Flickr Photo via Keith Allison

Immediately after the Bulls completed their Game 5 meltdown in the final minutes against the Miami Heat, the questions began to turn from “what went wrong?” to ideas of how the Bulls can improve heading into next season, whenever that might be.

And with the Bulls being in the big market they are, those questions instantly turned to perhaps the biggest name entering the trade rumors and free agency next summer: Dwight Howard.

We all know about Dwight Howard and how good he has been for the Orlando Magic the last few years. Really the last big star to enter the draft straight out of high school, Howard finished second in the MVP voting behind Chicago’s own Derrick Rose. A beast on the boards, Howard averaged just over 14 boards a game to go along with his nearly 23 points for a Magic squad that surprisingly got bounced in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks.

Howard has been in the league since the 2004-05 season, and has played in all 82 games in all but two of those years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was injured in those other two. Howard has had multiple issues with picking up technicals, including one late this season for a free throw violation, in which he tossed the ball away from the official and picked up his 18th technical, and a one-game suspension.

That seems to be one of the only drawbacks of being able to acquire a guy like Howard, who definitely seems like a guy of good character on and off the court, despite the technicals he picks up seemingly every other day.

Trade rumors are certain to swirl around the Orlando big man this offseason, due to the fact that he’s set to become a free agent following the 2011-2012 season, the Magic want to make sure they are able to acquire something for him and are not left empty-handed a la Cleveland.

Los Angeles has already been mentioned as a prime destination for the big man, with Andrew Bynum being mentioned as a possible trade chip in such a deal, whether a straight trade or a sign-and-trade. However, it remains to be seen if Howard would want to play with an aging Kobe Bryant, especially after the season.

The Knicks have also been mentioned, but Amar’e Stoudemire was already rumored to like being the go-to guy too much in New York before they acquired Carmelo Anthony, so adding another big statistical presence seems like a bad idea for the Knicks.

Enter the Chicago Bulls. They have the picks, they have the young talent, all that remains is whether or not they’re willing to part with some of that to acquire Howard.

If the Bulls were to enter into such a discussion with the Magic, Taj Gibson would almost certainly be a focal point for the Magic, especially after a solid postseason from the young forward out of USC. However, if the Bulls have any ideas about dumping Carlos Boozer, Gibson becomes the starter at that forward spot.

At the end of the day, is it a possibility that the Bulls acquire Howard? Sure, anything is possible, especially in today’s NBA. But is it likely? That’s the real question. With guys like Gibson and Omer Asik showing their worth to the Bulls this season, these guys have made Chicago more weary about dealing them, even when they seemed like sure trade chips this past summer.

While a move for Dwight Howard could very easily be the move that puts the Bulls over the top, it remains unlikely that they’ll be able to acquire him this summer, unless they are able to work out a deal that the Magic like, without compromising the roster that won them 62 games this season.

A combination of Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard would be a dream for Bulls fans, and could be the perfect formula to knock off the Miami Heat, but for fans it will likely remain just that: a dream.

I understand this is a brash statement early in the season and the NBA is full of players who are contending for the award, but by the time the trophy has been molded to shape and the name plate inscripted, Rose will clarify himself as the best player in the league.

Rose led the Bulls to a 9-6 record in the first 15 games of the season and was on top of each box score in everything but rebounds and blocks, although he has those on his season stat board as well. Since then, Chicago is the third best team in the Eastern Conference with a 16-9 record, including a seven game win streak.

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Unlike Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, Rose is ranked in the top 10 of the league’s assist men without having a team full of future hall of famers or pinpoint shooters. Rose isn’t working with historical 3-point shooter Ray Allen or Paul Pierce, who is one of the most physical offensive threats in the NBA, but with a roster full of defensive-minded players. Kyle Korver is the only true shooter the Bulls have and he doesn’t get more than 23 minutes per game because he doesn’t play defense coach Tom Thibodeau’s way.

Though Carlos Boozer is now back from injury and playing well, when the Bulls are running the court Rose has to either hope someone is under the basket or take it himself, because a spot shooter is not an option.

Rose is averaging 25 points a game which was fourth-highest in the league, but the efforts of the Dallas Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki and the Golden State Warrior’s Manta Ellis have slid him to sixth. Ellis is doing nothing but scoring while his team is the third worst in the Western Conference with a 8-19 record. On the other hand, Nowitzki has been playing around the similar level of play he was when he won the MVP for the 2006-07 season.

