The Bulls' ninth win in their tenth home game was one of those where they built a cushion, never ran away with the game, but were never really threatened.

Credit the Bucks for coming out strong with a lot of hustle in the Bulls' 107-100 win at the United Center on Friday. They did a lot right in terms of how the players on the court performed. They played with a pace rarely seen by a Scott Skiles squad and attacked the Bulls offense with a Thibs-esque hyper-aggressive help scheme on top of the Skiles-esque glue gun man-pressure. The problem with this modification in Skiles' scheme is that the weak side of the defense just gets too weak. It leaves shooters and cutters open, while big men move out of rebounding position; and the Bulls made the right passes possession after possession, while establishing great positioning in those portions to elongate possessions with second chance points.

The Bucks were without Andrew Bogut, putting more pressure on Drew Gooden to anchor the paint, largely creating Milwaukee's deficiencies in the paint. Brandon Jennings did all he could to prevent Derrick Rose from areas of the court, but the help just wasn't there and -- well -- it's Derrick F'N Rose, FFS:

Rose came out with ferocity and had me not questioning his turf toe, scoring a season-high 34 points on a highly efficient 14-for-24 shooting and getting to the line for ten charity tosses (He bricked four, but whatever). Only three assists, but Milwaukee made it difficult for him to not reward them for half-assing their efforts to close his driving lanes -- relative to the effort necessary to make Rose over-hesitate and start jump passing tot he wrong team.

Oddly enough, it was the Bucks who benefitted from the faster paces of the first and fourth quarters in the halfcourt. The Bulls simply responded by using their size to attack loose balls and their speed to run up the floor, accumulating fastbreak points. When you look at the Bulls' 25 second chance points on their 20 (!!!) offensive rebounds and 56 points in the paint to the Bucks' 42, it's reasonable to wonder why the Bulls didn't win by more.

It was almost the curse they encountered by the combination of running the floor after the Bucks' wealth of bricks (39-for-92, 7-for-24 on 3s, .462 eFG%), slowing them down on following possessions. There were moments where Ronnie Brewer and Carlos Boozer were tossed in just too many directions by Jennings' speed. So even when the help was aggressive, the recovery suffered and sloppy fouls were accumulated by Boozer and Brewer just had too much on his plate to close-out on much taller shooters.

• ENERGY!!!! The Bulls killed the Bucks in the "hustle" categories, proving that the most valuable energy comes from athleticism, talent, and a coach who encourages an opportunistic pace. The Bulls scored 25 points on Milwaukee's 15 turnovers and outscored them 16-8 on fastbreak points, along with dominating the glass.
• Joakim Noah (15 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, three blocks) played like a top-five center. Sure, Bogut wasn't out there, but the fact that Noah so aggressively attacked when he smelled blood in the water was huge progress. Noah's worth is in him evolving from an "energy guy" to someone who'll kick you in your grave when you can't keep up with him. There's a huge difference between the two and the Bulls have made the commitment they've made to him to be the latter. It was refreshing to see him own the paint for eight offensive rebounds in only 33:34, making it feel like he played a lot longer. It makes him seem unstoppable when he handles the ball so well to turn those rebounds into easy buckets, igniting fastbreaks. It adds a dimension to offense when he gets four assists like Friday nights. And when he puts the ball on the floor, it's the difference between being Anderson Varejao and a fullcourt difference-maker with elements the best centers in the game can't handle.
• Boozer deserves a token pat on the back. The defense isn't good and it never will be. Drew Gooden (yes, that one) scored 23 because he went 10-for-10 at the line, but Boozer translated the foul machine aggressiveness that factored in the Bulls' loss to the Pacers into strong shows. Jennings (22 points on 10-for-22) had a crazy start, but only eight points in the final three quarters, largely due to Boozer's shows forcing hesitation; and that's when Jennings brain farts. Booz's D wasn't great, but his efforts forced bad decisions from Bucks' ball handlers, largely contributing to the Bulls' 28-18 third quarter. More important, Booz played more big boy basketball on the offensive end (20 points on 8-for-15), not only grabbing eight defensive rebounds, but five on the offensive end. Nice to see him use his Starman; let's see it in Miami.
• Ronnie Brewer's Starman-only mode isn't cut for Luol Deng minutes. Brewer was strong, but clearly gassed toward the end of the second half and from the mid-third for the duration of the game. He played 43:01 and his shot 2-for-13 in the process. Stephen Jackson was irrelevant partially because of Brewer's ball denial; but Jackson's a lot bigger and the task clearly took a toll, so he eventually got the ball, raising the call of duty for Brewer. With LeBron James on deck for Sunday, this could get ugly. He had a team-high six assists, relieving ball handling pressure from Rose here and there, but lost lift attempting to finish here and there.
• Welcome to the starting lineup, Kyle Korver (nine points on 3-for-9). Now go back to being the bench sniper, please. Richard Hamilton (thigh) was a late scratch, so Korver started. Let's hope I don't have to write that again, mkay? He wasn't awful, the option to kick out to him helped, and he's moving his feet about as intelligent and aggressive as I've ever seen him, contesting shots as well as possible while being foul aversive. The problem is that his best fullcourt game is still bad for a title contender. In other words, Korver's a very good wing player, I'm a huge fan of the hot sauce; but not a player who plays 35-plus minutes on a very good team. With Dwyane Wade on deck for Sunday, this could... well, you know.

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Despite torn ligaments in his left wrist, Luol Deng could return as early as Sunday, when the Bulls face the Heat in Miami, Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting.

With speculation of surgery after the season, there isn't cause for concern that Deng will now suck until he has surgery, as it's his non-shooting hand. But while the injury is so fresh, this injury is being taken lightly if such a swift return is seriously entertained.

That left wrist is needed to max out to do all of those things that Deng does to 'glue' the team together. It's needed to fight for rebounds, establish position off the ball, create space on the dribble drive, attack passing lanes, and set effective screens.

On top of that, how is anyone comfortable with Deng checking a 6'9", 275-pound freak of nature playing the most aggressive basketball of his career in LeBron James on Sunday afternoon?

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Derrick Rose is "telling people he plans to play on Monday" when the Bulls host the Nets at the United Center, K.C. Johnson reported, adding:

As for Rose, he told teammates on Friday in Cleveland he planned to play and didn't. So the morning shootaround could determine if he can play on his sprained big left toe.

In the four games missed by Rose last week, C.J. Watson, John Lucas III, and Mike James combined for 95 points, 40 assists, and 15 turnovers (23.8, 10, and 3.8 per game), shooting a .544 eFG%, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Watson's led the way with three starts, 31.0 MPG, 16.5 PPG, 6.0 APG, shooting a .598 eFG%, averaging 10.3 shots per game and nailing 81% of his 21 trips to the line.

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Derrick Rose sprained his toe during last Tuesday's win in Minnesota, but has missed three of the five games since. He remains day-to-day after missing the MLK Day matinee in Memphis and the following night's game against the Suns due to a potpourri of conditions -- soreness in the big left toe, a "negative reaction" to painkilling medication, and a "sinus cold", K.C. Johnson reports.

Rose has missed just eight games in three-plus seasons. He said Monday he has an "old-school mentality where I don't want to miss any games."

Only Rose and Chris Paul have the Kobe-esque 'fight-to-win competitive edge', according to Kobe Bryant -- as combination of Rose's personality and abilities that are never questioned. Unlike Kobe and Paul, Rose doesn't have that overwhelming wealth of versatile basketball talent, but the three all lack the bodies to sustain the wear, tear, and beatings of NBA seasons. All three are forced to max out every strength in their game every night to pull out victories.

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The Rose-less Bulls were beat pretty soundly in Memphis on Monday afternoon. Not that surprising a result, though maybe the degree of beating was, especially on the boards.

