How good can the 2010-2011 Bulls be?

[LkrFan]

I must admit, I'm impressed with the Bulls. When Noah went down, I just knew the Bulls would be going down with him. But even before he went down, Boozer was out with injuries too - yet they just keep on winning. Now they are starting 38 year old Kurt Thomas at center...and yep, you guessed it: they are still winning.

If these guys can remain healthy and continue to improve I wouldn't say that either Boston, Miami, or Orlando are stone cold locks to come out of the EC. The Bulls just might have something to say about it when it is all said and done.

They are 19 games above 0.500 for the 1st times since you know who played for them... I'm impressed with the Bulls.

[Giuseppe]

Anybody worth their salt in the East would have to wise guy their way past the Celtics. That'll never be permitted. The Celtics operate under the protection of Stern in NY.. As the Lakers do. That's why WE were able to wise guy our way past them for #16. If that'd a been in MA., no way.

[Ace]

Thunder of 09-10

[DMC]

Not as good as Kobe, that's for sure.

[JoeTait75]

Anybody worth their salt in the East would have to wise guy their way past the Celtics. That'll never be permitted. The Celtics operate under the protection of Stern in NY.. As the Lakers do. That's why WE were able to wise guy our way past them for #16. If that'd a been in MA., no way.

Cully, it's Chicago. Big market, big names, storied history. Herr Stern won't be an impediment to them.

[BanditHiro]

spurs vs bulls in the finals...

[Sisk]

Thunder of 09-10

This.

[TD 21]

Just good enough to push the Celtics or Heat to a seventh game before ultimately succumbing. I like the Bulls, but until they get a secondary shot creator on the perimeter and at least some experience together, they'll be what they are now: A very good team that falls just short of being a contender.

[TE]

Cully, it's Chicago. Big market, big names, storied history. Herr Stern won't be an impediment to them.
Def. this. Can't argue against that.

[Giuseppe]

No way.

[TE]

You've never been to Chicago I suppose.


Rockin' place and beautiful babes.

[JoeTait75]

No way.

This ain't the West, Cully. Boston isn't the only big market in this conference.

[HarlemHeat37]

+1 on TD21..

If they continue to start Keith Bogans, they will be limiting their potential..the Bulls are -3.6 pp100 when Bogans is on the floor..he's severely limited offensively, and doesn't do much defensively..

If they can get a decent SG that can also provide some outside shooting, they're on the way..

[Jacob1983]

Stern would jizz in his pants if the Bulls and Lakers meet in the Finals this year. It would be 20 years since the Bulls and Lakers last met each other in the Finals.

[#41 Shoot Em Up]

Eastern Conference Finals wouldn't suprise me one bit

[LkrFan]

Thunder of 09-10
Doubtful. They have a defensive genius as a head coach. And they play in the EC whereas outside of Orlando, Miami, and Boston, the EC sucks ass. Barring another major injury, Chicago is a lock for at least the 4th seed with the possibility of a higher seed. They currently check in at #2 in EC. I expect them to improve once they get their all-star center back. Dismiss them if you want to but I'm not.

[jestersmash]

It never ceases to amaze me how consistent overall scoring margin tends to be with subjective perception of who championship contenders are.

Subjectively, most people agree that there are four "1st tier" championship contenders (LA/Boston/San Antonio/Miami) and two "2nd tier" championship contenders (Chicago/Orlando).

Sure enough, overall scoring margin looks like this

LA/Boston/San Antonio/Miami scoring margin = +7.xx
Orlando/Chicago scoring margin = +5.xx

And... nobody else comes even close. The next two highest scoring margins belong to Denver (+3.61) and New Orleans (+3.45). The rest of the league is below +3.

[LkrFan]

Bump.

3 months later, anyone change their minds? Their #1 in the EC, red hot, and rolling. Only thing stopping them right now is a major injury.

Lakers/Bulls for it all.

Discuss.

[Giuseppe]

I wanna see Rondo & the Celtics fix Rose & their fuckin' wagon.

[21_Blessings]

Anybody worth their salt in the East would have to wise guy their way past the Celtics. That'll never be permitted. The Celtics operate under the protection of Stern in NY.. As the Lakers do. That's why WE were able to wise guy our way past them for #16. If that'd a been in MA., no way.

Rose is so much better than any player on the Celtics. Hell, he even took em to game 7 a couple years ago with a vastly inferior team.

Chicago potentially beating Boston shouldn't surprise anyone.

[Giuseppe]

That's weird, 21. I hope it's a good harbinger for tonite, and not a bad one.

[Kyle Orton]

Bump.

3 months later, anyone change their minds? Their #1 in the EC, red hot, and rolling. Only thing stopping them right now is a major injury.

Lakers/Bulls for it all.

Discuss.

I wouldn't call them "red hot and rolling". So far in two home playoff games against a below .500 team in the regular season, they've needed a herculean effort from D Rose in order to eek out each win. If they need these kind of performances to beat Indiana @ Chicago, what the fuck is Rose gonna have to do for them to beat Boston @ Boston or Miami @ Miami (and beating elite teams in their own arena is something all championship teams have to do).

I know everyone is gonna point to their regular season record against Miami, but we all know that has little to no baring on how a playoff series plays out.

[Kyle Orton]

Next season they'll be scrary, pending the right off-season moves that is. JR Smith at the starting 2 will make them near impossible to stop on the offensive end.
They won't be any better next season than they were this season. They're still in the new coach/new group of players honeymoon phase. Eventually Boozer will stop listening to Thibs like he has all of his other coaches, Luol Deng won't stay completely healthy the entire season (he never has prior to this year), all of Rose's mileage will catch up to him, etc. This Bulls team has little to no room for improvement.

[sefant77]

Not sold on them

Game 1 the Pacers gave away in a chokejob and in the 2nd game it took the Bulls until the 4th...

[Darth_Pelican]

I wouldn't call them "red hot and rolling". So far in two home playoff games against a below .500 team in the regular season, they've needed a herculean effort from D Rose in order to eek out each win. If they need these kind of performances to beat Indiana @ Chicago, what the fuck is Rose gonna have to do for them to beat Boston @ Boston or Miami @ Miami (and beating elite teams in their own arena is something all championship teams have to do).

I know everyone is gonna point to their regular season record against Miami, but we all know that has little to no baring on how a playoff series plays out.

This.

I haven't been impressed with their first 2 HOME playoff games against a team BELOW .500

Rose can only do so much.

[21_Blessings]

They won't be any better next season than they were this season. They're still in the new coach/new group of players honeymoon phase. Eventually Boozer will stop listening to Thibs like he has all of his other coaches, Luol Deng won't stay completely healthy the entire season (he never has prior to this year), all of Rose's mileage will catch up to him, etc. This Bulls team has little to no room for improvement.

Mileage at 22? :lol

If the Bulls had kept Thabo, their D would be out of this world good. Finals the next 3-4 years. All they need is a serviceable two-way player at SG and they can improve.

[21_Blessings]

That's weird, 21. I hope it's a good harbinger for tonite, and not a bad one.

:lol

Didn't realize that post was 3 months old :smokin

[Frenzy]

If anyone deserves a ring this early in his career its D.Rose the guy is simply a stud. To me it looks like he loves to play and compete. He doesn't have all the need to address the media with his skills as most other stars in the nba do. The guy works hard and it shows in his game.

[hater]

the celtics will make the finals