By Brunson Bench Buddy B-Huge.

Rick Brunson's ascension to the Bulls sixth man must have been just an early Christmas gift from Coach Skiles. In this game Brunson didn't make it off the bench until there were under 5 minutes to play in the third quarter. But that's not even close to being the biggest twist in the ongoing Brunson saga as chief Brunson rival Chris Jefferies was the first man off the bench and accumulated 26 minutes of action to Brunson's mere 11.

On the previous evening while Brunson was in the game the Utah Jazz quickly built a 13-point lead that they would never surrender. When Brunson entered the game against the Nets the Bulls were already down by 8 points but 7 minutes later the lead was 18 when Brunson left the game. While Coach Skiles appears to be experimenting with line-ups and learning about his players he has now found out that Brunson can blow games in the first, third and fourth quarters. Perhaps Brunson should be known as The Iceman as he puts the Bulls on ice when he plays.

Brunson ended the evening with 3 points on 1 for 5 shooting with 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, and 1 turnover. Yes, there were periods of time when both Jefferies and Brunson shared the floor. With such an array of awesome firepower in the game at the same time it's a wonder anybody else got to touch the ball at all. Well, the Nets certainly got to touch the ball as Jefferies turned it over 3 times. That's three times as many turnovers than Jefferies had all season! Of course his 26 minutes tonight represents more minutes than he'd acculumated in this season up until now. Coach Skiles sure is a generous guy. Maybe even Eddie Robinson will get to play on Boxing Day.