Sam Smith credits some lucky shooting from Memphis, though even he admits that was only part of the problem. Having point guards like Lucas, Watson, and Josh Selby out there no doubt added to the turnovers being so high for both teams. That, and playing at noon.

After a brief reprieve, the fact that Boozer and Noah didn't play 4th again while the Bulls staged a rally is still an issue. And it is, really. Funnily enough, another coach on Monday, Flip Saunders, invoked the Bulls benching strategy as a positive. It's a nice option for a good and deep team like the Bulls, but that it's borne out of necessity from poor play from Boozer (though he started out OK in the 1 quarter I saw Monday) and Noah is the actual issue. And we should have higher standards than the Wizards.

But back to that another day (maybe tonight!). The story is Derrick Rose's toe injury that he played through the weekend but wouldn't allow him to go in Memphis. Rose in his own words:

Rose tested his sprained big left toe during warm-ups and replied "6 or 7" when asked to rate his pain on a 1-10 scale. "Almost every game, I jam it," Rose said. "The way that I play and push off, it hurts. I'm kind of irritated. I want it to go away. But it always finds its way back."

KC Johnson reported that Rose is having bad reactions to the pain medication which is hampering his ability to recover, and the Bulls may hold him out for Tuesday night's home game against Phoenix.

Nick Friedell suggests that with the relatively easy upcoming schedule, it may come to management stepping in with a new recovery timetable that involves missing more games. As we know, Rose himself is Mr. Tough Guy and says that it's "his decision" whether to play or not.

(I believe such pieces like that are meant to make Rose seem admirable, how he 'fumes' at sitting and is willing to risk further injury to play the next game...but it also makes him look kinda silly.)

I don't even quite trust Thibs to make the call, since it sounds like if Rose says he's available to play, Thibs considers him fully 100% to handle a full workload. Against Toronto on Saturday night the Bulls had a 13-15 point lead for the entire final 6 minutes (again, against Toronto) and Rose played the entire time.

The good and timely news from Monday is that CJ Watson not only returned, but played well. Thibodeau had originally said that Watson couldn't return until the Bulls had a practice/shootaround so Watson could test his elbow, but reportedly Watson played some 3-on-3 on Sunday. And I wouldn't be surprised that seeing Rose not playing had Thibs reconsider his guidelines. Everything looked good for Watson though, and it's very fortunate that if Rose needs to miss more time that he's there to pick up some of those minutes from John Lucas III.

Oh, and you can go through all those links and nobody seems to know anything on Rip Hamilton. Rumor had it he was a shooting guard acquisition for the Bulls this offseason, but I'm trying to find confirmation.

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The Bulls handled the Raptors in a 'was there ever any doubt' fashion at the United Center on Saturday night 77-64. Contrary to your initial assumptions, they didn't play under NCAA clock rules.

But if you were watching, you would have the Bulls opponent look very much like an NCAA team -- full of energy but not very skilled, playing zone defense, and a lot of zone defense. The Bulls' defense was strong, but not as great as the 64 points allowed implies; more like Toronto was as bad as their 13-for-29 (44.6%) at the rim and 2-for-8 (25%) from 3-to-9 feet makes you smack your forehead with your palm.

[For more on the Raptors, Raptors HQ should have plenty to say.]

The Andrea Bargnani-less Raptors zone began very statuesque, as opposed to one that was rotating with the ball. The Bulls countered this by flooding sides of the halfcourt and easily finding open players at all ranges. When Derrick Rose (18 points on 7-for-20, 11 assists, three steals, zero turnovers) made move to get reads, it was clear, the zone was meant to be frozen and ready to collapse on Rose; and he found his teammates in spaces like an elite point guard does.

