Written by Dave Pustilnik | 25 January 2010

What is going on here?  Is the flu really going to run through every player on the roster?  Do I really have to sit here and read articles about new players having the flu every 3 days?  Hinrich to Salmons to Rose to G-d knows who's next.  If I were Devin Brown, I would avoid this locker room like the plague.  This is a professional basketball team...don't the team doctors have any advanced methods these players can use to avoid being contaminated?  Isn't this the 21st century?  I thought NBA players, of all people, would know about hand sanitizer and staying clear from illnesses.  This is getting ridiculous. If you couldn't guess from the above intro, Derrick Rose now has the flu.  I don't know how he managed to catch it when he knows that 2 other players had it, so he should probably stay clear of John Salmons's 12-inch beard.  I guess the beard is unavoidable.  I'm assuming Derrick will be out tonight with the flu, which obviously pretty much ruins the Bulls' chances of winning this game.  On top of that, Joakim Noah remains injured with plantar fasciitis.  Noah talked about the injury earlier today.

"We'll see how it goes later.  If I can play, I'll play.  I'm going to take a pill, take a shot, do whatever I have to do to try to play. But I took the shot last game and it didn't help and it didn't help at all. And there's no point in trying to go when you know deep inside you're only hurting the team."

Joakim is certainly not pleased, and rightfully so.  The Bulls are in the midst of an impressive two game winning streak on the road, where they beat two very tough Phoenix and Houston teams.  The last thing they need right now are injuries when the team's confidence level is at an all time high.  Joakim also revealed that Brad Miller's knee is been bothering him, so even our reserves are dropping like flies.  I guess we shouldn't expect another Brad Miller Sideshow Circus performance a la Houston a couple nights ago. If Joakim and Derrick both sit, there will be nobody at all who will be able to come close to matching the production of the Spurs' counterparts, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.  Prior to the injuries, the Bulls definitely had a shot at winning, or at least competing on the road.  Now, with even Brad Miller hampered, there's no way the Bulls will be able to match the Spurs' production and depth (Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson were going to be tough matchups even at full strength).  Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons, and Taj Gibson are going to have to play totally out of their minds to keep up with the Spurs. Prediction:  Spurs win 112-93.  Just too much for the Bulls to overcome after all the injuries.  Now if somehow Derrick and Noah manage to play tonight, they certainly won't be at full strength, so it will still be a loss, but maybe less of a blowout.  The key right now is for Derrick and Joakim to get healthy as quickly as physically possible.  The flu goes away in a few days, so obviously I'm more worried about Joakim...so if he needs to take extended time off to get healthy, then he absolutely should as opposed to just playing through pain and preventing the healing to commence and thus hurting the team with lower levels of production for a more extended time period in the process.