Mike Bibby goes Ben Gordon on the Bulls with shooting display; Bulls sink lower

At least Joakim Noah had another nice game, outhustling the Atlanta Hawks on nearly every possession with eight offensive rebounds.

Tyrus Thomas had a few nice blocks on his athletic counterpart Josh Smith. A few highlight passes by the team. And that's about it.

The Bulls fell 105-102, and even had a chance to tie the game if Ben Gordon were to bounce the ball off the rim on a freethrow and quickly set up for a three with just three seconds left.

It's pointless to talk about what could have been. Points in the NBA are often not hard to come by, and the Bulls trade momentum like an options broker. In what seemed like a game where the Bulls outplayed the opposition for 40 minutes, the Hawks and the rest of the NBA prove that closing is a valued sports craft outside of baseball.

This time it was Mike Bibby. The longtime point guard, and former No. 2 pick, was shooting fadeway 20 footers with ease as seven-footer Noah closed on him. The man was hot.

People get that way. There's not much you can do when NBA players are feeling it--keep the ball out of their hands, could be the solution. What's maddening about Bibby's performance is the three important steals he made when the Bulls tried to push the ball up court.

He baited the Bulls offense into believing the middle was open and then pounced.

(I'm still waiting for the Bulls to use Derrick Rose's elite speed to do the same.)

It's a lost cause. Noah and Thomas are playing well; Aaron Gray gave the Bulls a boost in the second quarter. Are they better understanding the game? Is the defense coming together?

• One would think that Noah's performance is synonymous with his conditioning. Actually, I forgot how effective the spaz might have been in the first place. Is he really this effective when in shape?

But he'll still need to bulk up in the off-season and study the offense...and the chances of that are? He got caught with possession of marijuana last summer and came in out of shape. It doesn't exactly scream professional.

Check in for first half grades tomorrow.

It's becoming clear that the Bulls are not heading to the playoffs this year, and really what that means is they will be stuck with another mid first-round draft pick and a bunch of overachievers on inflated contracts.

• I'm usually reluctant to call for drastic changes and unsubstantiated trades, but the deadline is nearing and Gordon (who is hardly moveable because of the Larry Bird rights) remains a valuable asset. Larry Hughes could be on his way out as the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

Could the Bulls move Noah when he has peak value? Kirk Hinrich still remains as one of the most valuable pieces on the team (Portland we can hear you) and Andres Nocioni has solid value on the market.

But that could be it.

And sometimes that's all we need to know at the midseason point.