In the second quarter, Toronto's zone shifted more with the ball to force the ball outside and the Bulls couldn't answer this with anything but jumpers and heavily slowing down the game. This made the game dependent on rebounding and better finishing at the rim. The Bulls' are most dominant on the offensive glass, but were only 4-for-11 on second chance attempts [.pdf] on 12 offensive rebounds, keeping the score as low as it was; but when it worked, the Bulls peeled off a game-clinching 9-2, 7-0, and 9-1 runs between the 6:56 mark of the third quarter and 5:09 of the fourth.

Most important, the Bulls were actualized in their deficiencies, as Tom Thibodeau remarked after the game, "We've have one practice since Christmas."

They only had five turnovers and forced the Raptors into a ridiculous 34 shots at 16-to-23 feet from the basket (11-for-34, 32.4%), while only taking 20 themselves (6-for-20, 30%). They stayed patient to allow each other to find the highest percentage space in the Raptors' zone as possible, never quitting on basket cuts. They only shot 52% (13-for-25) at the rim and 6-for-12 at 3-to-9 feet (50%), but didn't let the pace of the game or the Raptors' intentions slip them into foot-self-shooting rhythms of camping out on the perimeter.

• Carlos Boozer (17 points on 8-for-15, 13 rebounds in 34 minutes) came to play. Boozer was 4-for-7 at the rim. (!!!) His first game this season with more than five attempts there. He shot at least seven at the rim in four games of last year's playoffs; Bulls won all four. His 13 rebounds were all on the defensive end, where he showed frequently and effectively and notched a block. That's a level of aggressiveness on both ends that should be sustainable for Boozer. There are things he can and can't do. This game was what he can do, regardless of the opponent.
• Ronnie Brewer continues to hold down the fort. One two points on 1-for-5 shooting with three rebounds and two assists, but no fouls or turnovers. This is the worst you're gonna get from Brewer and it'll never hurt you. Richard Hamilton (groin) has been out over a week now. There are whispers of his return to the rotation on monday, but we're waiting and seeing. C.J. Watson (elbow) also sat with an unclear projection for his return.
• Taj Gibson (11 points on 4-for-9, 12 rebounds in 22 minutes) was perfect for this game. His active feet and ball hawking is the perfect weapon against a zone and a lazy offense. We saw the Boozer-Gibson frontcourt for the last 7:53 of the game we saw in Orlando be very effective. The Bulls were +4 over this span, allowing only six points.

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There were barstool comparisons of this Bulls team to that of 1989 and 1990 around the middle of last season, with the Celtics being the 1989 and 1990 Pistons. If there's a question that the Bulls are better than the 2008-2010 cream of the East Cs, you're facing a bad question.

The Bulls beat the Cs in Boston on Friday night 88-79, but unlike the early season overtime loss of the 2010-11, an early season loss in Boston would've clearly been a loss to a worse team. Friday, the Bulls -- for the first time in a very long time -- expectedly beat an NBA team in Boston.

Luol Deng (21 points on 8-for-17, 2-for-4 on 3s, 16 rebounds) and Derrick Rose (25 points on 9-for-21, seven assists) lit up the box score, but nothing lit up the eyes like Joakim Noah (ten points, 12 rebounds, four blocks), who played a season-high 38:41 after almost two weeks of inconsistent endgame playing time.

The Bulls held Boston to only 32 points in the paint and 13 FTAs on a night where Noah's feet were active, he attacked loose balls and challenged shots, but remained foul-less and chugging up and down the court. It was a night where he showed early he was someone on whom Tom Thibodeau could depend in the Bulls' ninth game in 13 days, against a regarded powerhouse in the league over the previous three seasons.

[Box Score via Hoopdata.com]

After the game, Thibs was asked about Omer Asik and Taj Gibson not getting the fourth quarter minutes; and he responded with overwhelming laughter, "Not enough? Too much? What's next? [...] We really feel the strength of the club is depth up front. Tonight, as well as [Carlos Boozer and Noah] played, Carlos picking up that fourth [foul], you need quality bigs to hold the fort. Omer and Taj, you call on them, they're ready; and they're hard guys to score on. [...] That's the advantage you have with those guys. Some nights you lean more on defense, you may have the lead; some nights, you're struggling to score, you may lean another way. But most cases, it's gonna be Jo and Carlos down the stretch."