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Chicago defeated the Mavericks 88-83 Nov. 19 even with Dirk scoring 36 points and beat the Warriors handily12-90 Nov. 11.

The other three ahead of him–Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Durant–are all realistic MVP candidates and most likely on the watch list ahead of Rose. But Kobe will slow down as the season goes on similar to last year, Stoudemire’s defensive weakness will haunt him and Durant doesn’t do much more than shoot the ball and grab a few rebounds.

Against the Lakers Dec. 10, Rose out shined everyone under the LA sun including the king of all NBA stars, Kobe Bryant as Rose went for 29 points and nine assists while Bryant had 23 and seven. There isn’t much of a difference, but the extra six points Rose scored compared to Kobe gave the Bulls a 88-84 victory.

Every layup Rose attempted, whether it went through the twine or bounced off the rim could have made any highlight reel because of the show of talent and beauty each one of them possessed.

Rose is scoring high, assisting high and leading a team everyone wrote off or gave a small chance to be successful this season. If a game is tied in the late stages or a buzzer beater needs to be hit to win in overtime–see the Houston Rockets game Dec. 4–Rose steps up and gets the W.

The New York Knicks are in sixth place but would be out of the playoffs without Stoudemire, while the Oklahoma City Thunder are coasting only because of Durant.

Without Rose, the Bulls would be in the basement of the NBA and no one would be talking about them doing anything except firing one coach and hiring another.

Although the Thunder are in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 19-9 record, they fell to the Bulls December 6.

Rose and the Bulls are almost unbeatable at the United Center (10-3), which isn’t even the arena Rose has shined in the most. During the seven-games-in-11-days west coast road trip in mid-November, he played in six games and had 30 or more points in five of them.

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Since then he has continued to attack opposing defenses with the same tenacity, which has given him consistent numbers the entire season. The Los Angeles Clippers may have defeated the Bulls 100-99 Saturday, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort from Rose, who understands everyone has to step up their game since Joakim Noah is out of the lineup for 8-to-10 weeks to recover from a surgery he had to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb.

Without the big man in the middle, Rose realized he had to take the hoop to the basket more to get open looks for others or to simply bring the defense inside to give the outside some breathing room. He had game highs with 34 points and eight assists while also grabbing six rebounds.

I could write all-day about Rose’s great play and how he deserves more recognition then he receives around the league but I think it can all be summed up by stating…The All-Star who is soon to be labeled a superstar is putting up top NBA numbers and making his team, full of marginal role players, put up better numbers while earning victories against other MVP candidates.

This makes him a top MVP vote getter in my book.

Jackson won six NBA championships in Chicago and five, still counting, in Los Angeles, but there are reasons to believe in his heart he would side with the red and black over the purple and gold.

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Jackson said in his interview he had trust in Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to continually come back to the team and put up hall of fame numbers. Besides the two superstars, players such as John Paxson, Horace Grant and Toni Kukoc came to Chicago and stayed there for most of their careers.

In Los Angeles, everyone remembers the Shaquille O’Neal debacle and the struggles the Lakers went through from the time he left until they won another championship two seasons ago. O’Neal isn’t the only one to come and go in Los Angeles, even Derek Fisher left for a season and then came back. Kobe Bryant and Fisher are the only two people on this team who helped the Lakers win the three-peat from 2000-03.

Yes, 2003 to 2009 is six years compared to the three years in-between Chicago’s first three-peat and fourth title and the NBA seems to age knees and feet quickly, but the entire team was changed, not just a few members.

A few players were different in Chicago from season to season, but Jackson still had his solid core, his Chicago Bull family. The only players he could say that about in Laker land is Bryant and Fisher.

In Chicago, Jackson was healthy for the most part, while he has had to take leave of absences with the Lakers, including an entire season in 2005-06. Everyone remembers their youthful days while trying to push the elderly ones out of memory.

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The Bulls made Jackson what he is today and what he was in 1999 when the Lakers signed him. If he would have been a bust with the Bulls and wouldn’t have won six championships with the likes of Michael Jordan, do you think Laker owner Jerry Buss would bring him to Los Angeles to work with Bryant and  O’Neal?

