The Joakim Noah loss

Asik will have to step up and replace Noah Sunday

Joakim Noah is out for game four against the Philadelphia 76ers as the Bulls will be weaker depth wise without but this will force somebody to step up as a loss Sunday will put the Bulls in serious elimination danger. The man that will be asked to replace Noah in the starting lineup is Turkish center Omer Asik. Asik has not played too much this season but he knows how to play defense and rebound the basketball as he averaged five rebounds in under 14 minutes a game. Asik also can block some shots as he had 68 blocks in the regular season. The one question is can Asik perform at a high level for 30 to 35 minutes or will the Bulls need to rely on other players to come off the bench in Taj Gibson and Brian Scalabrine. Gibson is a good backup and third big man in this game for Asik and Carlos Boozer as Gibson can provide a small lneup with Boozer at the five. Gibson and Boozer can be more of a scoring lineup as Tom Thibodeau could use that combo as starters over Asik and have Asik as the third big man. However, after those three, the Bulls have veteran Brian Scalabrine who has some playoff experience with Boston and the Bulls but could be an emergency guy if they have an injury to Boozer, Asik, or Gibson as Scalabrine would cause the quality of depth to drop off some. Scalabrine can be decent but against the 76ers, he is a huge disadvantage. Without Noah, the 76ers have another advantage against the Bulls as Asik and Gibson will need to step up if the Bulls want to regain home court advantage and give themselves a respectable chance of advancing past the first round.