After the Bulls ended a seven-game losing streak in the West with a 5-2 record and returned to the East, the next step was tantamount to a tiger into the flock.

Even though there are more strong teams in the East than in the West this season, there are also many teams in the East.

In general, against the teams in the east, there are still a lot of bonuses to eat.

Next, the Bulls Youth Army 2.0 gradually revealed the fruits of their summer hard work.

At the same time, Mike Brown also helped the Bulls gradually build up the defensive system.

Admittedly, there are still some problems that come to the game, but they don't come up as often as before.

Teammates helping each other, rather than scattered over-assisted defense, also made the Bulls' defense more coordinated and complete.

Fast forward to late December, and the Bulls improved their record to 18-10 at an extremely exaggerated pace, moving from eighth in the East to fourth in the East.

However, it is quite a pity that the Bulls' rising momentum has not been scheduled to fight the Christmas war.

It can only be said that the team's rebuilding decisions will affect the schedule and the number of important games and national broadcasts.

Since Doon joined the Bulls, that is, this year, the Bulls have decided to completely push the rebuild, which has not been favored by the league, and even the three major focus games of the NBA regular season, such as the Christmas War, have not been their turn.

However, there is nothing wrong with the Bulls players spending Christmas at home.

In the past, I would go home after the game, and sometimes I would even be unable to sleep because of excitement and needed to take some melatonin.

Watching the Christmas War at home this year is indeed a good experience.

One thing to say, the highlight of this year's Christmas War, the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant against the Heat Big Three, the ratings are really good.

The next day, ABC and ESPN announced their ratings, which were 8.1 million and 5 million respectively, and the two combined exceeded 13.1 million viewers, which can be compared to the key battle of the Eastern and Western finals.

This is much higher than the pitiful millions of viewers more than ten years later.

It can only be said that the eyes of the fans are bright, and the game against the stars is much better than the game where the referee controls the field and keeps making free throws......

The night after the Christmas game, the Bulls will also have their own game at home.

Against the Bucks from next door, the Bulls naturally did not waste the Eastern dividend, and the main team clocked in the third quarter and easily won the game.

Next, they are all weak teams in the East, and the Nets and Pistons have been dealt with one after another.

At the same time, the all-star voting channel opened.

In the official All-Star first-round voting results released in early January, Doon did not continue to be the All-Star voter.

Instead, with 438,000 votes, it lagged behind Kobe's 475,000 votes.

The Bulls are a rebuilding team that has managed to improve their record to fourth place in the East this season.

Perhaps burdened by the record, it is understandable that Doon is not as good as Kobe, the defending champion's new FMVP.

However, the All-Star voting continues, and there are three more rounds to come.

The Bulls' record is improving, and Doon is bringing a group of rookies to play such an outstanding record that it is sure to attract a large number of passers-by and fans to vote for him.

As for Doon's basic market, because he has been the All-Star vote champion over the years, he is often criticized by extreme NBA fans.

As a result, the NBA official had to weaken the mysterious power from the East, making Doon's advantage in fan voting smaller and smaller.

Fortunately, the NBA's local voting power is in the hands of fans who spend real money to watch the game, and Doon's strength is obvious to all, and they naturally don't have much prejudice against Doon when they understand the game.

White fans can watch black players enter the arena and naturally watch stars of other colors play on the field.

As the race progressed, the time quickly approached the end of January.

Doon finally surpassed Kobe Bryant in the fourth round of All-Star votes, but the advantage in winning the All-Star vote was not large.

Doon has received a total of 2.47 million votes, and Kobe Bryant has 2.45 million votes, and the difference of 20,000 votes alone does not mean anything.

It can only be said that the Bulls have won more and lost less in the past month, and the Bulls have attracted the attention of fans across the United States, and some of the winning fans who left have returned.

Of course, this All-Star vote can also be regarded as a battle for the Nike king, and Doon finally won by a narrow margin.

By the time the January game was completely completed, the Bulls had accumulated 34 wins and 14 losses, temporarily leading the Celtics in third place in the East by 0.5 wins.

And the Heat, who are the first in the East, are only 2 wins higher than the Bulls.

At the beginning of February, the league officially announced the list of East and West Player of the Month and East and West Rookie of the Month for January.

It just so happens that the Bulls are on both lists.

Doon has already won two Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards this season, but this is the first time that the Eastern Conference Player of the Month is the best of the month.

As for the honor of Rookie of the Month in the East, George won it.

Although George is Doon's backup, the Bulls continue to give George opportunities in order to develop George, often playing double-forward and three-forward lineups.

With Doon's help, it took George more than a month to get used to the pace of the NBA.

And because of the two months of muscle gain, until January, George's shooting finally stabilized and he was able to play some of the balls that he usually grasped.

In addition, other teams defend the Bulls, and the main research is on a few starters, and few people will care about how Doon's bench plays.

After all, the study of Doon is also reported by research, how can there be time to target Doon's replacement! Besides, no matter how well Doon's bench plays, can it be better than Doon?

It was also because George had not been studied, did not hit the rookie wall, and with the help of Doon and other teammates, he played more and more confidently and better.

Most of the rookies who have performed well this season are concentrated in the West.

