I just realized that the Bulls have played both of this season's games against the Spurs already, and I totally forgot to put up this picture of MANNUU!!:

That picture is even more cool after seeing him go beserk in the game last week.

Ugh, The Life of a Blogger I had a nice post all ready to go, and lost it all. So you will never get to read what golden words were about to be posted. Oh well. :( to summarize: -Bulls win in Orlando, behind 26 3-point attempts and 9 free throw attempts, which is not a good way to do things. Kendall Gill was the obvious star of the game with 29 points, but Kirk Hinrich is consistently playing fantastic ball. Oh, and E-Rob hurt is ankle. -The team puts up 25 points in the first half against Detroit, but still manages to only lose by 4. Every paper labels them 'scrappy', which irks me as saying they're not very good. Had to give Rick Brunson, Chris Jefferies, and Linton Johnson way too many minutes (i.e. more than 0). Conclusion: The win at Orlando was nice, and a win at Detroit would have had me going through hoops. Not because they're signs of progress, but any game that the Bulls win in the next month with so many of their contributors injured is a gift. Just try and stay the course until these guys come back, and they can start winning games in bunches. I really believe that. As much as i hate the term 'scrappy', its better than lifeless, which is a nod to coach Skiles and the work he's done so far. Saturday's game at home against the Cavs is another one that the Bulls need to win if they're going to stay afloat with this undermanned roster. Corie Blount is expected to be back, and I assume Robinson as well, although I haven't heard an update on his status. But to show the true story of the season, look at the bench for that game: Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jay Williams (yes he'll be there saturday), and Scottie Pippen. As my Dad said, "that's going to be a lot of expensive suits". Even with practically the franchise's entire future sitting out, Crawford, Hinrich, and the role players should be expected to play as hard as they have been lately and get this win. It looks like the most important teammate of all this month will be the schedule.

Man, What the Hell Was I Thinking??? Here's what I said on Friday:

And with Pippen out now at least a month, its E-Rob's time to shine. He's actually been playing pretty well so far this year, but will get a major minutes boost from the 20 he's been averaging thus far. Consider it an opportunity to finally see what he can do.

Since then, there have been 2 games, a loss at Milwaukee (how, I don't know), and then a shocking win at home against the league-leading Pacers. Here's the E-Rob resurrection stat line:

@Milwaukee: 3min, 0pts, 0 rebs, 0ast Indiana: DNP

Impressive huh? I couldn't have been more wrong about ERob's minutes, since they've actually plummeted since Pippen had surgery. Here's what was in the Herald:

Eddie Robinson has played a total of three minutes in the two games since he let Spurs guard Manu Ginobili shake loose and bury 3 straight 3-point baskets late in a loss last Monday. But coach Scott Skiles wanted to make it clear that the defensive lapse against Ginobili is not why Robinson has stayed on the bench. "I made a point when I came here of telling everyone that I not only base things on what they do in the game," Skiles said. "I base it on coming early, staying late, working on their games, knowing what we're supposed to be doing. There are other reasons I may or may not be playing somebody besides just one thing that happens in a game." For the record, Robinson rarely stays after practice for extra work.

Yeah, He was the one guarding Ginobili when he went on that 4th quarter rampage in their game last week. But who in the league can stop MANNUUU!!! Point is, I believe Skiles when he says it wasn't the reason for Robinson's lack of play lately. At least I want to believe him, because that would be the kind of knee-jerk reaction I'd expect from Bill Cartwright. So apparently it took Robinson a little over a week to get his new coach doubting him. Great work. So who was exactly playing at the forward spot while E-Rob was counting his millions on the bench?? Why its our old friend Marcus Fizer!! Well..MY old friend, since most Bulls' fans hate him. Look at what he's been up to lately:

@Milwaukee: 30min 19pts 5rebs 3ast Indiana: 37min 15pts 15rebs 2ast

This whole year I thought Fizer hadn't been playing minutes because his knee couldn't handle it yet, since I know the man can play when healthy. I still think he's a great guy to have off the bench for some inside scoring (and who doesn't need that). More bad news for that lineup though, since its possible that Curry may miss tonight's game (or as NBA.com now says, 2-4 weeks!!!) against the Magic due to a bruised knee suffered in the Indiana game. Corie Blount is also out till the weekend. So that leaves 3 guys to take up major minutes: Davis, JYD, and Fizer. I think that frontcourt could shatter the NBA record for offensive fouls in a game. So look out for that. Missing Curry tonight could really hurt, since the Magic get torched by everyone inside, the kind of defense that Eddy scores at will on (the kind of defense that Eddy isn't scared of). The new starting backcourt of Hinrich and Crawford is really playing well together, so it would be nice to see some momentum from them carried into this game along with any help possible inside. This game begs for a win. But fear not on the injury front, because Rick Brunson is back in town!! start the Grant Park rally. He was traded for Roger Mason Jr., in what was the worst kept secret in the league. Add Mason to the list with fellow 2002 draft pick Lonny Baxter, guys that Bulls fans loved to say 'give them a chance', which they never got it, probably because they're not very good. Hm....I can't remember anyone ever saying 'give Dalibor Bagaric a chance!' . Oh well, I doubt Mason will get minutes with the Raptors either, but good luck to him regardless. All kidding aside, if Curry is really out 2-4 weeks to go along with Chandler and Pippen, this could be a bad bad month. But the Magic are terrible, so lets get a win! UPDATE: well....I guess this is as official as you can get.

I wouldn't want to keep you all worried just saying i'll be back tommorow. -Matt