Chicago Bulls Playoff Thread

[UMFan83]

The Bulls hadn't won a game against a +500 team in over a month before tonight going 0-5 in the process.

 

All 5 without Rose, Deng or both. With Rose and Deng they are 6-1 against +500 teams. (@Lakers, @Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, @Celtics, @Orlando. Loss @Atlanta)

[minnesotacubsfan]

man. its no fun watching the bulls with that jab in Roses back.

[UMFan83]

Ok so the Bulls without Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton are roughly as good as the Celtics.

 

Yep, and the Bulls at full strength are worse than the Warriors.

 

2 game sample size > 1 :)

[SouthSideRyan]

The Bulls hadn't won a game against a +500 team in over a month before tonight going 0-5 in the process.

 

All 5 without Rose, Deng or both. With Rose and Deng they are 6-1 against +500 teams. (@Lakers, @Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, @Celtics, @Orlando. Loss @Atlanta)

 

Nitpick, but I believe one of them played in each of those games.

[davell]

The Bulls are the 2nd best team in the East, if healthy. The best team is about to get better. That's really all that matters to me. Without a fluke or injury, I can't see us coming out of the East. And I think the injuries we've had, the great record(mostly against bad teams) will keep us from wanting to make any changes of consequence.

[UMFan83]

Ah, you are right my bad.

 

The timing of their injuries is strange. Rose missed a few games, the last of which was on 1/21, the game where Deng hurt his wrist. So Rose was back and Deng was out until 2/4 against Milwaukee. After one game together, Rose's back became an issue in the next game and has been out since.

 

They've only both been healthy together for 14 out of 32 games this year.

[DivineBovine]

The Bulls hadn't won a game against a +500 team in over a month before tonight going 0-5 in the process.

 

All 5 without Rose, Deng or both. With Rose and Deng they are 6-1 against +500 teams. (@Lakers, @Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, @Celtics, @Orlando. Loss @Atlanta)

 

 

Oh wait, I thought Rose is overrated because the Bulls are so good without him.

[bcl412]

Yeah, I'm not sold on Chris Kaman going to Miami and making them some unstoppable force.

[Banedon]

It's kinda too bad that the Bulls had to guarantee John Lucas III's salary for the year. I think I'd rather see James as the 3rd PG at this point. Lucas had a good game or two during CJ's injury, but he's played like....John Lucas III since.

 

James was a bit fouly last night, but otherwise played very well.

[rawaction]

It's kinda too bad that the Bulls had to guarantee John Lucas III's salary for the year. I think I'd rather see James as the 3rd PG at this point. Lucas had a good game or two during CJ's injury, but he's played like....John Lucas III since.

 

James was a bit fouly last night, but otherwise played very well.

 

Yeah, Lucas kinda sucks. I'd much rather see James out there if necessary. Much more confident in him to not take a ridiculous shot and to not make a horrible pass (or willingness to make a pass at all for that matter).

[Ryne Ween]

The fact we have the best record in the NBA while having very key injuries and playing 20 road games is very impressive. Huge credit to the balance the front office has given this team. The CJ, Brewer, and Korver signings to go with the Taj pick is great work. Taj might be the second best big man in his draft (extreme guard heavy draft but still).

[rawaction]

The Bulls hadn't won a game against a +500 team in over a month before tonight going 0-5 in the process.

 

All 5 without Rose, Deng or both. With Rose and Deng they are 6-1 against +500 teams. (@Lakers, @Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, @Celtics, @Orlando. Loss @Atlanta)

 

Yeah, they said during the game last night that the Bulls started 5-1 vs. teams currently in the playoffs. But were 1-5 in the last 6 against those teams. And that the Bulls needed to show they could beat the good teams or something to that effect. Being a person who talks back to the TV, I said "how many of those were without Deng and/or Rose?" You'd think people who get paid to do a job would be more informed on what they are talking about.

[Banedon]

The Bulls hadn't won a game against a +500 team in over a month before tonight going 0-5 in the process.

 

All 5 without Rose, Deng or both. With Rose and Deng they are 6-1 against +500 teams. (@Lakers, @Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, @Celtics, @Orlando. Loss @Atlanta)

 

Yeah, they said during the game last night that the Bulls started 5-1 vs. teams currently in the playoffs. But were 1-5 in the last 6 against those teams. And that the Bulls needed to show they could beat the good teams or something to that effect. Being a person who talks back to the TV, I said "how many of those were without Deng and/or Rose?" You'd think people who get paid to do a job would be more informed on what they are talking about.

 

And they said that stuff right after saying that Rose and Hamilton have only played 9 games together, and the starters have only played 5 games together....

 

I was yelling at the TV with you Raw. My wife can attest.

[RynoRules]

The Bulls hadn't won a game against a +500 team in over a month before tonight going 0-5 in the process.

 

All 5 without Rose, Deng or both. With Rose and Deng they are 6-1 against +500 teams. (@Lakers, @Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, @Celtics, @Orlando. Loss @Atlanta)

 

Yeah, they said during the game last night that the Bulls started 5-1 vs. teams currently in the playoffs. But were 1-5 in the last 6 against those teams. And that the Bulls needed to show they could beat the good teams or something to that effect. Being a person who talks back to the TV, I said "how many of those were without Deng and/or Rose?" You'd think people who get paid to do a job would be more informed on what they are talking about.

 

And they said that stuff right after saying that Rose and Hamilton have only played 9 games together, and the starters have only played 5 games together....

 

I was yelling at the TV with you Raw. My wife can attest.

 

And that stat itself is dumb, IMO. They are 6-6 against the best teams in the league? That's pretty good. You get fat during the regular season against the sucky teams aim to do better than .500 against the rest. Only the exceptional teams (the 96' Bulls, for example) kick the tar out of everyone. This Bulls team isn't on that level and it doesn't need to be....at least not yet. If Miami adds a piece or two they will probably be there themselves.