Yes, Celtics, you're now what a coach uses to enrich confidence in his struggling starting frontcourt. You know, on one day's rest in their fourth game in five nights.

I'm not one to credit ESPN analysts, and he sells the Bulls short, but there's a point in Jon Barry's postgame statement: "I don't know if we should be more impressed with Chicago or really worried about Boston."

The ship's sailed on "worried about Boston". When out-of-towner national people make statements like this after a team with recent history like the Celtics have been trending the way they have for about the last 9-to-11 months, it's a sign that the new was in and the old was out some time ago. The Cs have issues and the boys at CelticsBlog have to be pissed off enough to say it better than I can. As an admitted (and shameless) Celtic-enthusiast, I'd encourage a dialogue with Cs bloggers instead of being 'a Bulls blogger with negative stuff to say about the Celtics after the Bulls beat the Celtics' because I'm not that and it'd be a more substantial compilation of words; so I'll save that.

For now, I'll just say that they're lucky Carmelo Anthony is ouchy and Al Horford is out for a pretty long time. Otherwise, the prospects of homecourt in the first round of the 2012 playoffs in Boston would look grim.

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The Pistons stayed within single digits of a Bulls team obviously being paced in the first game of three in three nights. Until the fourth quarter where Detroit managed the feat of logging more than 333% more turnovers than field goals, getting outscored 24-9 en route to the Bulls moving up to 8-2 with the 24-point win at the United Center.

Carlos Boozer (23 points on 9-for-13, eight rebounds, one block in 25:32) got open shots all night with defenders sagging off to help and Derrick Rose (22 points on 8-for-16, eight assists in 32:42) consistently found him after baiting the trap. Boozer and Rose both made the Pistons pay for over-committing every way they wanted to apply pressure and Rose was a killer when all attention wasn't given to him.

The Pistons, on the other hand, showed some strong defense with their aggression at times, but they couldn't compensate for what they lack in I.Q. (or experience) and athleticism. Rodney Stuckey out of the game didn't make matters easier and we got a good look at rookie point guard Brandon Knight (13 points on 6-for-10, five rebounds, four turnovers), another John Calipari boy, who's raw but showed promise. Greg Monroe (14 points on 5-for-9, ten rebounds, six assists) probably showed the most promise, playing most of the game at his more natural power forward slot, though he started at center.

And that's about the best I can about that "NBA team's" performance at the United Center on Monday evening.

The fact is that what we've seen in the Bulls' two meetings with the Pistons has to make you wonder how they're as good as 2-7 on the season so far. Or maybe they're out to prove dead clocks are actually right twice a year day. Sad because I do really like their coach, Knight, and Monroe; but.... NAAAAAH, it's the Pistons, so it's lovely they're bad, am I right?!?

• The Bulls weren't great offensively. They only shot 45.9% from the floor and 3-for-18 (18.8%) on 3s for a very average .480 eFG%. The ball moved well and smart though, as 19 of their 34 baskets were assisted (six of the first seven) and the turnovers stayed down (ten).
• When awful offense is your best defense. When you have yourself saying that Ronnie Brewer is doing a hell of a job on Ben Gordon (11 points on 4-for-8, four turnovers in 27:00), that's one thing. When 15 minutes later, you're impressed by the job Kyle Korver is doing on him, you have to hit the smelling salts and realize this is exactly why Gordon doesn't get real playing time on a good team: he's too small and can't handle the ball for someone so small to be on a professional basketball court. Credit Brewer for awesome ball denial and Korver for staying aggressive, but if opponents' best defenders are denying Gordon the ball, Gordon's team has serious problems; and if that team doesn't have serious problems, Gordon doesn't see the floor much.
  
