KG hurt himself on a dunk FWIW. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AsEZ...celtics-garnett

 

Don't know how long he's out. Unless he's pulling a Paul Pierce.

 

I know KG is pretty hated these days. But that would suck if he's out for an extended period of time. That would help us. But it would also help the Heat. And they looking f***ing unstoppable right now.

The first two? Obviously the Bucks and Cavs. lol. Heat and Celtics. And a front-court headed by Camby and Howard totally shut down the paint for opposing teams, outside of maybe Miami.

 

The Heat don't match up well against a healthy Bulls. LeBron will have to guard Rose, leaving Deng open, and Boozer-Noah-Taj will devour Bosh and Ilgauskas.

 

And the Bulls always play hard against the Celtics, and if KG is gone, I think they beat them.

 

I would fear Camby-Howard though.

The Heat don't match up well against a healthy Bulls. LeBron will have to guard Rose, leaving Deng open, and Boozer-Noah-Taj will devour Bosh and Ilgauskas.

 

And the Bulls always play hard against the Celtics, and if KG is gone, I think they beat them.

 

I would fear Camby-Howard though.

 

The Bulls have no one who can guard James or Wade.

The Bulls have no one who can guard James or Wade.

Luol Deng has, IIRC, been at least moderately effective against James in the past. You don't stop him, but you at least slow him down.

Luol Deng has, IIRC, been at least moderately effective against James in the past. You don't stop him, but you at least slow him down.

I'm pretty sure that was Hinrich?

I'm pretty sure that was Hinrich?

Hinrich on James? That's as much of a mismatch as possible.

I'm pretty sure that was Hinrich?

 

I think it is Deng as they (chgo radio) talk about it being a strong part of his game. Hinrich while a good defender is not tall enough or strong enough to guard the king.

Hinrich on James? That's as much of a mismatch as possible.

yea, ignore what i just typed, I kinda dazed off there; I combined Balta and SS2K5's quotes together, and read it as "Luol Deng has, IIRC, been at least moderately effective against WADE in the past"

 

must have been too much Kraft Mac and Cheese during lunch.

Edited December 30, 201015 yr by smalls2598

Maybe I'm weird, but I thought there was talk about how Tyrus was the Bulls' "Lebron stopper". They certainly didn't have one in the playoffs last season as Lebron went for 32-9-8 against them while shooting 57% from the floor.

 

I definitely wouldn't say the Bulls are a "good" matchup for the Heat because as someone said previously, they can't stop Wade or Lebron. Whomever the other perimeter player is will also likely get a ton of open looks from outside with Rose guarding them. Their two studs shouldn't have to work too hard covering the Bogans/Brewer/Korver trio and Deng either (they'll put Arroyo/Chalmers on Rose for as long as possible). Boozer will also probably cause them some problems with his defense because he doesn't have the agility to cover Bosh and is a poor help defender.

 

They do have an edge on the glass, but Boozer and Noah will have to obliterate them to compensate for Miami's edge on wings. Also, Rose probably has to out-play at least one of Wade and Lebron. They will lose any games where he doesn't go for like 25-8. The Bulls only have one shot-creator while the Heat have two.

Tyrus had one or two good games against Lebron as well. Tyrus Trading off with Deng was actually a fairly reasonable way to do it; you're throwing 2 different types of long, athletic guys against him.

 

The Bulls are getting better and better at clamping down on the perimeter, and at least for the last month, we haven't had Rose being regularly exploited like he was in November.

The Bulls are getting better and better at clamping down on the perimeter, and at least for the last month, we haven't had Rose being regularly exploited like he was in November.

 

It's a little easier when your recent schedule has been filled with a lot of non-playoff teams. 10 of their 15 December games came against teams that really shouldn't give them any trouble. Orlando, Boston and New York all shot comfortably over 50% in victories against them in December matchups. The Bulls did beat OKC and LA, but the Thunder have no big men and shot 35% in that game and LA really only has one good perimeter player.

It's a little easier when your recent schedule has been filled with a lot of non-playoff teams. 10 of their 15 December games came against teams that really shouldn't give them any trouble. Orlando, Boston and New York all shot comfortably over 50% in victories against them in December matchups. The Bulls did beat OKC and LA, but the Thunder have no big men and shot 35% in that game and LA really only has one good perimeter player.

BUT...despite Rose regularly getting burned on the outside...and despite the Bulls playing without Carlos Boozer...the Bulls were still winning those tough games, on the road.

 

They're getting better and better. They're not going to win a championship right now...but at the end of the season...I don't know where this team will be.

The Miami Heat are the first team in NBA history to go undefeated on the road in an entire month where they played at least 10 games on the road.

BUT...despite Rose regularly getting burned on the outside...and despite the Bulls playing without Carlos Boozer...the Bulls were still winning those tough games, on the road.