No way. Jackson had proved he could work with star talent and mold the right role players around them to win.

He went to Los Angeles and did the same thing he did in Chicago, a little different, but rather similar. Without the experience in Chicago on his resume, he wouldn’t have received the job to help him win five championships to add to the six in Chicago making him the all-time NBA ring barer with 11.

Jackson has done great things for the Lakers, but he did it for a city which already knew what winning championships was about. The Bulls hadn’t won a championship in it’s 25-year existence until Jackson, Jordan and Pippen made it happen.

It just seems to me as taking a team from nothing to one of the best teams in history is a more valuable honor than taking a team considered as one of the two best franchises in history to more championship parades.

The Bulls hung in the game against the Lakers and at times looked as if they could pull out a win as Rose continually drove to the hoop and Noah set up shop in the low post. Rose’s acrobatic layups looked highlight reel material even if they didn’t go in.

But in the end, the game came down to the Laker’s bench hitting daggers while the Bulls bench threw sporks.

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Shannon Brown was a hitman in the first half scoring 18 points off of 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point line. He finished the game tied with Lamar Odom for the top scoring Laker with 21 points.

Matt Barnes added 10 points and Steve Blake had six points, with both of them hitting three-point baskets in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers a 12 point lead, which was their biggest lead of the game.

While Brown, Barnes and Blake where helping the Lakers, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Omer Asik did nothing offensively for the Bulls. Brewer led the bench with six points.

In the three shooting guard system coach Tom Thibodeau is attempting to run with the Bulls, Brewer, Korver and starter Keith Bogans collectively went 3-of-15 from the field scoring six, two and three points. This could have been another reason why the Bulls didn’t win, they’re weak at the two guard, but it’s been this way since the season started.

Besides the Lakers bench destroying the Bulls, Chicago helped the Lakers jump out to an early lead by turning the ball over 10 times by mid-second quarter. The Lakers are a great transition team, especially if they get the ball gift wrapped as the Bulls were doing. Although, they finished with 13, only one more than the Lakers, the early errors allowed L.A. to jump ahead and force Chicago to play catch up the entire game.

As mentioned above, Rose, Noah, Gibson and Luol Deng, not mentioned above had solid games. Rose scored 30 points for the third time in four games and had eight assists. Noah and Gibson had double-double with 19 points-13 rebound and 16 points-13 rebounds. Gibson was listed as day-to-day with a foot issue, but no one could tell during Tuesday’s game. Deng had 13 points, with 12 of them in the first half, which was a spark the Bulls needed against Brown’s constant offense.

Pau Gasol had a bad game for the Lakers with 12 points off 3-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe; he also had 11 rebounds. Kobe Bryant had 20 points and five assists.

This win is the seventh consecutive game the Lakers have defeated the Bulls dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Chicago is 2-2 during their annual mid-November west coast road trip with three games left to play against the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings, while the Lakers have won five consecutive games.

Although, the Bulls have been playing solid basketball, they’ll have to step it up to another level to hang with the Lakers in Los Angeles, where Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and Shannon Brown are apostles to their God known as Kobe Bryant.

Red and black are the colors of anti-God aka anti-Lakers.

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Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to call Bulls players satan, but when it comes to basketball and Tuesday’s game, they have to be the spoiler of all things good in L.A.

Gasol is arguably the best scoring low-post player in the NBA and is forming a great duo with Bryant, with this year being the best the two have played together since Gasol came to the Lakers in 2007. Joakim Noah has to be on the top of his defensive game, because honestly no one else on the Bulls roster has a chance with Gasol, except for Noah.

Besides defense, Noah has to grab 13-to-15 rebounds, because Gasol is a similar type of vacuum as he is averaging 12 rebounds a game to Noah’s 13.

Taj Gibson missed practice on Monday and is going to a foot specialist to see what is wrong and is listed as day-to-day for the Bulls while the Lakers are still missing Andrew Bynum, who hasn’t played a game this season because of his knee.

If Bynum was in the game, the Bulls may not have a chance; the chance of winning still isn’t huge but better.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has to be worried about the Bulls transition defense because the Lakers are one of the best fast break teams in the league because they have great decision makers in Fisher and Bryant, and big men who run the floor such as Gasol and Odom.

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Odom can honestly play positions 1-5, which is a major match-up problem for the Bulls.

