Now that's change we can believe in
Just as change isn't always progress, new isn't always improved.
The Bulls, however, made progress at the trading deadline and are significantly better than they were a week ago.
At least that's how they looked Tuesday night in a 120-102 victory over the Orlando Magic.
"We had a real good, solid performance from start to finish," head coach Vinny Del Negro said.
This was the Bulls' first game at the United Center since acquiring Brad Miller, John Salmons and Tim Thomas.
I'm choosing to believe the victory over Orlando was what the Bulls can become instead of that Sunday's 98-91 loss at Indiana is what they are.
If nothing else, general manager John Paxson's flurry of deals elevated the Bulls from the bottom of NBA mediocrity to the middle of NBA mediocrity.
That alone should enable them to qualify for the postseason and maybe do so comfortably.
Yes, folks, I'm officially declaring the Bulls a playoff team.
Heck, who knows? Maybe the Orlando game was a playoff preview - the Magic is in the Eastern Conference's three hole and the Bulls might advance to No. 6.
The East isn't exactly full of super powers, you know. A team likely will enter the postseason with a sub-.500 record, and two or three might.
The Bulls are only 26-31 at the moment, but unless I'm misjudging them, they have enough good players to make a decent run during the regular season's final 25 games.
OK, so maybe I'm getting carried away a little. But that'll happen when a team is as impressive as the Bulls were against the Magic.
Del Negro's team still is stuck in the NBA middle, and that's a hard neighborhood to escape. However, it's a lot better than being as uninspiring as the Bulls were last week.
The trades seemed to invigorate the locker room the way a deadline deal invigorates a baseball contender's clubhouse.
"The new guys bring more things to the table than we did before," Bulls guard Ben Gordon said.
It was difficult to not be impressed by how easily the Bulls scored against Orlando.
The 120 points in the game and the 63 in the first half came against a team that came in ranked seventh in the NBA in fewest points allowed per game.
"Everybody was a threat out there tonight, and that's the way we have to play," Gordon said.
If nothing else is true about the Bulls, it appears they can make the scoreboard dance. All three of the new players can score; Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng can score; and Derrick Rose can score when he has to.
(The Bulls led nearly all the way, but when the Magic closed to 83-82 late in the third quarter, Rose responded with 2 quick baskets.)
More stunning than anything was that Del Negro sent waves of players at Orlando. Nine Bulls played in the first quarter and each logged 10 or more minutes in the first half.
"It's my job to get everybody acclimated to rotations," Del Negro said.
The chore resumes tonight at playoff contender New Jersey in the middle of four Bulls games in five nights.
At least until this week is over I'm claiming that for the Bulls, new is improved and change is progress.
mimrem@dailyherald.com