  The Pistons came into the game 29th in ORtg (96.1) and 26 in eFG% (.448), according to Basketball-Reference.com. The Bulls came in with the third-best DRtg (97.6) and in the top ten of eFG% (.465) and ORB% allowed (.248), so the result was about as expected with Detroit shooting 39.4% from the floor for an abysmal .401 eFG%, but only getting slightly out-rebounded 41-37 -- grabbing ten offensive boards to the Bulls' 29 defensive.
• When a vapid game gets comedic. Detroit shot 6-for-20 (30%) in the second quarter and the fourth quarter needed some Benny Hill or calliope music, as Detroit committed ten turnovers while only scoring three buckets, included passing to complete air at least twice in charitable efforts to give souvenirs to fans. Jason Maxiell even managed to not brick one, but two (!!!) dunks.
• Starters got plenty of rest. The Bench Mob got the call for well over half the second quarter and the starters began getting pulled around the 4:00 mark of the fourth quarter. Richard Hamilton (groin) sat again. Rose and Luol Deng (four points on 2-for-12, five rebounds in 33:48) were the only starters to play 30 minutes, while Korver (eight points on 2-for-7, one block in 32:08), Taj Gibson (nine points on 2-for-7, 5-for-6 on FTs, three rebounds, one block in 20:33), and Omer Asik (zero points, seven rebounds, five fouls in 21:53) all received significant playing time as a very strong defensive unit. Brian Scalabrine and Jimmy Butler even got out there for 2:43 and each got a bucket.
  
  Point: no Bulls were pushed to the bone in this one.
• Boozer took A LOT of jumpers. He came into the game shooting 43% on long-2s, but hit 7-of-9 Monday night. They weren't bad looks, but 11 of his 13 shots were jumpers at least ten feet from the basket.
• You just have to love the weeks Brewer's put together to open the season. After scoring 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting in his fifth start for Rip, he's now shooting 53.4% from the field. He missed his only 3-point attempt, bringing his 3P% down to .750; but his eFG% continues to rise, currently at .586 on the year. And the defense is just incredible; to play so aggressive, deny the ball, be a ball hawk, and challenge every shot without fouling is one of the most impressive feat you can get from a perimeter player. The offense is a bonus and it's paying off. (Stats via Basketball-Reference.com)
• The Bulls scored 14 on the Pistons' 18 TOs, 18 fastbreak points in the game, and Tom Thibodeau wants them running more. Since he got here, Thibs has stressed to the team and consistently in press that he wants the team using its defense to create efficient offense: by running the floor on defensive rebounds and turnovers. After the game, he even said he wants the Bulls pushing the pace more after made baskets on the other end, implying the Bulls missed opportunities to catch the Pistons' napping and that's becoming a pattern. I haven't noticed it so much and the Bulls expend so much energy on defense, it doesn't surprise me, but it's something to look for.
• The Bulls were outscored in the paint 28-22. An impressive shutdown by Chicago's interior defense, but only 11 trips to the line in the first three quarters and 22 paint points on the game against a Detroit interior that isn't very intimidating says something. Whether it was pacing for the schedule, laziness, or conserving energy for defense, I can't tell you, but do the math and that's a lot of jumpshots for a Bulls team that's usually bigger than everyone else. [The Bulls took 35 of their 74 shots at least 16 feet from the basket for a .500 eFG% and were only 6-for-13 at the rim. --A.S.]
• Your guess on Rip coming back is as good as mine. He's missed five of the last six games. He's dressing, but he can't get on the floor. The Bulls are built well -- deep enough to wins battles of attrition and stay healthy. Its most important that he's on in March and beyond, but the reps with the teammates need to be there. Hopefully he's in the lineup during this three-game stint.

Monday was the Bulls' fifth game in the last seven days. They're 4-1 in the first five games of nine games in 12 days. They travel to play the Timberwolves in Minnesota Tuesday and come back home to host the Wizards on Wednesday.

Stats via NBA.com [.pdf]; Advanced stats via Hoopdata.com.