Ouch. This could get ugly. Tue 16 @ Houston W Wed 17 @ San Antonio L Fri 19 @ Dallas L Tue 23 @ LA Lakers L Wed 24 @ Phoenix L Fri 26 @ Denver W Sat 27 @ Sacramento W Wed 01 vs Orlando L Fri 03 @ Boston L Sat 04 vs Houston W Mon 06 vs Oklahoma City L Wed 08 @ Cleveland W Fri 10 vs LA Lakers L My very optimistic scenario: 5-8
Tue 16 @ Houston W Wed 17 @ San Antonio W Fri 19 @ Dallas L Tue 23 @ LA Lakers L Wed 24 @ Phoenix L Fri 26 @ Denver L Sat 27 @ Sacramento W Wed 01 vs Orlando L Fri 03 @ Boston W Sat 04 vs Houston L Mon 06 vs Oklahoma City W Wed 08 @ Cleveland W Fri 10 vs LA Lakers W Boozer gets back towards the end of the circus trip. None of those teams is playing exceptional basketball right now and all are beatable.
Tue 16 @ Houston doom Wed 17 @ San Antonio gloom Fri 19 @ Dallas doom Tue 23 @ LA Lakers doom and gloom Wed 24 @ Phoenix doom Fri 26 @ Denver gloom Sat 27 @ Sacramento doom Wed 01 vs Orlando gloom Fri 03 @ Boston doom and gloom Sat 04 vs Houston Mon 06 vs Oklahoma City doom Wed 08 @ Cleveland gloom Fri 10 vs LA Lakers doom and gloom
Looks like you may hit it perfectly. You have the bulls winning four of the next five, and predicted one less victory on the road trip.
If the bulls beat Orlando and Boston this week, they are the best team in the East, at least right now.
Hard to argue with that. I'm really mixed on Boozer coming back for the Orlando game. Part of me wanted him out on the court two weeks ago, and the other part is convinced that these games absolutely do not matter and he's best taking more time than he needs.
My prediction of 5-8 doesn't look that far off right now. I called it optimistic before the trip, so I don't see why I shouldn't consider that a positive outcome for this stretch. It's going to take time to work Boozer into the mix, and Paxson has to, has to, has to, find some way to parlay Taj into a starting shooting guard.
I'd take a bow if I got more of the matchups right. They beat the teams they should have beaten. The only impressive win on the list is Dallas. They were manhandled by Orlando and San Antonio in the second half, and took a step back against Boston. As great as Rose was in closing, he's still got a few things to learn about getting the team going in the right direction early. I think he'll get it, but game management is the thing that is keeping this team from being elite.
