Joakim Noah and his injured foot (plantar fasciitis) have almost ruined the Chicago Bulls’ season this year and they are out of the top eight Eastern Conference playoff picture.  Noah recently missed 10 straight games for the Bulls, and they lost every single one of those games.  Noah returned to action on March 20th against the Philadelphia 76ers, and played in his fourth straight game Saturday night against the New Jersey Nets.  The Bulls have been really careful with Noah though, and he hasn’t played more than 13 minutes in any of those four games.  Noah, however, has been looking more and more healthy from game to game.  Saturday night against the Nets he looked liked the pre-injury Noah, grabbing rebounds aggressively and throwing down dunks on the opposing team’s big men.  He finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block in just 13 minutes of action.  It was the Nets though, one of the worst teams in NBA history.  Still, it was a good sign for the Bulls to see Noah with an extra pep in his step and gaining more confidence with each extra minute.  Hopefully Noah can continue to progress and get healthy, because with him the Bulls are definitely a playoff team.