Winning out west

When the Bulls began their annual Disney on Ice road trip with losses to the Warriors and Clippers, nobody blinked an eye. Ever since the Dynasty ended in 1998, the West Coast has been to the Bulls' personal land of the loss. The team went years without winning a game west of Minneapolis, always struggling on the circus trip at the start of the season and this trip right before the All-Star break. (Proof - From 1999-00 through 2008-09, the Bulls went 9-56 on the circus trip) Even in playoff seasons - take last year for example - it was always a United Center-friendly second half push that elevated the Bulls into the East's top eight.

Well it looks like the push is starting early in 2010. The Bulls have rattled off three consecutive road victories following the two California losses, defeating the Suns in Phoenix, the Rockets in Houston and most recently, the Spurs in San Antonio. That's three good wins in four days, a streak that has the team thinking playoffs once again. (They are currently seventh in the East) Derrick Rose is playing the best ball of his career right now and has a good chance to be the first Bull to play on All-Star Sunday since Mike and Scottie 12 years ago. Joakim Noah and Brad Miller have held down the post, Kirk Hinrich has made a successful return to the starting lineup and Luol Deng has shown why the team wouldn't part with him two summers ago for the chance to acquire Kobe Bryant.



Suddenly the Bulls fans no longer have only this summer's free agency period to look forward to; there's actual basketball to divert attention. (As for free agency, I still say Chris Bosh should be priority No. 1, D.Wade 2 and Joe Johnson 3) If Rose keeps playing at this level, if Deng and Hinrich continue to be solid supporting scorers, if Noah can maintain his high energy on defense, if Tyrus Thomas focus' on his play and not his contract and if the front office can pull off one small move (maybe the Aaron Grey trade will be it), I think the Bulls can advance as high as the fifth seed in the conference. Is it likely? No. But stranger things have happened. Like the team winning three consecutive games out west.