 

They're getting better and better. They're not going to win a championship right now...but at the end of the season...I don't know where this team will be.

 

Boozer and Noah both played in the OKC and LA games.

 

I'm not saying the Bulls aren't a solid team, they just need to play a pretty awesome series to beat Boston or Miami (possibly Orlando too, who they often struggle against).

Edited December 30, 201015 yr by ZoomSlowik

Boozer and Noah both played in the OKC and LA games.

 

I'm not saying the Bulls aren't a solid team, they just need to play a pretty awesome series to beat Boston or Miami (possibly Orlando too, who they often struggle against).

 

An honest assessment is that the Bulls have no chance against Miami or Boston (unless injuries deplete the Celtics). The Bulls aren't even as good as the Knicks right now, so it would a be a delusion of grandeur to think they could take a series from one of the top 3 teams in the East (one of which being possibly the most talented team to play in the NBA ever).

 

Unless Bulls ownership is wiling to go into the tax and acquire an all-star level shooting guard, the Bulls look like they will be mired in the good but not elite category for the foreseeable future....

An honest assessment is that the Bulls have no chance against Miami or Boston (unless injuries deplete the Celtics). The Bulls aren't even as good as the Knicks right now, so it would a be a delusion of grandeur to think they could take a series from one of the top 3 teams in the East (one of which being possibly the most talented team to play in the NBA ever).

 

Unless Bulls ownership is wiling to go into the tax and acquire an all-star level shooting guard, the Bulls look like they will be mired in the good but not elite category for the foreseeable future....

I think that by the end of the season...the Bulls might well be able to compete with all of them.

 

The Bulls started off with the roughest opening month and a half schedule in the NBA and fought through it hard. They're getting better, and they haven't been 100% healthy on their 5 starters except for 1-2 games.

Boozer and Noah both played in the OKC and LA games.

And they won both of those games...

An honest assessment is that the Bulls have no chance against Miami or Boston (unless injuries deplete the Celtics). The Bulls aren't even as good as the Knicks right now, so it would a be a delusion of grandeur to think they could take a series from one of the top 3 teams in the East (one of which being possibly the most talented team to play in the NBA ever).

I feel like I've been arguing the same thing over and over again in this thread so all I'm going to say is that's not a honest assessment at all.

I think that by the end of the season...the Bulls might well be able to compete with all of them.

 

The Bulls started off with the roughest opening month and a half schedule in the NBA and fought through it hard. They're getting better, and they haven't been 100% healthy on their 5 starters except for 1-2 games.

 

They haven't played with both Boozer and Noah against quite a few teams. There's no doubt in my mind they can match up with most teams (the Celtics, the Heat etc will give them trouble no doubt) I would like to see how they fare against Orlando now when guys like Lewis and Carter consistantly killed them in the past. (especially in the peremiter)

Edited December 30, 201015 yr by J.Reedfan8

A Heat series is where the Bulls will miss Kirk, since he was the D-Wade stopper. But I'm confident that Rose will win his matchup, Boozer will feast on Bosh, Noah will shut down Bosh/Miami Center, and Brewer might be able to fill Kirk's role.

 

I'll wait till the second Heat game (when we have Noah) to judge if we can play them or not.

I appreciate a once again relevant Hedo Turkoglu.

 

 

An honest assessment is that the Bulls have no chance against Miami or Boston (unless injuries deplete the Celtics). The Bulls aren't even as good as the Knicks right now, so it would a be a delusion of grandeur to think they could take a series from one of the top 3 teams in the East (one of which being possibly the most talented team to play in the NBA ever).

 

Unless Bulls ownership is wiling to go into the tax and acquire an all-star level shooting guard, the Bulls look like they will be mired in the good but not elite category for the foreseeable future....

 

The Bulls will beat the Knicks in the playoffs. That uptempo style won't work if the Bulls play a playoff style of basketball.

The Bulls will beat the Knicks in the playoffs. That uptempo style won't work if the Bulls play a playoff style of basketball.

As long as both Noah and Boozer are healthy we'd handle the Knicks quite easily imo. 5 or 6 games.

As long as both Noah and Boozer are healthy we'd handle the Knicks quite easily imo. 5 or 6 games.

 

My assumption is for a healthy Bulls roster... If that is the case, I agree 6 games max. If we add a real 2, it could be a sweep.

I don't know what to think about the Bulls yet. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a competitive series with the top-3 and it wouldn't really surprise me if they struggled to beat New York or Atlanta. Boozer against a small-ball forward like Chandler or Smith seems like a nightmare waiting to happen and Rose might make Felton look like Isaiah Thomas.

 

I'd really feel A LOT better if they got a legitimate 2-guard, someone that can spread the floor a bit more and create their own shot on occasion so everything doesn't depend on Rose.