Derrick Rose should be able to D-up Fisher and should have even more success on offense as long as he can deal with Steve Blake and Brown, who will probably take defensive possessions against him. Rose will have to have 25-to-30 points if the Bulls are going to win.

Last but not least, Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer have to be in Bryant’s face at all times. I know it’s easier said then done, but they’re good defense players and are Chicago’s only chance of slowing Bryant down.

Luol Deng led the way with a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds, as all five starters scored in double-digits and had at least one steal and block. In general, the Bulls bone stomped the Warriors in every aspect of the game.

In other games around the NBA on Thursday, the Boston Celtics manhandled the Miami Heat once again. The final score was 112-107, but it only became close in the late minutes with a Heat run, but other than that, the Celtics owned the Heat from the time the ball was jumped. Boston’s Ray Allen scored 35 points including his gift to hit seven three-pointers , while Rajon Rondo dished out 16 assists as he continues to lead the league in assists per game with 14.9.

Boston’s record doesn’t matter, but the Heat who put together a superstar threesome in Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh fell to 5-4 to have all my co-workers, Facebook pals and other bloggers laughing at Miami.

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The good thing is, I picked the Celtics to win because I remembered how they dominated the Heat in the paint and there is no one on the Miami roster who can contain Rondo from setting up everyone on his team.

Also, the New Orleans Hornets are the only undefeated team in the NBA as the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets 118-112. Carmelo Anthony continues to dominate against any defensive player or team he wishes as he scored 32 points to led his team. Kobe Bryant also did his thing, scoring 34 points in the defeat.

Let’s see how my NBA picks worked out for Thursday and set some for Friday.

THURSDAY’S PICKS

Chicago Bulls beat Golden State Warriors 120-90…Right, the Bulls played almost a flawless game.

Boston Celtics beat Miami Heat 112-107…Right, the Heat have no answers for the Boston Celtics.

Denver Nuggets beat Los Angeles Lakers 118-112…Wrong, the Nuggets had been struggling while the Lakers were undefeated, but Melo showed he can tear up any defense.

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FRIDAY’S GAMES AND PICKS

Utah Jazz at Atlanta Hawks…Jazz, Deron Williams and Al Jefferson are becoming an unstoppable duo while the Hawks have fallen from their high level of play.

Houston Rockets at Indiana Pacers…Rockets, they have more skill.

Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic…Magic, the Raptors are awful while the Magic have been playing above average, not great but good.

Charlotte Bobcats at Washington Wizards…Wizards, John Wall is making a statement.

New York Knicks at Minnesota Timberwolves…Knicks, Amare Stoudemire should get the win by himself, but they do have to D up Kevin Love.

Philadelphia 76ers at  Dallas Mavericks…Mavericks, the 76ers put up points, but Mavericks put up more.

Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns…Suns, although they’re a team on the decline, the Phoenix back court is still extremely talented with Steve Nash and Jason Richardson.

Portland Trailblazers at Oklahoma City Thunder…Blazers, LaMarcus Aldridge will have a field day offensively while Marcus Camby will control the glass.

Detroit Pistons at Los Angeles Clippers…Pistons, game of two lackluster teams, but the Pistons are healthy while the Clippers are banged up with Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Randy Foye all suffering from injuries.

MAKE YOUR PICKS

1) COMMENT BOX

2) EMAIL:  BRANDON.LACHANCE@BULLSHOME.COM

Deng was zombie-like on the court producing minimal with body language asking “what should I do” ?

In the last three to four games he has been playing as if he wants to be part of this team by producing big numbers and coming to the court with some energy letting Bulls fans know he still knows how to play basketball. For a week, I thought he forgot.

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The main reason for the trade to Philadelphia would be to acquire Melo, and I’m still an advocate for this because he is better than Deng and Iguodala put together.

Other than getting Melo, Deng should probably stay with the Bulls instead of getting Iguodala. The reason I thought he should have been traded in the first place was because he wasn’t doing anything as he only scored 13 points, got two rebounds and turned the ball over four times in the season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder Oct. 27.

Three days later, the Bulls found themselves down by 21-points to the Detroit Pistons and made a dramatic comeback to win by 10 points, 101-91. Deng was on the bench in the fourth quarter of the comeback because he was a miserable 2-for-10 from the field for nine points and two rebounds in 26 minutes.

