A pretty good team in this league.

This

"When the game is on the line, our guys fight for it," said coach Scott Skiles, who blistered his team after Friday night's victory over Atlanta. "I'm not at all embarrassed [over this performance against Detroit]. Right from the beginning, we were here and played hard."

is sweet.

0-7 Crawford

How did Jamal Crawford do in the Bulls Knicks rematch in NYC? He shot 4-14 and was 0-7 from 3 point range. His counterpart, Stephon Marbury, make 8-of-14 shots.

Crawford, a former Bull who missed the last 10 games with right turf toe, settled for eight points on 4-of-14 shooting. He was 0-of-7 from 3-point range.

Wildcard J.Crawford

The Knicks are in a slump with key offensive players injured. One injured play is Jamal Crawford who can score at will. He can also shoot too often. If he's “hot” then he's going to hurt you and help his team but if his shot is off, he'll continue to shoot and hand away the game.

Which Crawford will show up (if any since he's hurt is big toe) on Saturday?

Crawford said he had been looking forward to playing the Bulls, who traded him to the Knicks in September with Williams for four players. But he said that was only one motivating factor to come back now. The Knicks need him.

Another Knicks player is hurt, PF Mike Sweetney. If both Crawford and Sweetney come back and play effectively, this game could be really tough fro the Bulls.

Mike Sweetney, the reserve forward who has missed the last four games because of a sprained right ankle, also practiced Thursday and pointed to the scrimmage Friday as an important test.

"I want to get back, and I want to play," Sweetney said.

Convincing

Something to note: Despite wining four games in a row, Coach Skiles complained that the Bulls were not playing well and cautioned about them getting over confident. He held a hard 2.5 hour practice on Tuesday and afterwards none of the players complained. Wednesday the Bulls demolished the 76ers and took possession of the last playoff spot, 8th seed, in the East.

Looking good but less exciting

The Nets lost and Bulls won.

Da Bulls kept up pace with the high scoring Boston team and had fewer turnovers. O.Harrington
started the game and played very well. This shows how deep the team is this year.

Next up is Philidelpia which is 1.5 games ahead of Chicago for the last playoff spot. Allen
Iverson is small enough to permit the Bulls to play Gordon and Hinrich.

Winning is fun but the stories are not as interesting. It was much more dramatic to read about
players complaining and team pressure when Da Bulls were chronic losers.

=====
Regards,

Joseph

Bulls and Nets both win, Boston next for Bulls

Bulls and NJ Nets both won. Utah has lost 8 in a row. It was nice for Chicago to extend that streak. NJ faces Detroit who beat the Bulls next opponent, Boston.

Yes, Boston and Chicago are both playing back to back games.

At the season's start I picked Boston to do well this year, 4th in the East if I recall. They're not doing that well but they're contending for the playoffs and as a young team, are going to play better as the year goes on (and they stay healthy). Like Chicago, Boston did well in the '04 draft and are a young team albeit with a NBA star in Paul Pierce.

For January, I picked Chicago to lose this upcoming game (I think) but given Boston is also playing a back to back game with a loss to the Pistons, I think they'll be tight and tired. Da Bulls will beat them tomorrow and give me one Mulligan so I can meet my January prediction for wins/loses.

Yardstick #1 (The Nets)

Track Da Bulls and Nets records and power rankings for January.

NJ is ranked #24 11-20

Bulls is ranked #25 11-18.

Does Carter and Kidd's return rejuvenate the team or do they flounder?

If Chicago can go 7-3 in their next 10 games, (as I predicted) then they'll definitely be taken seriously and crack the top 20-15. It's hard for a perennial loser ball-club to climb in the rankings.

January Highlights

1. Detroit January 3rd. The Champs either assert their dominance or lose to a young Bulls team. Which will it be?
   
2. New York Kick's back-to-back 17th and 19th. Issiah thinks his team is much better than the Bulls. Maybe Jamal Crawford's turf-toe will heal in time for these games.
3. January 17th -25th: six games four on the road. Going 500 or better is the goal. Boston on the road is a predicted loss, but maybe if the team continues to mature...
   
4. Homestand: 8th,10th,12th,15th. Da Bulls face Boston, GS, Phillie, & NY. A 500 club can win all four home games.

Prediction for January

12 wins 4 losses. Happy new year!

Jan	Opponent	Prediction	Reality
Sat 1	Orlando	W	W
Mon 3	Detroit	W	L
Wed 5	@ New Orleans	W	W
Fri 7	Utah	W	W
Sat 8	Boston	L (back to back)	W
Mon 10	Golden State	W	W
Wed 12	Philadelphia	W	W
Sat 15	New York	W	W
Mon 17	@ New York	W	W
Wed 19	@ Boston	L	L
Fri 21	Atlanta	W	W
Sat 22	@ Detroit	L	W
Mon 24	@ Atlanta	W
Tue 25	Denver	L (back to back)
Thu 27	Charlotte	W
Sat 29	Boston	W

Prediction for January 12-4