With that out of the way, I think with two games left in the regular season, a new post is in order, especially since I haven't updated since Wednesday, the Blackhawks aren't on yet and I gotta be somewhat productive with my day off.
The biggest story at the moment is that the Bulls' magic number to clinch the top seed in the East is 1. Even those at ESPN, which stands to try and get America on Miami's side, has conceded that the Bulls would have to lose out and the Heat lose out for the top of the standings to change. The regular season ends with a back-to-back slate against Indiana and Cleveland. The Pacers might pose a challenge, but the Cavs are more of a gimme, so I don't see the Bulls dropping both contests.
Life is pretty good right now if you're a fan of this team. Rip Hamilton is finally healthy and playing up to his potential. He's heating up at the right time with the playoffs looming. How long this hot streak will keep up is anyone's guess, but the rest of the year would be all right by me. Everybody else continues to play his part in order to keep this group at the head of the pack.
Now, I said life was pretty good, not great. The reason is Derrick Rose. Though he played in the win against Dallas on Saturday, he wasn't the dominator he's become known for. That has to change if the Bulls are to go far in the playoffs, much less win the NBA title. Unfortunately, this injury-plagued season hasn't been kind to him. There's nothing he wants more than to lead this club during the postseason. He most certainly will do that because that's when the real season begins. This year however, he's had to go to most of us consider the more practical option of listening to his body. That means not risking further injury by sitting out games that on paper don't look to be so big. As a Bulls fan, you pray that somewhere in that banged-up 23-year-old body is last year's MVP who defies all logic and reason with everything he does on the court. Honestly, it seems like the last time he did something that was replayed on SportsCenter was a year ago. While clearly not the case, he needs to be amazing or it'll be another exit in the conference finals or sooner.
Of course, having another true scoring option would help. As implied already, Rip Hamilton has been the closest to that lately. At the same time, Hamilton has never been one you build your offense around; part of a well-rounded offense, but not the centerpiece. Nobody stood out on the '04 Pistons championship team he was on, but the Finals MVP had to go to somebody and it was Chauncey Billups. Still, they wouldn't have won it all if Hamilton didn't perform the tasks expected of a great shooting guard in this league. The question now is whether that postseason experience will help Rose and the rest of his team reach the top. Step one is to get past Miami. After that, top the Western champion (Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, whoever comes out). Finally, celebrate with your fans in Grant Park.
I'll post after Wednesday's game and hopefully be able to talk about a regular-season conference championship. Usually, I've avoided posting on nights I've worked, but I'll tell you right now that I plan to post after every playoff game whether or not I'm at the Tribune Tower that night. Some posts might have to wait until the next day, but they'll get on here. That's all for tonight and go Hawks!
No comments:
Post a Comment