the ups and downs of the 82.

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/steve_aschburner/01/20/chicago-bulls-pass-cleveland-cavaliers-among-teams-to-worry-about-derrick-rose-tom-thibodeau-joakim-noah/index.html

"The first, best thing Chicago needs is to get back Joakim Noah and Mike Dunleavy, the two starters missing these days. Noah, the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year, in particular is missed for his pick-and-roll presence, his high-post facilitating of proper ball movement (that was lousy Monday) and his contagious energy. Frankly, even when he has played this season, parts of the above have been missing because of nagging knee and ankle ailments.

"This is what we have," Thibodeau said. "It's on us to figure it out. No one is coming in to save the day. We have to find the answer. And when we've had enough, we'll take care of it."

If Noah can get right in the way (LeBron) James has, if Dunleavy can make his duct-tape game available soon, the Bulls have plenty. And plenty of time.

They've been flat of late. Their signature second- and third-efforts were gallingly lacking against the Cavaliers. And then there's that communication problem Rose raised, which of course didn't exist -- it certainly didn't get talked about -- in December when they were going 13-2.

In another two weeks or maybe a month, coming out of the All-Star break, it won't get much attention again, most likely. This is the nature of the six-month, 82-game schedule. No one ever wants to peak before the playoffs, which means by definition a lot of teams play below their potential with 30 or 40 games left.

In a warped way, Chicago should be happy it has something tangible and demanding on which to focus, rather than -- like Indiana last season -- trying (and failing) to maintain that perfect line without a ripple all the way from November into June. Better to roll up one's sleeves figuratively and sweat for that "edge" than to be lulled onto the rocks."