NBA

[karamazov80]

Bulls Heat should be a very interesting series. I think the Bulls are a better, more fundamental team. But the Heat has a couple of freaks that seem genetically engineered solely to play basketball well.

Go Bulls!

 

[NosferatuBill36]

Go Chicago!

 

[gibby]

Bulls Heat should be a very interesting series. I think the Bulls are a better, more fundamental team. But the Heat has a couple of freaks that seem genetically engineered solely to play basketball well.

Go Bulls!

Go Chicago!

This next round should be fun! A great offense against the best defense in the league.

 

[jstep13]

https://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story...o-match-for-Derrick-Rose-Chicago-Bulls-051211

Heat are no match for Bulls
JASON WHITLOCK

That won’t beat the Bulls.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh won’t be enough.

Go ahead, celebrate Miami’s 4-1 elimination of the Boston Celtics, get caught up in the hype.

What we just saw from the Heat won’t beat the Bulls.

James, Wade and Ch Bo — Bosh no longer deserves full credit, since he's downgraded the Big Three to the Big 2.5 — can’t win four games against a real elite team. The Heat’s best chance to reach the NBA Finals is to pray Atlanta somehow ousts Chicago. Short of that, I’ll take the Bulls in six games in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Big 2.5 cannot beat a cohesive, healthy eight-man rotation led by Derrick Rose. No way.

The Heat barely knocked off a Celtics team led by a one-armed point guard. Miami needed overtime Monday night and a 10-point, late-game eruption from James on Wednesday night to hold off an injury-riddled and worn Celtics squad.

I don’t blame you for being impressed. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were spectacular throughout the series and phenomenal in the clincher, scoring 33 and 34 points, respectively.

We’ve never seen anything like the pairing of James and Wade. It’s better than Jordan and Pippen.

We’ve also never seen anything like James, Wade and Bo’s supporting cast. Mario Chalmers, Mike Bibby, Joel Anthony, Juwan Howard, James Jones, Eddie House, Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and coach Erik Spoelstra might be a nine seed in the NCAA tournament.

They remind me of the inept, skeleton crew of muscle Avon and Slim Charles sent at Marlo, Chris and Snoop in season three of “The Wire.”

The Heat are going to war on a lie. OK, the word lie might be too strong. But it’s a myth the Heat demonstrated anything during the Boston series that revealed Miami as a legitimate title team.

I’ve never once doubted James’ or Wade’s individual or collective brilliance. My problem with the Heat has always been the support, the bench.

Wednesday night, six Heat players not named LeBron, Dwyane or Ch took the court, and they contributed 4-of-21 shooting, 16 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. In Game 4, the non-Big 2.5 contributed 7-of-16 shooting, 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

That’s not going to beat the Bulls. With a healthy Rajon Rondo, the Celtics would’ve eliminated the Heat in the semifinals. Rondo averaged 11 points, 4.4 rebounds, 11 assists and 2.3 steals during the regular season. He pushed the pace on both ends of the court. His twisted, bandaged left elbow rendered him useless the final two games. In Games 4 and 5 combined, he had four rebounds, eight assists and one steal.

Rondo’s ineffectiveness and the closeness of Games 4 and 5 speak to how unimpressive the Heat were in dispatching the Celtics.

James and Wade, impressive. The Heat, not so much. The Heat capitalized on Boston’s injuries — Rondo, Shaq’s calf, Jermaine O’Neal’s back — and old legs.

The Heat won’t have those luxuries against Chicago.

The popular narrative is the Bulls look terrible, particularly on offense, against an IQ-challenged Atlanta squad. I contend the Heat looked worse against a battered and helpless Boston team.

Derrick Rose is going to chew up Bibby and Chalmers. Spoelstra is going to end up putting Wade on Rose and sitting his point guards. And that’s going to put a drain on Wade’s offensive effectiveness and potentially lead to foul trouble.

Fatigue, a lack of playmaking from Rondo and frustration prevented the Celtics from finishing the fourth quarters with any efficiency or consistency. Chicago won’t have that problem.

If the game is close late — and these games will be — Rose, Luol Deng, Kyle Korver and Chicago’s bigs will make the necessary plays at both ends. Ch Bo won’t make a heroic tip-in over Joakim Noah at crunch time. Most important, Rose’s constant penetration is going to force the refs to give Chicago the same calls James and Wade get in the paint. Don’t look for Miami to enjoy a 40-plus free-throw disparity in the Eastern Conference finals.

Oh, and one more thing.

Remember when the New York Jets beat the New England Patriots to advance to the AFC Championship Game? Remember LaDainian Tomlinson crying and the Jets celebrating like they’d just won the Lombardi Trophy?

