Get Us Out of January!

Currently, the United Center is exclusively home to Frozen on Ice.  On a daily basis, the usual home of hoops and hockey is filled with a bunch of young girls singing Let It Go at the top of their lungs.  And boy, the Bulls couldn't be happier to let go of this month.

Take away their three wins to start January and the Bulls went 5-9.  At the same time, Cleveland has caught fire and won nine in a row.  So there's only game in the loss column separating to two clubs.  A Central Division title that once seemed like a formality is suddenly not so certain.

With four days off until their next game in Houston, nobody could use a break more than the Bulls.  While they've brought their A game against the superior teams (San Antonio, Dallas, Golden State), they've looked very disinterested while playing inferior clubs (Utah, Orlando, L.A. Lakers).  Hopefully, all they've done is hit a wall after winning 13 of their previous 15.  But what if it's something more than that?

Has winning against teams below .500 become uninteresting to them?  Have they become so content with their improved offense, they've decided the defense will just come on its own?  Whatever is going on, it's not the sign of a championship club.  All the pieces are in place to make a run this year, but what we've seen lately is not giving us confidence that can happen.

The worst offense by this team is their hearts don't seem to be in it most nights, at least not in the first half.  By the second half, they have to play from behind and go twice as hard to make that ground up.  Despite comebacks against the Lakers and Suns, neither resulted in a win.  There's a lesson in there I think you can figure out.

Many years ago, I used to play the computer game Backyard Basketball.  One way your team could be described was "stacked with talent, but it takes more than that to win in this league."  The sooner the Bulls rediscover that, the better.  I love watching them win games they're supposed to lose, but if you're losing games you're supposed to win, that's a bigger measuring stick.

There's still half the Frozen on Ice trip to go and there's no time like the present to break out of this swoon.  Maybe while the Bulls are back in Chicago for a couple of days, some can take their minds of basketball by taking in the ice show going on at their arena.  Hey, at this point, I'm willing to get them to focus on anything.  If they can sit still for a couple of hours, maybe that will help their attention spans, which will let them know of the danger they'll be in if they don't straighten up.