90 at home by a Deron Williams less Utah Jazz.  It really would be nice to go on the road 5 -4.

We are young, we took the World Champs to 7 games in a wonderful series, and hopes are high.  We even have a diary that is a Tribute to the 2008-9 Bulls.  We heard this before.  After the 2006-7 49 - 33 season we beat Miami, who were the world champs 4 - 0 and then took a strong Detroit team to 6 games.  Perception for the 2007-8 team did not meet reality.  The reality for 2007-8 was we were were not a good team.  In retrospect, Miami wasn't as good as we thought.  Deng fizzled.  Gordon was an easy target to stop at the end of games.  The great coach Skiles was not as great as we thought.  We finished the 2007-8 season 33 - 49. 

Let me say that I am excited about Rose and loved the way we played against Boston.  However, we were burned in 2007-8 and I am wondering how good we will be 2009-10.  Do I see the Bulls through the tunnel vision of a Bulls fan or objectively?  Here is what I am wondering.

1. If Detroit picks up Boozer will we be better than Detroit?
2. Will we be better than Washington who will have Arenas, Jamison, Butler and Haywood plus a high first round pick? 
3. Will we be better than a healthy Indiana? 
4. Will we be better than a Philadelphia team attempting to integrate Elton Brand again?
5. Will we be better than a Charlotte team that has an excellent coach now with players that fit his system?
6. Will we be better than a Toronto team that played with Calderon injured a significant part of the season and seemed to improve when he returned at the end of the season?  Will Toronto rebound in 2009-10 like the Bulls did this year?
7. Atlanta and Miami seem to be improving.  Do we feel we can leap over these teams?
8. Milwaukee played most of the year without Redd and Bogut.  Will we be better than Milwaukee?
9. How good is the Boston team we played toe-toe?  Are we being fooled by a mediocre Boston team without Garnett like we were against Miami?
10. Unless I am totally off we should be better than NJ and the Knicks.

I remain very hopeful and am really looking forward to next year.  We may be better than the teams listed above.  Rose should improve and if we retain Gordon and Deng returns to the pre- 2007 Deng this could be fun.  However this is a tough league and we will not be the only team that appears on the rise next year.

[Note by your friendly BullsBlogger, 04/09/09 12:50 PM CDT : Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview. -ed.]

How sweet it is - April 9th and we are playing a meaningful game.

TONIGHT'S GAME OUTCOMES

We win tonight-

Philadelphia - We are 1 1/2 games behind Philadephia.  We have an outside chance to overtake Philadelphia.  Here is the kicker.  Philly plays Boston and Cleveland at home, at Cleveland and at Toronto.  Philadelphia will have the tie-breaker because they have the better conference record after the first tie-breaker, head-to-head competition is tied 2-2.  Assuming Philly loses 3 of 4 of their remaining games the Bulls would have to win all 3 remaining games to get the 6th position.  Remote but possible.  Philly falls 1 game behind Miami for the 5th seed.

Detroit - We are 1/2 game ahead of Detroit.  The key game will be Monday at Detroit.  If we win that game the only way we do not make the 7th seed is we lose to both Charlotte and Toronto at home and Detroit wins against NJ at home and Ind and Mia on the road.

Charlotte - Any Charlotte loss or Chicago win we are in.

We lose tonight-

Philadelphia - We have no chance to catch Philly.  Philly is tied with Miami for the 5th seed.

Detroit - We are 1/2 game behind Detroit.  A win Monday at Detroit and winning against Charlotte and Toronto and we are in the 7th seed.  We lose Monday and Detroit must lose there other 3 games and we have to win our other 2 games for us to get the 7th seed..

Charlotte - If Charlotte beats OK tomorrow and the Bulls on Saturday we are at risk of not making the playoffs.  Assuming the above, if Charlotte splits their last two games at NJ and Orl and we split our last two games at Det and Tor then Charlotte makes the playoffs and we go fishing.  This is a real concern.

To me tonight's game has it's main importance to insure we make the playoffs.  That last Charlotte scenario concerns me the most.  We have not played well in our last two games against NJ and the Knicks.  Hopefully being on national TV helps motivate us to play better and win this game.

Keys to Philly tonight -

The 76ers are focused on getting the 5th seed via Philly.com. 

They knew they had an achievable goal to shoot for - a higher seed that would steer them away from the Eastern Conference Bermuda Triangle of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.

And on Saturday, after a victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Sixers were a half-game ahead of the Miami Heat for the fifth seed in the East and a playoff matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.

Instead of stepping up to the occasion, they sank into a hole.

On Sunday, it was a pathetic trip up the Jersey Turnpike and an embarrassing 96-67 loss to the New Jersey Nets, and on Tuesday, the Sixers fell behind by 20 points before losing at Charlotte, 101-98. ........

That's unacceptable.

In our last game with Philly at the old Spectrum 3/13/2009 Thaddeus Young went off for 31 points and Iguodala had 25 in Philly's 104 - 101 win.  Thaddeus Young is out with a right ankle sprain but Willie Green has played well in his place.  Courtesy of Liberty Ballers Tuesday against Charlotte

Bill Green played the best basketball game I've ever seen him play. The Sixers came out of the locker room down 14 points and in the blink of an eye, the lead was cut to three. And It was all thanks to Bill Green. He hustled for loose balls, he hit open shots, including three threes. He played tenacious defense, he gave the team an energy boost, and he set up his teammates beautifully. What? Are we talking about the same Bill Green? Yes. Bill Green played out of his mind tonight, and was mostly responsible for the Sixers furious comeback.