Without Carlos Boozer, who broke his hand in the preseason, Deng is the Bulls second option after Derrick Rose. In these first couple of games, he disappeared and was the fourth or fifth option behind Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and sometimes Kyle Korver off of the bench.

If that is how he was going to play, then yeah, he needed to be dealt.

Then came the Deng resurgence.

Nov. 1 he dropped 40 points off 14-of-19 shooting from the field against the Portland Trailblazers. Nov. 4 he helped Derrick Rose run fast breaks and added 17 points off of 3-of-4 shooting from the three-point line. The next day Chicago lost to Boston in overtime, but Deng scored 20 points, had six boards and a few assists on well placed passes to Noah in the paint.

Monday, the Bulls defeated the Nuggets behind an overall great team effort which was led by Deng’s 17 points. Thursday, the Bulls stomped the Golden State Warriors 120-90, who were led yet again by Deng who put up his first double-double of the season with 26 points and 11 rebounds and added six assists.

The Bulls have played seven games and Deng has been brilliant in three, solid in two and awful in two. If his game production was a win/loss record, it would look 5-2. Unless you’re Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James or Anthony, who play their A game 75 plus games a year, 5-2 should hold some merit.

Deng has stepped into his scoring role on the team helping the Bulls to a 4-3 record while Iguodala hasn’t been doing much for the 76ers as they look awful with a 2-6 record.

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Iggy has sat out the 76ers last two games with Achilles tendinitis in his right foot, so, the injury factor is already thrown in the mix of why the trade may not work. Even without injury, Deng is playing way better basketball as Iguodala has played with the “I don’t want to be here” mentality every one of his six games. The Bulls have a team full of strong character guys who don’t let little complications affect their basketball, it seems Iguodala is on a different page.

In his last game Nov. 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Iguodala only scored seven points and had four assists. His two efforts before the Cavalier game were 11 and 12 points with little to no effort on defense, helping his team score or grabbing rebounds.

He has had one good game, which was Oct. 29 in a 104-101 losing effort to the Atlanta Hawks when he had a double-double with 27 points and 10 assists, while also grabbing six boards.

With all the stats present, Deng is having a much better season offensively and defensively, which to be a Bull, players have to play both sides of the ball.

Deng’s play has transformed my first opinion of trading him to keeping him and let him remain the longest tenured Bulls player.

The Bulls first match up will be a tough test.

Not only are the Thunder looking to upgrade from the eighth spot in the playoffs last season, but many columnist think OKC’s superstar forward Kevin Durant is going to best LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and other top players in the league to become the Most Valuable Player of the 2010-11 season. I think he will as well.

Although, Carlos Boozer is out because of his freak tripping accident, the Bulls have a chance to start off the season with a W.

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As usual, it starts with Rose. He is a better defensive player than Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook is an offensive player. On the other side of the ball, Rose’s lane penetrating ability is better than Westbrook’s defense. Rose can also back down Westbrook who is the same size, but plays smaller than Rose does.

Luol Deng will be matching up against Durant. The man can’t be stopped but if Deng puts a hand in his face and denies the ball from getting to him occasionally, he could finish the game in the low 20′s instead of mid 30′s.

On paper, the Thunders huge advantage is of course Durant, but past him, the Bulls have a better player on the court in almost every other position. Rose is better than Westbrook, Joakim Noah is better than Nenad Kristic, Keith Bogans and Thunder’s Thabo Sefolosha is a draw with Bogans being a better offensive player and Sefolosha a better defender and Taj Gibson or Omer Asik match up extremely well with Jeff Green, Nick Collison or even rookie Cole Aldrich if he sees much playing time.

With this said, Durant may go for 40 points, but the Thunder could still lose the game if the Bulls play to potential.

This should be an interesting fast paced game with each team being led by a definite all-star player, if not two superstars. This game will also be a defense vs offense match, which I think will be in the favor of the defense, Bulls.