In particular, Griffin, the top pick in '09, recuperated for a season due to injury, and this season he reappeared to compete with 10 rookies, which monopolized all the honors of rookies in the West.

On the eastern side, George fights with Wall. Although Wall is a top pick, his offensive means are too single, and he has been studied by coaches across the league, and he finally hit the rookie wall.

After all, not all champions are Duncan, and not all champions can take a few more steps to attack the basket.

Wall, as a small guard, has limited stature and technical shortcomings, and it is understandable that he will be guarded when there are no stars on the team to share the offensive pressure.

In fact, Wall's situation was also encountered by rookies on the Bulls.

But it's not a first-year rookie who plays as a substitute, but a second-year rookie who plays as a starter.

Because of the Bulls' excellent record, they quickly improved to the top four in the East, plus the Bulls' dominance of the league in the previous years left a strong impression on other teams.

The situation on the Bulls' side quickly attracted the attention of the whole league.

In order to study how to beat the Bulls, all-league coaches naturally go after second-year rookies who are easier to target as starters.

In the past month, Curry, Evans, and Ibaka have had a difficult time.

In order to ensure the team's record, the Bulls chose to avoid shortcomings and promote their strengths, reducing the playing time of Curry's three.

In this way, it was a crooked hit, allowing Jeremy Lin, Harden, and George to play out.

Jeremy Lin has been in college for four years, and his skills have been polished relatively well.

Although he lacks some physical confrontation and one-on-one defense, Lin has a good athletic ability.

In addition, in the Bulls, the game is relatively simple, whether it is blocking and dismantling, breaking points, or passing and cutting, there is a place for Jeremy Lin.

With Curry and Evans being targeted by other teams, their performances have declined, and after reducing their playing time, Jeremy Lin has been given more playing time and the opportunity to prove himself.

Harden and George's situation is similar to that of Jeremy Lin, and with players of the same skin color, it is already easier to play together.

The Bulls give rookies a chance, and teammates cooperate with each other, so they can naturally play better.

"Doon is an All-Star voter, and the Chicago Bulls are making a comeback at an astonishing rate!"

"Doon has a magical power, he's able to make his teammates better and make rookies grow quickly."

"The rapid growth of the Chicago Bulls' rookies has undoubtedly brought this team back to the championship sequence!"

"Darko Milicic was able to be named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team off the bench solely because the Chicago Bulls are the second-best team in the East! I have to feel the energy of Doon, he can not only make his teammates better, but also make his teammates All-Stars! ”

"The Chicago Bulls should have opened a trade, but it didn't happen, which means they weren't ready to win the championship."

"The Chicago Bulls didn't trade for All-Stars in order to develop rookies and help Doane win the championship. But if Doon makes the playoffs with this group of rookies, he won't be able to win a championship. ”

Over time, the Bulls consolidated their record in second place in the East.

The media also had to increase the discussion of the Bulls and Doon because the Bulls played too well and too dazzlingly.

The improvement of the record, the growth of the rookie, and the fact that Milicic became the backup center of the Eastern Conference All-Star by chance, are all worthy of special mention.

But it's not all praise, and some media outlets are arrogant and start pointing fingers at the Bulls — mainly because the Bulls didn't trade and strengthen before the trade deadline.

Normally, the Bulls do use junk contracts and draft picks to sign All-Stars or quasi-All-Stars to build a chance for the Big Two and Big Three to compete for the championship.

However, as a four-time champion dynasty team and the dynasty's management team, everyone knows that winning the championship requires defense and game experience.

In short, it is necessary to have a group of veterans who dare to fight.

And this season, these veterans who dare to fight have joined the Lakers, Heat, and Celtics early to compete for the championship at the beginning of these seasons.

The Bulls are a rebuilding team that wasn't favored by everyone until '11.

Now the rookie is doing okay, but when it comes to the playoffs, it's a different story.

Bulls management also took into account the lack of enough veterans on the team who could play in the playoffs.

In addition, his rookie still needs to spend time and ball training, so he decided to take it one step at a time.

As for the team's two garbage contracts, there is no choice to use the Alan Houston clause.

After all, there is no luxury tax pressure, and the team will need Kenyon Martin and Troy Murphy to top up some time.

Anyway, they are all contracts that are about to expire, and when the playoffs are over and the maximum salary contract ends, the Bulls will be able to vacate more than 20 million salary space in the offseason.

It's a pity that there aren't many big fish on the free market this summer, and Duncan is the only one who really deserves the attention of the Bulls.

Although the Bulls have space to sign Duncan, Duncan is estimated to hold on to the Holy City.

The remaining stars who can be signed are just Kirilenko, Randolph, and Prince.

The Bulls don't really make much sense to bring in stars, the Bulls don't lack offense, but they have the idea that they must defend to win championships.

Of course, to win a championship with health, it is also necessary to increase the depth of the bench.

20 million space, sign a top-salary forward who can defend, it is more than 10 million, and the remaining millions can also make up an inside line or forward.

Then make good use of the mid-class contract, as well as the Bulls' signboard, to attract veterans who want to win the championship.

The rest depends on whether the rookie can be reliable in the playoffs. If it's reliable, then eat the rookie bonus! (End of chapter)