Running It Up and Leaving No Doubt

The real Bulls didn't show up when I was at the United Center on Monday. They did tonight however in Charlotte against the NBA-worst Bobcats. With this team struggling lately and Miami looming tomorow, some sort of a boost was needed. Derrick Rose and Luol Deng sat out again, but their services weren't required as Michael Jordan's Bobcats continued their slide into oblivion by losing 100-68.

Neil Funk said in tonight's postgame that Rip Hamilton is officially at 100 percent and the last few games have shown why. In this game, he led all scorers with 22 points and looked a lot like the player he was in Detroit. Let's hope we're finally getting the type of player advertised in him when he arrived in Chicago and this isn't just a string of a few good games. John Lucas III scored 12 points off the bench, so did starter Joakim Noah, who didn't have his patented double-double tonight. Two players did come close though. Omer Asik and Taj Gibson dominated close to the hoop, converting a few slams and nine points each with respective rebounding totals of 15 and 12. And while Carlos Boozer continues to be on pace for his worst scoring season since his rookie year, he chipped in 10 tonight. Personally, I think he's doing all right, but probably because he's started every game, playing two more than he did all last season.

I hope the Bulls learned some valuable lessons from these past few games, which I will now run off. You can't afford to play down to your level of competition when you're trying to secure the top seed in your conference and a talented bunch like Miami is lurking closely behind. When you play the Detroits, Washingtons and Charlottes of the world, you gotta pound and pound away until nothing besides a miracle run in the final few minutes will allow them to come back. Biggest of all, you need to send a message to each and every team in the league that you're trying to win a championship and won't roll over for anybody, with or without your reigning MVP and/or other All-Star.

You know they'll be ready to play Miami at American Airlines Arena tomorrow night. Who knows if Derrick Rose will be able to try and get redemption for his failure to win it there for the Bulls last January. Regardless, emotions will run high and a nationwide TV audience is sure to be entertained. Most important, let the Heat know the top seed is yours and they're not taking it away from you. It'll be tough, but that's what makes it fun to watch.