Other games tonight with my picks

Boston at Cleveland–After last nights performance, no doubt, Boston

Detroit at New Jersey–New Jersey will be better, I go Nets

Miami at Philadelphia–The 76ers drafted Turner, who will be a future all-star, but the Heat will win because of higher talent level

New York at Toronto–interested in seeing Amare with the Knicks, he’ll help get a win against Bosh-less Raptors

Milwaukee at New Orleans–Hornets, Paul is healthy, enough said

Sacramento at Minnesota–Sacramento drafted last year’s rookie of the year (Tyreke Evans) and this year’s (DeMarcus Cousins), Kings win

Atlanta at Memphis–Memphis is what we thought they were, a horrible team while Atlanta is trying to prove they belong in Eastern elite, Hawks

Charlotte at Dallas–I’m going with Charlotte, they’re an up and coming team with plenty of young talent

Indiana at San Antonio–Pacer’s Collison will make this closer than it was last year, but Spurs reign supreme.

Utah at Denver–Utah is going to show they won’t skip a beat without the three players who now play for the Bulls

Houston at Golden State–The Rockets are going to start out 0-2, the Warriors are too fast for Brooks, Martin and a bunch of slow people

Portland at Clippers–I’m riding the Portland band wagon this year, if healthy, they can beat anyone

Why should we be hyped about the first night of NBA action?

First, the new big three will be together on a basketball playing a game of basketball instead of dancing around and showboating they had come together. Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are going to become a legendary threesome in the NBA. Honestly, they could go down in history as the best. But, before this can happen, they have to beat the Boston Celtics, the reigning Eastern Conference champions.

The old big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen meets the new big three in Miami. The Heat want to be who the Boston Celtics are, except with a little more flash and a few more championships.

This is a great day one match-up.

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The other two match ups have bring some drama of their own.

The Phoenix Suns travel to meet the Portland Trailblazers. These two squads met in the first round of the playoffs last season but the Blazers were missing their star Brandon Roy. If Roy was in the lineup, the Trailblazers might have taken the series or at least wore them down a little more before the Suns reached the Western Conference Finals.

There has been rumblings in the media of how Steve Nash isn’t pleased with his team.  With Roy back and Nash unhappy, what will happen? I think Portland will be for real this year if they can stay healthy. It all starts at the first game of the season when the Blazers beat the Suns.

After Miami and Boston open up the season on TNT, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets will be the follow up.

Houston center Yao Ming hasn’t played an NBA game since May 2009, but he is back. Ming is returning tonight but will play only 24 minutes, not just tonight, the entire season. The Rockets have fast Aaron Brooks, talented big man Luis Scola and NBA elite scorer Kevin Martin, add Ming and the Rockets can be a dangerous team.

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The Rockets are talented but they are running into a Los Angeles Lakers team which is dedicated to prove they deserve another championship. Kobe Bryant wants to tie Michael Jordan with six rings and Phil Jackson wants to be the first coach to have four three-peats. This would be a huge accomplishment and if any two people can do it, it would be Bryant and Jackson.

Although, I pick them to win the championship again, the Lakers will have some problems with a healthy Rockets squad.

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In an interview with USA Today, Jordan said the game is less aggressive and would be easier for him to score more points. In his 15 year career, Jordan averaged 30 points a game.

“It’s less physical and the rules have changed, obviously,”  Jordan said. “Based on these rules, if I had to play with my style of play, I’m pretty sure I would have fouled out or I would have been at the free throw line pretty often and I could have scored 100 points.”

If he played with the new rules, Jordan would probably average more than 30 points a game, but getting 100 is unrealistic, although he did have games where he scored 69 and 63 points. He probably could have come close, 85 to 90, but I don’t think he would have come up with 100.

Kobe Bryant plays a similar style of ball as Jordan did, physical and in your face, but his highest total is 81 against a horrible Toronto Raptors team. Bryant is averaging only 25 points a game for his career with 35 ppg in 2005-06 being his highest season average.

Jordan is the best player I will probably ever see, but saying I could have scored 100 points a game is misleading. There were good defenders in Jordan’s day, no doubt, but could he score 70 against Ron Artest, Raja Bell or a bigger strong small forward if he was given the assignment? Jordan could drop 50 to 60 points on anyone, but 100?

Also, the 3-pointer has become more of a game changing factor then it was in Jordan’s career. It was there, but in his era players made their living by attacking the basket, now, everyone wants to learn the art form of the long ball. Jordan was an average three point shooter to say the least. He had some games when he couldn’t miss from behind the arc, but also had days when he couldn’t make them as well.

To score 100 points he would either have to work on his 3, take it to the whole every touch or just play the Toronto Raptors.