All 3 games against Philly have been close.  We split a back-to-back in 11/30 and 12/2/2008.  We won in overtime at Philly 11/30 103 - 95 and lost at home 12/2 97 - 90.  The 12/2 game is remembered for Rose's 24 points and his crippling crossover on Andre Miller. Andre Miller got revenge 12/2 torching us with 28 points. 

For those having a Passover Seder - they have to sneak peaks at the score while we get out of Egypt.

Blogging with the enemy - Liberty Ballers

TV/radio: 7 p.m. Thursday; TNT, WMVP-AM 1000.

The week that was - out of the muck into the 8th seed:  I'm still basking in our tough, important three game win streak as we prepare to face the Lakers tonight.  Paxson appears to have hit a home run with the Miller - Salmons trade.  Noah, Hinrich, Gordon an all are contributing. The rotation has solidified. 

I had to add this:  After an unbelievable blowout loss at home 121 - 94 to Sacramento the Knicks are reeling.  In today's New York Daily News there is a comment that made me feel we didn't totally get screwed with VDN verses D'Antoni.

Remember911 Mar 21, 2009 7:18:43 AM
Once again, we have the worst coach in the league. No defense and running so much that the team is tired in the 4th quarter. The Knicks are pathetic and so is Donnie Walsh for hiring Mike D'Antoni.

The weeks ahead:  The odds favor the Lakers winning tonight by 4 to 5.5 points via the Vegas Insider.  Assuming Charlotte wins at home against Indiana tonight and we lose, the Bulls will fall to the 9th seed because Charlotte has the tie-breaker.  Monday and Tuesday we are in Washington and Detroit at home. Charlotte plays on Wednesday at Washington.  That gives us a chance to be in the 8th spot even if Charlotte wins Wednesday.  I know many ifs here but I'm just thinking ahead.  Starting next Thursday March 26th we have a big advantage.  Of the last 11 games for Charlotte 7 are on the road with only one easy game, a home game March 28th against the Knicks.  The Bulls finish the last 10 games beginning with Miami at home March 26th.  Of the 10 games 7 are at home and 3 on the road.  All 10 are winnable games. 

Tonight's game:   The last time we defeated the Lakers was December 19th 2006 at home 94 - 89.  Deng scored 23 points on 9 - 16 and BG had 22.  Kobe had 19 points on 6 - 19.  December 18th 2007 we lost at home 103 - 91 in a 4th quarter collapse after being blown out November 17th 2007 in LA 106 - 78.  We lost this year November 18th 2008 in LA 116 - 109.  Rose scored 25 and had 9 assists but it was Gasol with 34 ponts who man-handled the Bulls inside.  Kobe added 21 and Bynum had 18.  It was Gasol who exposed how terrible we were guarding or scoring in the paint.  We are playing possibly the best team in the NBA tonight with, I believe, the best coach in the NBA.  I know we will be out-coached.  The Los Angeles Lakers are ranked 3 on offense, averaging 108.1 points per game. They start a seven game, 13 day road trip with rumblings that despite winning games they are not playing as well as they should be playing.

I believe we last won 4 games in a row March 29th 2007 at home with a 83 - 81 win against Detroit.  It is unlikely it happens tonight but I did not expect them to win 3 straight against NO, Celtics and away at the Thunder.  

Blogging with the enemy:  I may have missed something but the only blog that I could find for the Lakers is Lakers Blog at the LA Times

Game time:  7:30, WGN TV, 1000 espn radio

[Note by your friendly BullsBlogger, 03/14/09 12:05 PM CDT: Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview -ed. ]

Stuck in the muck:  Last night's repeat of the "Bulls Break your Heart" show triggers the myriad of reasons to fire VDN.  Can we have an end-of-game play beyond giving the ball to Rose and letting him drive into Dalambert?  Oh yes we cannot leave out Vinny's ability to stymie the opposition with creative miss-matches.  Where is the adjustments to stop opponents layup parade?  Where is our scheme for an end-of-game lock-down defense?   Where are the creative plays after time outs?  But who replaces VDN?  The only coach I would be confident could make this team better would be Phil Jackson.  Maybe another coach could do the trick but I'm skeptical.  This would be our 4th coach in two years.  To combat my Bulls-induced depression I ruminate about trades. Our resident cap guru Sports2 shows us  how to get under the cap as well as a radical version of a way to succeed.  My hope is Toronto decides they are going no-where with Chris Bosh and is open to a trade.  I think they like Deng.

The silver lining:  We need to get out of our funk and look at the positives.  Noah seems to becoming a player.  Rose is hanging in there and learning.  Salmons has been solid.  In the East the first team to win 31 games makes the payoffs.  NJ and Milwaukee both lost last night.  If we keep losing we are only 1 1/2 games behind to catch indiana for a possible 8th seed in the 2009 draft.  A win tonight and we go ahead of Milwaukee for the last playoff spot.  It is a win-win.

Tonight's game:  The Hornets come to town attempting to revenge a 107-93 Bulls win at New Orleans.  A minor asterick in the Bulls win in New Orleans is that Chris Paul did not play.  We all hope watching Paul is a fast foward of Rose.  The Hornets are getting excited about a possible 3 seed in the West.  So tonight we see another version of a team salivating to play our pathetic Bulls.  We can hope they are overlooking tonight in anticipation of a key game against Houston on Monday.  Hollinger's playoff odds have New Orleans finishing 3rd in the West and the Bulls still in the 8th spot.

Blogging with the enemy:  At the hive is a well done site

TV/radio: 7:30 p.m., Saturday; WGN-Ch. 9, WMVP-AM 1000.