The Bulls face off against a very tough Utah Jazz squad tonight.  It just so happens that the Jazz have won 21 of their last 26 games.  Oh boy.  They're a rougly .500 road team, so that could give you a little hope, but not a lot.  Not against a depleted Bulls squad.

Yet, what I always say is that the NBA is all about matchups.  I look at player matchups before I look at records.  That's how I knew that the Clippers were going to beat the Bulls every single time (when they had Campby).  The matchups against the Jazz aren't horrible.  Derrick Rose and Deron Williams, the two best point guards in the NBA, are about as equal of a matchup as you can get.  Deron is a more consistent shooter and likes to hit it from the arc.  Derrick still can't hit that 3-point shot with any consistency.  In fact, he doesn't even really take that shot at all.  And they both love to take it to the hole due to the combination of their quickness and strength.  Deron Williams is one of the only point guards in the NBA who can come close to matching Derrick's strength.  But I do think Derrick is a more prolific scorer and is a little quicker than Deron.  For the most part, these two will cancel each other out tonight production-wise.  Deron obviously has the edge when it comes to assists, as he's averaging 10.3 assists per game, but I chalk that up to having people around him who can score...mainly Carlos Boozer.  If Derrick had a scorer like that in the post, I can easily see his assist numbers being around 9 or 10 a game.

And believe me, Boozer will have himself a game tonight.  The man is averaging 20 and 11.  I expect him to exceed both of those tonight.  While the Bulls did alright rebounding against a Mavericks team whose best rebounder is Jason Kidd, Boozer can be a beast on the glass.  Taj Gibson is going to make him work a little bit, but that's about all.  There isn't anyone on the Bulls roster right now who's going to keep Boozer off the boards for more than maybe a quarter.  That's not to say that Gibson won't have himself a decent game as well.  I definitely foresee a double-double tonight from Taj, mostly because the Jazz frontcourt isn't exactly a defensive powerhouse.  The best shot-blocker on the team is Andrei Kirilenko, and Taj should definitely be able to shove him around a bit.

But let's not forget about Paul Millsap coming off the bench backing up Boozer.  This guy is no slouch.  He is an effective scorer and a strong rebounder, so Brad/Taj/Hakim (and I suppose Chris Richard) are going to have their work cut out for them pretty much all night, because when Boozer isn't out there, Millsap will be.  That means that the Bulls bench is going to have to come out and produce tonight to match the Jazz's production.  I'm looking at you Flip Murray and Hakim Warrick.  Murray's been in a John Salmons-like slump lately...let's hope he breaks out of it tonight.

There are two other matchups worth watching...

Mehmet Okur vs. Brad Miller.  Both are crafty veterans and can do work on the offensive side of the ball.  As for defense, I give the edge to Brad Miller and his 10 inch vertical.  Brad knows how to play physical and box out.  While Mehmet uses his height to get around 7 boards a game, he doesn't really have a nose for the ball and I definitely think Brad is much more crafty around the glass.  And both like to launch from the arc...but Brad's three point shooting is incredibly streaky. Some night's he's on fire, other night's it looks like he's shooting with his eyes closed.  Tonight...it needs to be the former.

The other interesting matchup will be Luol Deng vs. Kirilenko.  Deng is a big question mark.  He probably had the worst game of his career on Saturday night.  That's not an exaggeration.  Only 6 points and 3 rebounds in 37 minutes.  How is that even possible?  On top of that, he didn't practice yesterday due to flu-like symptoms.  So who knows if he's even available tonight.  If not, I expect James Johnson to have about 12 turnovers tonight, because Kirilenko is very active on defense.  If Deng plays, Kirilenko will have a tough time guarding him because Lu is a tough matchup due to his scoring ability and his length.  But with the knee giving him problems lately and having the flu, who knows what his story will be tonight.  I already can hear the Bulls masses beginning to question his testicular fortitude.

Other than that, I expect absolutely nothing from Kirk Hinrich...and you should too.  He'll have a good shooting night once every 5 or 6 games, but what good is that.  Anyway...he just used up one of his good shooting nights on Saturday in the loss to Dallas, so he's due to take the night off.  Just go out there and don't let Deron take you to the hole...and stop turning your ankles twice a game.

Prediction:  Bulls lose 98-90.  While the matchups are alright, I give the edge to the Jazz mostly due to no one really being able to counter Boozer's production.  Also, Deng being a question-mark doesn't help the Bulls' cause.  If the Bulls do pull off the win, it'll be due to huge nights from Derrick Rose and Brad Miller.  When you're relying on Brad Miller to pull out victories...you can't really hold your breath.  This will be 5 losses in a row, and the Bulls will likely move into the 9th seed by night's end.  Life without Joakim Noah continues...

Okay...I've stopped staring at my new site long enough to actually focus on what's happening to the Bulls right now.  I guess I've sort of been trying not to think about it.  I mean if you think about it, it's fairly depressing.  Just a month ago it looked the Bulls were walking on air after coming off of a 5 game road-winning streak against very tough Western Conference teams.  The squad was really coming together.  Derrick Rose was an All-Star, Luol Deng was playing consistent terrific ball, and Joakim Noah was becoming a force. 

Distant memories. 

The D-Rose spectacular move seen above is the only good thing to come out of this weekend.  The Bulls are now on a 4 game losing streak, mostly due to injuries and a very tough stretch in the schedule.  Joakim Noah...gone...likely for the regular season.  Luol Deng just went 2-8 for 6 points and 3 rebounds in 37 minutes in the loss to Dallas.  Derrick Rose is still playing dominant basketball, but it isn't enough without the other pieces helping him out.  Deng's numbers against the Mavericks are petrifying.  It's tough to say whether that bruised knee is still bothering him, because he played just fine in the previous game, but then he delivered the worst performance of his career on Saturday.  And it was on a night where the Bulls needed his offense more than ever.

