bukie

That was a miserable game to be at, but Tom Ricketts actually walked around the 100 levels passing out ponchos to fans in the seats, so I have to give him some credit for that.

In reality, I like the Bulls chances more the longer the series goes. If it goes 7 I think the Bulls will win. If they get game 1, I really like their chances. If they drop game 1 they desperately need to take either game 3 or 4.

Clutchy in the RISP: 7-13 with 2 walks and an HBP.

Do you actually think Dallas could beat LA, let alone in 6 games? The obvious answer here is YES. Boo Celtics, but I'll stick with the ridiculous homer pick, Bulls in 4, Dallas in 7.

Yeah let's tire out our superstar who isnt even that good defensively on a defensive mismatch just to get a crappy role player some open looks. Please no. When the crappy role player's role is to be essentially the 4th overall offensive option, it may make sense to get him some time against a team where you can hide him defensively on at least one non-factor. Boozer and Gibson will guard Bosh, just as they did during the 3 regular season matchups and I suspect, like in the 3 reg season matchups, Thibs will employ his standard defense and challenge the non-basketball mega gods to beat them. It's still going to be difficult to neutralize all three, so focusing Deng on one of James/Wade and keeping Bosh from dominating would seem to be the most effective use of the defense. The Bulls have the best opponent 3pt% defense in the NBA, but if anyone has a site where we could look up advanced team stats, I'd love to know. I'm not sure about your claim regarding transition three's. http://nbaplaybook.com/2011/04/12/round-1-preview-chicago-vs-indiana-%E2%80%93-defensive-breakdown/ Specifically referring to the Bulls defense, they're #1 in the NBA against the PnR and Iso offensive sets, but just 17th in transition defense. Specifically quoted from Pruiti:

Well it certainly won't be Korver. Korver becomes an interesting option because he can spread Miami's D and the Bulls can potentially hide him defensively on the Heat PG (especially Bibby, who Korver may actually match athletically).

A few morning Bulls-Heat thoughts: - I'm curious how the Bulls will try to defend the Heat. I expect Noah to handle Bosh, and I expect Deng to constantly shadow James, but do the Bulls try Rose on Wade to get more Korver use (which the Heat could potentially counter with James on Rose and Wade following Korver...leaving Deng with a mismatch), or will they go primarily with Brewer/Bogans with Rose roaming around to help off guard-du-jour and offense be damned? I expect them to let Noah neutralize Bosh, and focus on shutting down one of James/Wade as much as possible, banking on one superstar alone not being enough to win. - The Bulls probably have a bigger front court advantage against the Heat than they did against either of the two first-round opponents, if only because Bosh is the only "big" that is even above replacement level. Granted, James and Wade get plenty of time at the rim, too, and I expect a lot of fouls being called on drives by either of them. Of course, that's another advantage to a deep front court. - Offensively, the Bulls are going to need to continue to get contributions from more than just Rose. If Boozer can somehow match or surpass Bosh's production, I'd love the Bulls' chances. - Offensively, the Heat do most of their effective scoring two ways: isolation sets and transition. The Bulls defense is designed to limit isolation, but is probably weakest in transition (most notably transition 3's). The more the Bulls force the Heat into a half-court game, the better their chances. That means limiting TOs, which have been an issue the first two rounds. - Aside from James, Wade, and Bosh, the players that generally get minutes are (in descending order of avg minutes) Joel Anthony, Mario Chalmers, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Mike Bibby, James Jones and Juwan Howard (all other players average below 5 min per game). Going by APER (adjusted for assisted baskets), the Heat have the best two players (James 28.97 and Wade 27.13) and three of the best four (Rose 26.26, Bosh 18.95, Noah 18.88). However, the entire Bulls rotation follows before the next Heat player (Ilgauskas).

Yay Bulls! Fun but mostly meaningless stat of the day: The Bulls were a combined 8-1 during the season against the teams remaining in the playoffs, with the only loss coming on opening night.

Rose and Kobe are the first team all-NBA guards. I imagine there are about 8 guards who feel slighted (Wade, Paul, Westbrook, Ginobili, Rondo, Williams, Parker, Nash...).

Not even really concerned about the Heat yet, since the Hawks aren't exactly rolling over yet. Performance against the Hawks has little to do with predicting future performance against the Heat, but the Heat will and should be heavy favorites for the remainder of the playoffs, just based on how all the teams have played to this point.

That's kind of what I figured, if Sunday was available in any way they'd jump on it.

Traylor dead of a heart attack at 34. OMINOUS COINCIDENCE.

- Trade best prospects to Tim for DL'd roster filler.

Hindsight and all that, but Hinrich being out may have been the best thing to happen to the Hawks all season, because it forced Drew to use Teague. Teague's been arguably Atlanta's best player in the series.

Do I still get to be happy the Bulls didn't trade Asik or Gibson for Courtney Lee?

I'm there there will be plenty of south side stands that will rebrand the shirts as is and sell them.

For real? Josh Smith took a ton of outside shots yesterday. At least 6-7 that I can recall. Josh Smith: 1/6 on shots outside 15 feet, 7-11 on shots at the rim.

I don't think the Bulls do that against Atlanta. Boston/Miami, I could totally see, though. Until then, I'll just hope for early and often foul trouble from Boozer (and not Gibson, who can be a bit of a foul machine).

Not much to say about last night's game. Deng, Rose and Korver couldn't shoot, so there was no reason to spread the defense, so Atlanta could pack in and swarm Rose the whole night. Despite that, the game was still winnable with 3 minutes to play, but the defense collapsed on too many drive and kick plays, and the Hawks guards were making shots all game too. Josh Smith still can't hit an outside shot, but the Bulls didn't exactly make him try that, either. Sure, the Hawks played about as well as they could possibly play. But that was enough to win, and the Bulls defense was unable to keep up for the second time this series in the 4th, which is more annoying than anything else.

So either the Mavs, Thunder or Grizzlies will go to the NBA Finals. The Mavs may be the favorites at this point.

I'd say that was bush league, but I have a feeling everyone in the bush leagues was watching the game thinking "I wouldn't do that [expletive]"

Maybe they'll trail wire to wire, just to mix things up.

I have a feeling it's ankle concerns. No real evidence aside from the complete lack of driving, and thus FT attempts, but something's off.

Win by 13, terrible offensively. I...guess that's ok?

Atlanta was taking and making the most ridiculous shots ever in the fourth. Not a whole lot you can really do about it.