Have The Bulls Bypassed the Celtics In The Standings?

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

With the addition of Brad Miller to their team, have the
the Chicago Bulls passed the Celtics in the standings?

Let's take a look at the tale of the tape:

CENTER

Boston - Vitaly Potapenko

Chicago - Brad Miller

The Winner: Da Bulls

They don't call Brad Miller: "The Celtics Killer" for nothing.


POWER FORWARD

Boston - Antoine Walker

Chicago - Elton Brand

The Winner: Da Bulls

Whom would you rather have at PF, Brand or Walker? Thank you,
case closed.


SMALL FORWARD

Boston - Paul Pierce

Chicago -  Ron Artest or Marcus Fizer

The Winner: Boston

However, if Glenn Rice signs with Da Boolz, all bets are off, and if
Fizer can make the transition to small forward, then this isn't as big
of an edge for the Celtics.


SHOOTING GUARD

Boston - Adrian Griffin

Chicago - Ron Mercer

The winner: Da Bulls

Whatever you think of Ron Mercer, he's still a better player than
Adrian Griffin.


POINT GUARD

Boston - Kenny Anderson

Chicago - Jamal Crawford

The Winner: It's a tie. Be honest, if you had the chance to trade
Kenny Anderson for Jamal Crawford, I know that 95 percent of
you would do it. But we subtract points from Crawford for being a
rookie, so the two of them even out for now....

THE BENCH

Boston - Tony Battie, Jerome Moiso, Mark Blount, Eric Williams,
Calbert Cheaney, Chris Carr, Ricky Brown, Robert Pack, and a
few other never ready for prime time players.

Chicago - Dragan Tarlac, Chris Anstey, Dickey Simpkins(?),
Michael Ruffin, Ron Artest, Corey Benjamin, Hersey Hawkins (?),
Fred Hoiberg, Matt Maloney.

The Winner: Who cares. They're both pretty dreadful. I think Artest
may be better than anyone on the Celtics bench, so I'll give a tiny
edge to Da Boolz, because of that, and the fact that Brown and
Pack are likely to see quite a bit of down time.


THE FINAL VERDICT

The Bulls may have very well passed the Celtics. It will depend on
how well Crawford and Fizer perform. But, if by the middle of the
season, they're kicking booty and not taking any names, the C's
will be looking up at another team in the standings....
Ray