I've been more zeroed in on North Central lately, and not really focused as much on Chicago's two teams taking up residence on the West Side... though that's mostly because they haven't been home lately. It's just been kind of interesting to see how these two squads have spent their road trips going in seemingly opposite directions.
The Bulls have been mostly a joy to watch recently, as I'm sure
Geoffy will attest to. You go 6-3 on a road trip, you're in good shape. The bad news is that the Bulls 3 losses came to good teams (Miami, Philly, and Boston). At the same time, you have to take into account that the Bulls have been, like pretty much everyone else, injury ravaged this season. And the scary part is that without some key figures, they're staying competitive with the other contenders in the East. You include Deng in the Miami game, the Bulls probably pull that one out, and with Rose, Boston is likely a win as well. Philly was a little more one-sided, but those losses will happen.
On the positive side, the Bulls are destroying inferior teams, including the NBA record 4 straight road wins by 20 or more. Racking up wins any way you can in this shortened season is a must, and at 23-7, the Bulls are in a great position... especially when you consider that 20 of those 30 games have come on the road. The second half of the season will be more in front of the friendly crowds at the United Center, something Bulls fans should be excited about.
Thank God
Derrick Rose doesn't have any structural damage in his back, otherwise the Bulls would have a reason to worry. Until then, I would say let him rest. They're in good shape and don't need to rush him back in the immediate future.
I wish the news were the same for the other tenants of the Madhouse. It's been a rough go the past month or so. After dropping that home-and-home with Nashville into the All Star Break, the Hawks have been killed on this 9 game road trip of theirs, going 0-5-1 so far. And really, there's no one thing that the Hawks can do to get out of the funk. One night, the offense isn't scoring any goals, the next they're giving up 8 points to one guy. I've had the TV on for parts of a couple games on this trip, and I'll be into it a little bit, only to get really frustrated. This team has shown flashes of brilliance mixed with "WTF" moments. Many fans have called for Coach Q's head or Stan Bowman's head, but not a lot of attention has been paid to the players. They're the ones not executing right now.
That being said, all it takes is one good game for guys to get confidence up. Say tomorrow night in Nashville the Hawks only give up a couple goals in tough situations, but manage to score a time or 2 on timely opportunities and possibly steal one from a division rival. A win can cure everything, but even a tough loss where the team plays well can ignite a fire under the other guys.
I saw a status on Facebook from a guy I went to college with who's a hockey player and a big Hawks fan, and he reminded Hawks fans that this team lost 7 of 9 games in March of 2010... and we all know what happened that season. Granted, the rosters are totally different, but all you need to do is get into the tournament. Once there, anything can happen.
These two teams are going in different directions now, it seems. But both of these teams will play prominently when 30 competing teams get whittled down to 16.
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