I'm going to tell you right now...I'm shocked that the Bulls kept the game close against Dallas on a night where the Mavs shot 56.3% from the field.  That, my friends, is the definition of a clinic.  And it's not as if the Bulls defense was horrible.  On the contrary.  The Bulls did the best that they could, sans a few lapses that allowed Rodrigue Beaubois to have the game of his career.  But they honestly did everything they could against Dirk, Caron, and company.  What's even more amazing about the Mavericks shooting performance was they had absolutely no inside presence whatsoever.  Brendan Haywood, who can be a force in the post against a team like the Bulls, was having back issues and had to sit out.  Pretty much everything they got they got from jumpshooting.  And every player on the Mavericks shot above 50% or higher except for Jason Kidd, who just missed and went 2-6.  In fact, Kidd had 11 rebounds and 15 assists, but only 6 poin

ts on a night where the Mavs scored 122 of them.

See, the Mavs were smart.  On a night where they didn't have Haywood's strong defensive presence in the post, they decided to implement the 2-3 zone defense to keep the Bulls out of the paint.  It did the trick, but had little effect on the Bulls ability to score.  The Bulls had a tremendous shooting night themselves, shooting 52.2% from the field.  I'd have to go back a ways and check, but I believe that was a season high.  And you can thank Derrick Rose for that.  Derrick went 15-22 from the field for 34 points.  The Mavs wanted to keep Derrick out of the paint and force him to shoot jumpshots, which they did, but he was just draining them all night.  But in the end, it was just too much Dirk, Beaubois, and Caron.  Again, Derrick has to do a better job of staying in front of opposing guards.  Rodrigue Beaubois was doing whatever he wanted and he ended up with a career high of 24 points.  Defense is still Derrick's downfall, and it's unfortunately starting to effect the outcome of games.

But the real reason why the Bulls lost was because of Dirk Nowitzki.  He just took over in the 4th quarter.  What he did is the definition of "taking over."  He was unstoppable.  He went 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from the line in the 4th quarter, and he continues to dominate the league in the 4th.  And when you're playing up on a guy with a hand in his face and he's draining shots in your eye...not much you can do.  It was just too much Dirk.

And now the Bulls are back at .500 after being 4 games over, and sit in the 8-seed only half a game up on Charlotte.  And to think, just days ago, they were a half game out of the 5-seed and the Bucks were the 9-seed.  A week later, the Bucks are the 5-seed, 2 games up on the Bulls, and the Bulls are facing the very real prospect of being knocked out of playoff position and maybe missing the playoffs due to a roughed up roster at a time where they're facing nothing but terrific teams.  There's no relief any time soon.  The next 6 games are against Utah at home, then Orlando, Miami, Memphis, and Dallas on the road, and then Cleveland back home.  Are you kidding me?  Honestly...I'm struggling to find a winnable game in there and am honestly praying this doesn't turn into a 10 game losing streak.  That would honestly be a shame if that happened to a team that was really starting to put it all together before injuries made it all come to a crashing halt.  I'm hopeful that the Bulls catch a few breaks and when a couple of those games here and there, but I'm not expecting any miracles.

IS NOW ON

Well, well, well.  Look what we have here.  Some new digs.  Your boy is movin' on up ladies and gentlemen.  Da Bulls' Eye is now apart of the Bloguin Network.

I know, I know.  I just went and revamped my site like a month ago.  Ummm...compared to this...not really.  I can pretty much stare at this new site all day.  And the best part...it's all mine.  I have total control over the content and style of this sick website.  Plus, I'll be making a little side-cash doing something I love, which never hurt anybody.  I really have to give crazy props to Derek Hanson and Dave Kelsey, 2 of the head honchos at Bloguin, for helping put together this ridiculously good looking website.  And I definitely gotta thank Stephen Slesinski, the genius behind Bloguin's banners.  He was able to take my old "logo" and my basic vision for the banner, and he turned it into a piece of art.  As Sidney Deane would say...it's pretty, soooo pretty.

If you don't know about Bloguin, you should.  It's the most content-rich, fastest growing sports blogging network on the internet.  And that's the main reason why Da Bulls' Eye has decided to join up.  It's hard to pass up on an opportunity to become a colleague of some of the greatest NBA blogs on the net, such as the guys from Bust-a-Bucket and Don from With Malice, as well as many many more.  Plus, it gives me the opportunity to talk trash to some die-hard fans from the opposing teams.  Because let's face it...beyond anything else, a sports blogger is a die-hard fan.

I'm really looking forward to writing aside and being surrounded by some truly knowledgeable individuals.  Those of you who know me know I am an extremely competitive individual.  Not that I need the motivation, but having such content-rich blogs on the network will continuously inspire me to bring you the highest quality content with reagrds to the organization we know and love unconditionally, the Chicago Bulls.  Beyond that, I'm also looking forward to the opportunity to bring my content to a larger audience who have been looking for that Chicago Bulls blog with the right combination of passion, razor sharp analysis, and wit.

If you are looking for any of my old articles, they are all available in the Archives section of this site and are sorted by month.  Feel free to register as a user on Bloguin and become a regular, and definitely go ahead and explore the new site as well as bloguin.com.  There's a lot to see.  Thanks.

Enjoy.