... and make no mistake, right now—the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth, currently holding a two-game lead for the best record in the Eastern Conference and a one-game lead for best record overall ... oh, and 15-2 since the last time I did one of these—"it" is pretty damn good.But with no big blockbuster addition made during the trading deadline and one of the off-season's supposedly key additions, Rip Hamilton, doing an imitation of Greg Oden imitating Mr. Glass, what exactly is supposed to be making us believe the same fate that met this team last season won't once again meet them in another conference finals elimination? This year, there is no magical Derrick Rose for MVP campaign to pin our hopes to, as though one point guard alone could overcome the Big Three from Miami. This year, you'd basically have to be insane not to award LeBron the MVP.
The Bulls did manage to win one game this past quarter against the Heat—without Rose, incredibly enough. And we did get that awesome shirt moment from that game. But still ... there's just the nagging feeling that what we're seeing this year just does not seem significantly improved enough from last year's product to make this fan believe the championship is quite within grasp yet.