[SouthSideRyan]

For reference:

 

Boston vs teams over 500: 5-8

Miami vs teams over 500 11-4

[SouthSideRyan]

For reference:

 

Boston vs teams over 500: 5-8

Miami vs teams over 500 11-4

 

Thunder: 11-5

[SouthSideRyan]

For reference:

 

Boston vs teams over 500: 5-8

Miami vs teams over 500 11-4

 

Thunder: 11-5

 

Spurs: 13-5.

 

That's all I care to count up right now.

 

These are all the teams(including the Bulls) over .700 + the Celtics.

[RynoRules]

For reference:

 

Boston vs teams over 500: 5-8

Miami vs teams over 500 11-4

 

Thunder: 11-5

 

Spurs: 13-5.

 

That's all I care to count up right now.

 

These are all the teams(including the Bulls) over .700 + the Celtics.

 

Some of those teams must not be doing as well as the Bulls against the bottom half of the league...

[SouthSideRyan]

Well yeah, it's a zero sum game, it's a matter of whether you buy into the NBA teams don't bring it every night argument, which you would assume would happen more often against scrub teams than good teams.

[CubColtPacer]

For reference:

 

Boston vs teams over 500: 5-8

Miami vs teams over 500 11-4

 

Thunder: 11-5

 

Spurs: 13-5.

 

That's all I care to count up right now.

 

These are all the teams(including the Bulls) over .700 + the Celtics.

 

Some of those teams must not be doing as well as the Bulls against the bottom half of the league...

 

That's part of it. The other part of it is that the Bulls have had the 2nd easiest strength of schedule in the league (4th easiest when factoring in home/road like Sagarin does). A team like Oklahoma City is 14-5 against teams over .500 and 8-2 against teams under. The Bulls are 8-6 against teams over .500 and 17-1 against teams below .500.

 

BTW SSR you don't have to count them up. If you go the ESPN NBA standings and go to expanded standings, it shows each team's record against over .500 and sub .500 teams.

[RynoRules]

For reference:

 

Boston vs teams over 500: 5-8

Miami vs teams over 500 11-4

 

Thunder: 11-5

 

Spurs: 13-5.

 

That's all I care to count up right now.

 

These are all the teams(including the Bulls) over .700 + the Celtics.

 

Some of those teams must not be doing as well as the Bulls against the bottom half of the league...

 

That's part of it. The other part of it is that the Bulls have had the 2nd easiest strength of schedule in the league (4th easiest when factoring in home/road like Sagarin does). A team like Oklahoma City is 14-5 against teams over .500 and 8-2 against teams under. The Bulls are 8-6 against teams over .500 and 17-1 against teams below .500.

 

BTW SSR you don't have to count them up. If you go the ESPN NBA standings and go to expanded standings, it shows each team's record against over .500 and sub .500 teams.

 

And now please tell me how many of those games were back-to-backs with their best and/or second or third best player injured...how many of them were played as part of a long (4-plus games) road trip....

 

That was rhetorical. My point is that those stats strike me as fitting under the well-known Andrew Lang quote about drunks and lamposts. They look meaningful on their face but in reality are pretty shallow.

[SouthSideRyan]

BTW SSR you don't have to count them up. If you go the ESPN NBA standings and go to expanded standings, it shows each team's record against over .500 and sub .500 teams.

 

Then what would I do with all that time I spent counting? Work???

[Flames24Rulz]

Miami was terrible against Boston and Chicago in the regular season last year and what did that mean in the playoffs?

[Flames24Rulz]

In fact, Miami was 21-19 against teams that were .500 or better last season.

 

As long as you go a little bit better than .500 against the decent teams, you'll set yourself up nicely for playoff positioning. You shouldn't get discredited for having the mark the Bulls do against bad teams, especially this season when there are so many terrible teams in the league this season.

 

Miami's mark this year against good teams is very impressive but the Bulls went 25-13 last year against teams with winning records. Obviously once the playoffs start, the only thing that matters is how you match up with the team you're playing. Feasting on the bad opponents is key in a regular season and the Bulls have done a fantastic job of that this year.

[CubColtPacer]

 

Some of those teams must not be doing as well as the Bulls against the bottom half of the league...

 

That's part of it. The other part of it is that the Bulls have had the 2nd easiest strength of schedule in the league (4th easiest when factoring in home/road like Sagarin does). A team like Oklahoma City is 14-5 against teams over .500 and 8-2 against teams under. The Bulls are 8-6 against teams over .500 and 17-1 against teams below .500.

 

BTW SSR you don't have to count them up. If you go the ESPN NBA standings and go to expanded standings, it shows each team's record against over .500 and sub .500 teams.

 

And now please tell me how many of those games were back-to-backs with their best and/or second or third best player injured...how many of them were played as part of a long (4-plus games) road trip....

 

That was rhetorical. My point is that those stats strike me as fitting under the well-known Andrew Lang quote about drunks and lamposts. They look meaningful on their face but in reality are pretty shallow.

 

I wasn't trying to attribute any meaning to the statistics other than to say that it's not quite a zero sum game. Oklahoma City for example is doing much better than the Bulls against teams over .500 while only being barely worse against teams under .500, and yet still have a worse record than the Bulls.

 

But as you pointed out, that statistic is highly flawed and shouldn't have much predictive power at all. For the reasons you mentioned and also for things like there are five Western Conference teams just a little over .500 (above .500 and below .600) while the Eastern Conference has 1 team in that range. So to cut it off at .500 is very helpful to those Western Conference teams.