That’s how the Heat looked after finishing Boston. They turned the Boston series into a personal NBA Finals. They spent too much emotional capital on getting past a broken team. You can go to that emotional well only so many times.

The Jets fell behind Pittsburgh 24-0 before finding their legs in the AFC Championship Game.

Chicago-Miami. Can’t wait!!!

 

[The Ringer]

Looks like something wrote up by the Chicago Tribune.

 

[namnori47]

all this and even if Miami wins it all, even 7 times like Lebron wants, none of them, Bosh, Lebron, Wade, will ever be considered even close to Kobe or MJ!

 

[karamazov80]

Not exactly a cool, objective analysis IMO. This sentence made me dismiss that guy's editorial: "The Heat barely knocked off a Celtics team led by a one-armed point guard."

Barely knocked them off? The Celtics only won a single game! Doesn't matter if there were close games. And the "if the Celtics coulda, woulda, shoulda" talk is weak. The Celtics seemed weak-willed and couldn't close, while the Heat finished. The Heat were the better team and won. And though I hope the Bulls beat them (to a pulp), you've got two of the very top elite players in the league playing with Miami right now. Lebron single-handedly brought the Cavs to the finals before. Now, he's got a future hall of fame superstar (and former MVP of a championship team) in Wade and a borderline all-star player in Bosh, with some other, fairly solid secondary players.

As I said before, I think Rose has a better team around him, and that's why I think the Bulls have a serious shot. But he's got no future hall of famer playing alongside him, so to completely discount the Heat's chances is going way too far, IMO. The Pacers and Hawks are no Celtics, either, so I'm not sure how much I want to take away from the Bulls' previous series.

all this and even if Miami wins it all, even 7 times like Lebron wants, none of them, Bosh, Lebron, Wade, will ever be considered even close to Kobe or MJ!

I wouldn't exactly list Kobe and MJ in the same breath there. Kobe is an awesome player, and probably the best since Jordan. But he's no Jordan.

 

[The Josh]

Looks like something wrote up by the Chicago Tribune.

Oh trust me I know Whitlock he used to write here in KC. He's no bulls fan trust me. He's right though.

 

[azurepred]

Looks like something wrote up by the Chicago Tribune.

"the Heat barely knocked off the Celtics". Should we say the Mavs barely knocked off LA too? Rondo was hurt, and no doubt that's a contributing factor, but they still have 3 other current all-stars. Did many ppl really expect Bosh to put up great numbers against KG? He's argueably the best 4 spot defender still, even at his age. I lmao when all of a sudden, all the media, except for this article, is trying to play the Bulls as the underdog. They only have the best record in the NBA, with the MVP and COTY. It's gonna be a great series nonetheless........

 

[The Ringer]

By wrote up I mean pulled straight out of his ass.

 

[namnori47]

yes but Kobe and MJ are similar, they go against the leagues best not join them. Lebron couldnt thats y he is a sellout, just think of him as a NY Yankee, thats probably y he always wears a their hat.

 

[azurepred]

I wouldn't exactly list Kobe and MJ in the same breath there. Kobe is an awesome player, and probably the best since Jordan. But he's no Jordan.

that will make a great debate when Kobe is retired. I don't think the distance is very large between the two, but I also have Jordan as the better, overall player.

 

[jstep13]

 

[Centurion]

that will make a great debate when Kobe is retired. I don't think the distance is very large between the two, but I also have Jordan as the better, overall player.

At this point I agree. However, Kobe hasn't retired yet and so it will be interesting to make this comparison once again on more equal terms.

They're certainly two of my most favorite basketball players.

 

[Centurion]

He's certainly a great candidate for the next Academy Award winner.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

bulls won

 

[denger4000]

I actually think the Bulls will have a tough time against the Heat. The bulls offense is way to dependent on Rose. We'll see though, but I can see a rematch in the finals from 06, Heat vs Mavs.

 

[Nitro]

I'll be rooting for the Bulls against the Heat regardless.

 

[Wake]

Jasn Whitlock also picked the celtics to beat heat. I like how he conveniently fails to.mention that heat was 2-0 against a healthy rondo. Injuries happen. Ask dwade. The heat had a 3-2 series lead in the 05 conference finals against Detroit before he was seriously hurt.

Aboutthe bulls series... 12 of 14 espn panelists are picking the heat. 10 of them say heat in 6. This too is my opinion. Drose will get his but wade/bron combo is unstoppable. Boozer will be exposed as weak link. Bosh will surprise people. Heat defense will make poor bulls scoring even worse.

 

[mikedanger]

i can't stomach a mavs/heat rematch, but if it happens the mavs had better take it. their window is about to slam shut

having to watch all of those 06 clips again...ugh...get the puke bucket ready