i might be dumb (in fact, i'm sure of it), but i think the two basketball teams in my life might just be okay.

i didn't see it, but i heard it this afternoon as the northwestern wildcats outlasted the pirates of seton hall, 53-44, this afternoon at welsh-ryan arena. with tim doyle ineffective, the cats used the 'three bigs' lineup alluded to in my last post, using a parker-hachad backcourt and duvancic-vukusic-thompson up front. they did a good job, it would seem, of smothering hall top scorer chris whitney, and bill carmody mentioned vukusic's willingness to take the big shot, something else i mentioned after wednesday's win.

with home wins over 2004 ncaa tournament teams seton hall and depaul in the last four days, the cats have what could be their biggest game of the season coming up on short rest monday. i believe it's a big game because this is a team with postseason aspirations and, at 4-4, a win over arizona state, on the road, would be huge. they've already missed opportunities for big non-conference wins, blowing close ones at colorado, home against virginia, and against utah state in alaska, so this is their only chance remaining to do something away from home. they'll be doing it with only one day to prepare, but they'll have their big guy in the flow and ready for ike diogu, one of the nation's top post players. asu will have revenge on the brain after last year's 'hand of otto' thriller for the cats, and the cats need to combat that with a good effort.

certainly, the cats seem to be guaranteed four more nonconference victories - home contests against delaware state, texas-pan american, robert morris, and texas a&m-corpus christi - but 9-4 out of conference is a whole lot more impressive than 8-5. i know i'm thinking four months down the road and about 14 wins too soon, but it is important that the ncaa tournament selection committee takes a 'what have you done for me lately' approach to settle areas of indecision.

(it is worth noting that the big ten is generally bad, again, this season. illinois and michigan state are great. iowa and wisconsin are very good. minnesota and penn state and purdue and probably ohio state would seem to be cringe-worthy bad. the cats should fit in the morass in the middle with indiana and michigan. only three (three?!?) made it into the dance from the conference last year, i think. )

the other team in my life is the chicago bulls, and they looked downright impressive in stretches tonight as they won their third straight. hinrich is an all-star by february 2007. deng's got a knack, and chandler is a game-altering energy guy (he'll be a 6th man for a title-winning team before his career is over). the x-factor is eddy curry, who is so skillful and has such a nice touch around the basket; he even has begun to rebound a little (including twice hitting the offensive glass in the first quarter tonight), which his something he's never shown the desire to do. i've said it and thought it countless times, and they always give me reason to change my mind, but i don't think there's a young nucleus better than hinrich-gordon-deng-curry-chandler...

the bulls go for four in a row for the first time since the championship era on monday night, and i'll be in the 300 level soaking it all in. let's hope for the best.

other developments:

- christmas shopping is done, and i'm about 40 percent wrapped.

- i rented lost in translation last weekend, and quite enjoyed it.

- e has departed for san diego, leaving my wallet fatter

- mommy's family christmas is sunday afternoon, and the boy's come prepared with three dozen jello shots for no more than 15 people. combine this with the bloody marys, and it would seem a foregone conclusion that daddy rud'll be loudly singing 'rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.'

- before thursday, i'll be publishing my long-awaited top 15 or 10 or 20 of 2004. a.c. newman, guided by voices, the fiery furnaces, dizzee rascal, the streets and the killers are candidates to make the list. i've not thought much about it yet.