Chicago Bulls Make It Five Straight...Losses

And the Chicago Bulls are officially out of the playoffs...as of now.

With a Bulls' loss to the Utah Jazz Tuesday night and a Charlotte Bobcats' win over the Miami Heat, the Bulls have now fallen to the ninth seed, a half game behind both the Bobcats and the Heat and a game under .500.

Currently, nothing is going right for the Bulls.

The team has given up 100 or more points in eight straight games including 115 points per game during the five-game losing streak.

Also during the five-game losing streak, the Bulls have given up nearly 50 points per game in the paint and have been out-rebounded by 40.

The defense down low is simply not stopping anyone with Taj Gibson and Brad Miller.

Miller is far too soft to play the minutes he is being forced to play and the rookie Gibson cannot be expected to do all the rebounding and grunt defensive work.

Hakim Warrick can give you some work down low, but his body is not meant to be knocked around.

Chris Richard and James Johnson have the bodies to work down low defensively and on the glass, but are a complete crutch offensively. With the Bulls having no real outside shot, minus Derrick Rose and the banged up Luol Deng, the team needs at least a threat in the paint.

Unfortunately, the Bulls have no choice but to go with Miller in the starting position based on the fact he can score and won't completely get knocked around.

The next five games for the Bulls are against teams that are .500 or better including the Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, and Cleveland Cavaliers, who are extremely better than .500.

With Joakim Noah out, things are going to get worse before they get better.  

The Bulls could very well lose every game in March because nothing is going to come easy without Noah.

The only teams under .500 the Bulls face in the remaining games in March are the Philadelphia 76ers, who have Elton Brand, the New Jersey Nets, who have Brook Lopez and the Detroit Pistons.

If the Bulls have any hope of making the playoffs, they will need to somehow find a change in the defense and keep their heads above water until Noah gets back for the final eight games in which the Bulls face the Bobcats (currently a half game back of) twice, the Toronto Raptors (currently two games back of) once, and the Milwaukee Bucks (currently three games back of) once.

Not even the Eastern Conference is bad enough to let a team in the playoffs that loses every game in March.

The Bulls need to find something.