Bulls rolling in the East

The Bulls defeated the Detroit Pistons 99-91 making it 5 wins out their last 6 games. More impressively, they did it without the help of Derrick Rose, who sat out the game with a bruised wrist. They have a two-game lead for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference — the only loss out of the six games coming from the Western Conference's leading team, the Lakers.

Let's give it up to John Paxson for picking up John Salmons. Since joining the Bulls he has averaged 19.7 points per game, and 21.8 ppg in the month of March. Ben Gordon is the team's leading scorer, but I feel like the Bulls have finally found a "go-to" guy. I feel comfortable every time the guy has the ball in his hands. Let's not forget the additions of Brad Miller and Tim Thomas, who have both been making great contributions off the bench putting up double-digit scores in many games.

With only 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Bulls control their own playoff destiny — something I did not think I would be able to say a few moths ago. Only two of the ten teams remaining have a record of above .500 — Miami and Philadelphia. This obviously does not mean easy sailing for the Bulls, who seem to always play well against a really good team and then blow it the next night against one of the league's worst teams.

The most intriguing match-up left on the schedule, believe it or not, is against the Charlotte Bobcats on April 11th. Charlotte is currently two games behind the Bulls in the playoff race and they will face off on the Bulls' third-to-last game of the season. The Bulls play Miami tomorrow night at home.

Photo: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

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Hawkeyes looking to advance in Conference Tournament

Winning conference games is not something the Iowa men’s basketball team has been able to experience many times – now the fate of their season relies on it.

The 10th seeded Hawkeyes will play the 7th seed Michigan today in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament – the loser will see their season end.

Iowa and Michigan split the season series with both teams winning on their home court. Iowa beat Michigan 70-60 in a thrilling game that went into overtime on Feb. 22, but the Hawkeyes have not had much to be proud of this year -- finishing the regular season with a 15-16 overall record and 5-13 in conference.

Even though Iowa has struggled, there are still some fans that will be watching and hoping for the improbable feat of a conference championship.

“I’m meeting some of my friends at a bar to watch the game,” Iowa junior Sam Patterson said. “I think they can win today. They’ve beaten them once already and they’ll be hungry for redemption from last year’s loss.

Michigan defeated Iowa in the first round of last year’s conference tournament by a score of 55-47.

Some students have class during the game, but that isn’t stopping junior Sean Rochambeau, a season ticket holder, from staying updated on the game.

“I have class, but I will be checking the score constantly on my IPod Touch,” he said. “I saw them beat the Wolverines in overtime earlier this year, so I think they can pull off another win against them.”

There are some local students that are not so confident in their home team however.

"I don't see them winning. I don't think their heads are in the right place and they don't have much to play for," Iowa junior Ross Neuman said. "I'll probably watch the game because I don't have anything better to do, but I'll be flipping through the channels to watch other games as well."

With a win against Michigan, the Hawkeyes can at least take something good from a season that has not gone the direction they were hoping. Although winning the tournament is very unrealistic, winning just one game can give the team some momentum going into next season.

Tip-off for the game is 1:30 p.m.in Indianapolis.

Sean Rochambeau, Ross Neuman, Andrea Stroink, Sam Patterson

Bulls take over final playoff spot.....for now

The Bulls have finally grabbed the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night.

After what has seemed like a season that was going nowhere, the Bulls have actually made it so they control their own destiny for the playoffs. Can anyone believe they could make the playoffs with a 29-34 record? Sounds pretty cheap, but that's what you get with the Eastern Conference. And hey, if the Bulls can keep it up, they'll get to play Boston or Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs — that would be fun.

The Bulls have won 3 of their last 4 games and are really looking strong. New acquisition John Salmons put up 21 points for the Bulls in the Milwaukee win — something that he was brought in to do. This is great ews for the Bulls especially with the off and on nature of Luol Deng. If you ask me, I would rather have Salmons running the small forward position than Deng. John Paxson is suddenly not looking so dumb after all.

Ben Gordon has also come on very strong in the last few weeks. I don't understand why everyone thinks the Bulls will let him go at the end of the year. Money might be a factor I guess, but why would you get rid of your leading scorer? I know he doesn't play much defense, but man the guy can put points on the board.

Now how many people thought Vinny Del Negro should be gone at the end of the season a few weeks ago? There might be many that still think that, but if the Bulls ed up making the playoffs, it will be hard to have an argument that the guy can't coach. The Bulls do not have a superstar on their roster that they can rely on to lift them at all times like a Kobe, LeBron, or D-Wade. Yet, Del Negro has gotten them in prime position to make the playoffs. I gotta give it to the guy that he has not been the worst coach in the league this year like many thought.

Photo: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Bulls still trying to find groove, but come up with huge win

After the Bulls dismantled the Orlando Magic 120-102 it looked like Paxson had put together a team that could make a serious playoff run. Two games and two losses later, and they look like the team from a month ago all over again. So what Bulls team was going to show up against Houston on Saturday night? For most of the game it looked like the bad Bulls.

Just when it looked like the Bulls were destined for a third loss in a row, the Bulls outscored the Rockets 23-3 in final 6 minutes of the game to win 105-102. It was one of the most insane comebacks I have seen in a long time. They were down 17 points with 6 minutes left! I still can't believe they pulled out a win.

Once again, Derrick Rose carried the squad in the 4th, scoring 16 of his 22 points in the final period.

The Bulls remain 1 game back from the coveted 8th playoff spot. I don't know how many times this season it has looked like the Bulls season is going to be over, and then they get a huge win, and suddenly they are a few wins from having a playoff spot. I just don't know if they have it in them to make the push they need. They keep getting so close, and then they lose two or three games in a row — falling back into the hole they have dug themselves.

The Bulls have two very winnable games against Charlotte and Golden State before playing Milwaukee — the team who currently holds the 8th playoff spot in the East. If the Bulls can just figure out a way to win those two games before playing the Bucks, that game will have HUGE playoff implications.

Photo: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Red and Stormin' Norman, two Chicago greats die same day

Johnny "Red" Kerr, the former Chicago Bulls coach who spent more than three decades as a broadcaster for the team, died Thursday, Feb. 29th. He was 76.
I couldn't even count the amount of games that I watched that "Red" announced. I definitely will not forget what this voice sounded like any time soon.

His death comes after the Bulls unveiled a statue of Kerr at the United Center during an emotional ceremony earlier in February that included taped messages from President Barack Obama and commissioner David Stern and speeches from Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. Thankfully "Red" was able to experience this well-deserved tribute to him before he passed away.

As if it couldn't get any worse for the Bulls family, Norm Van Lier was found dead in his apartment on the same day. Norm was a star guard for the Bulls in the 70's, but is known by many my age as an analyst on Comcast Sports Net. He was always cracking jokes and had an optimistic attitude during his analysis. I got to meet Norm once at a Northern Illinois University basketball game. He talked to my father and I for close to ten minutes about the most random stuff you could think of. I don't think we even talked about basketball with him.

I guess it just shows that even in death, Bulls stick together.

Photo: Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images