After missing 30 games with a thumb injury, Joakim Noah will make his return to the Bulls’ lineup Wednesday night against the Raptors. Behind MVP caliber play from Derrick Rose, the Bulls went a very impressive 22-8 in Noah’s absence. Despite dealing with injury problems to both Noah and Carlos Boozer, the Bulls are very much within striking distance of the Celtics and Heat in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bulls are only two games out of the top spot in the East.
Now that the Bulls will be at full strength with their best rebounder and defensive player in the lineup, the team is primed to go into the playoffs with a full head of steam. What is even more intriguing about the Bulls situation is despite only being two games back in the standings, they really have no pressure like their counterparts in the Eastern Conference.
Anything less than a championship for Boston will be considered a failure, and the Heat have more pressure to win than any team in recent memory. If the Bulls get knocked off by the Heat or Celtics in the playoffs it will have been expected. Therefore, the team will be going into this postseason playing with house money so to speak. In addition, with Carmelo Anthony being traded to the Knicks on Monday, the team may fall even farther off the radar in the Eastern Conference as the playoffs get closer.
The Bulls have a very promising nucleus for years to come. They have a rising, defensive minded coach, a team leader/MVP candidate/game changer in Derrick Rose and two stud post players in Noah and Boozer. While the players surrounding Noah, Rose and Boozer have not been awful, they are certainly the team’s biggest question mark heading into the postseason. With the trade deadline looming this Thursday, the team may be looking to trade for a perimeter player/slasher who can provide consistent scoring in the backcourt to lift some of the pressure off Derrick Rose.
The Bulls face the Heat this Thursday night in a nationally televised game on TNT. Whether the Bulls win or lose, most of the attention after the game will be surrounding the Heat’s big win, or if Dwyane Wade’s creaky ankle had anything to do with the team losing. For the Bulls that is OK. They don’t strike me as a group that needs to be in the limelight 24/7. However, opponents better grab the Bulls by the horns now. Otherwise, come this spring they could be taking the playoffs by storm.
Joshua Sexton is a lifelong basketball fanatic, who watches as many games as possible. In addition, He has played and coached the game at the high school level. He has recently started writing about the game of basketball.
