25 years later, the Bulls are one of the better teams in the East. Were it not for Derrick Rose's struggles to stay healthy, they'd be seen as a title contender. The Bucks were already nothing more than an average team going into the season, but Jabari Parker's ACL tear in December ended hopes of taking too many people by surprise. And the newly named BMO Harris Bradley Center is near the end of its tenure as the Bucks' home.
The 3-6 matchup in the East is unofficially a battle for the right to take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals. It can also be seen as an example of the talent discrepancy throughout most of the conference. At 41-41, the Bucks should be seeded seventh or eighth. Instead, two teams with losing records in Boston and Brooklyn get those positions while the 45-37 Oklahoma City Thunder miss the Western Conference playoffs, resulting in calls to revamp the NBA playoff system.
All that aside, the 50-win Bulls should feel good about their chances in this series. They won three of the four meetings during the regular season. But neither team scored more than 95 points against each other. In fact, the winning team had 95 three times, so the defense was not lacking.
If the NBA playoffs require a lot of offense though, the Bulls should feel better than they did last year. Washington ousted them in five games as what little offensive firepower the Bulls had disappeared. With Rose healthy (we hope) for this series, Pau Gasol in town and Jimmy Butler having a career season, points should be easier to come by. Then again, how many times have we said that this year, only to see them suffer a letdown?
Rose says he'll be ready to go for the playoffs, so if that's true, he easily gets the advantage at point guard for most matchups in the NBA. Maybe the Bulls don't rely on him to carry the load as much as they once did, but he can still change any game on both ends with his talent and sheer will to win. He'll go up against Michael Carter-Williams, who was acquired from Philadelphia at the trade deadline and has done well to fill in for Parker. He's a good scorer, but his big reputation for passing has never faded and his continued improvement should be on display throughout the series.
Butler's All-Star campaign was the story of the NBA for the first couple months of the season. He successfully played for his next big contract by scoring at will and making big plays on defense, so he deserves to have the shooting guard advantage in this series. Khris Middleton, in his third NBA season, has played very well on offense and fits the true definition of swingman. Even if he's not guarding Butler, he might make life difficult for some of the taller Bulls players at times.
Mike Dunleavy has been a veteran leader, which is useful for the younger, better stars on the Bulls. He can also shoot well and there are times when he'll suddenly catch fire, which takes some of the load off of those aforementioned stars. Still, the better small forward will be Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the best young players in the game who has improved in virtually every area during his second season. It will be fun to watch him impose his athleticism and scoring will, especially if he can show why he competed in the Slam Dunk Contest this year.
Gasol is older, but the change of scenery from Los Angeles this year proved to be just what he needed to lead the league in double-doubles at age 34. Maybe his defense is a bit lacking, but all he has to do is create opportunities for himself down low to both score and rebound, which makes him the best power forward in the series. Even so, Ersan Ilyasova has averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 rebounds since the All-Star break, so he's riding on a lot of momentum right now. If he sees a defensive lapse in the post, you better believe he's going to successfully take advantage of it.
Joakim Noah remains the Bulls' emotional leader, but his struggles with injuries throughout the year have diminished his contributions. Despite this, he only needs to make a couple of big plays each game for the rest of the Bulls to feed off and take their game to another level. Center Zaza Pachulia, who faced the Bulls with Atlanta in the 2011 playoffs, is decent for what he's capable of at age 30, but not a whole lot stands out with him. Although he fits in as a role player who has good stretches of games, that's where he maxes out, so I'm calling a draw between him and Noah.
Tom Thibodeau, even with his troubles with the Bulls' brass, has done a fine job once again this year. You may not agree with the minutes he gives his stars while other coaches rest theirs at times during the season, but the man gets results and if he didn't do that, I wouldn't be giving him the advantage at coach. Jason Kidd, not far removed from playing the game, is still working to establish himself as someone who can coach in this league for a long time to come. Until he's ready to guide true championship contenders, he'll do all right in guiding more average teams like this year's Bucks.
The Bulls may not be the first team to come to mind when thinking about teams that could win it all, but the talent is certainly there to challenge for it. Plus, they're one of the few legitimate teams in a conference filled with teams that were mere afterthoughts throughout the NBA landscape. The Bucks don't have the personnel needed to pull off an upset and with Chicago being so close, it might be tough for them to feed off their home crowd with all the red that is bound to be in the stands. But there are worse teams than them in the playoffs, so I think they'll win a couple of games before the Bulls oust them in six.
You all have two days to process this before the series begins at the United Center Saturday evening. Remember to wear red if you're going to be in the building. Frankly, I've been a little disappointed that quite a few fans don't get the message during the playoffs, so one must spread the word by any means necessary. Have fun watching and hope the Bulls make some noise this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment