oikosnomos wrote:Are the Bulls the best 8th seed of all time?
Probably should've gotten a first-round bye tbh.
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oikosnomos wrote:Are the Bulls the best 8th seed of all time?
PlayerUp wrote:wco81 wrote:They're absolutely playing with confidence, hitting every open shot they get.
In contrast, Celtics are missing the shots they were making in the regular season.
But that confidence may disappear in the next round.
Hell, it could disappear in the next game.
What are you talking about? Boston shot better from the field and 3 than Chicago did in the 1st game and they still lost.
gumshoe wrote:I think the biggest reason why the Bulls are doing so well is because of Rondos leadership values. If you watch the regular season they tend to lose focus during the second half. If you watch Rondo during the playoffs, you could tell that he is keeping this team focused during the entire game. Which leads to everyone stepping up.
OrlandoTill wrote:Coxy wrote:None of them are coming close. Sweep to the finals.
Do you firmly believe this or are saying this 'cause of your sig bet?
SerialChiller wrote:The only threat to the Cavs in the East is themselves. They are head and shoulders above all the other teams, but do still seem to be in a weird funk. I would love to see Lebron and Wade finally go at it in a playoff series though, it's a shame they never did in both their primes. Wade is one of the few guys that never backs down from Bron and challenges him with all he has. They've had some classic head to head battles.
Coxy wrote:OrlandoTill wrote:Coxy wrote:None of them are coming close. Sweep to the finals.
Do you firmly believe this or are saying this 'cause of your sig bet?
Would I have made the bet if I didn't think so?
None of the East teams will be able to keep up with Cleveland in the 4th. Lebron is a completely different animal in 4th quarters in the playoffs.
Sweep to the finals.
jbk1234 wrote:SerialChiller wrote:The only threat to the Cavs in the East is themselves. They are head and shoulders above all the other teams, but do still seem to be in a weird funk. I would love to see Lebron and Wade finally go at it in a playoff series though, it's a shame they never did in both their primes. Wade is one of the few guys that never backs down from Bron and challenges him with all he has. They've had some classic head to head battles.
Wizards are a real threat but the way they're handling success would concern me if I was one of their fans. There's no need for all the talking they do. First off, they haven't won anything yet and this will be the first time they got out of the first round. It's a bad look. Second, it's counter productive the way they telegraph how physical they're going to play and now the league is watching them. If they play the Bulls the next round I expect them to win but the Bulls aren't a soft team. You talk all that smack to them, combined with physical play, and you might not like the response. Your team needs to make it through the series healthy too. Finally, there's nothing wrong with getting pumped up for a game or series but if you're not careful, you can end up forgetting that, first and foremost, you're there to win a basketball game. You get too caught up in all the intimidation nonsense and you can take yourself out of what you do well.
romeiroceltic wrote:I believe Wizards are a bigger treat and the Raptors as well. Bulls are just facing the hype against the malfunctional Celtics team. Against other teams it'd be a whole other thing.
jbk1234 wrote:SerialChiller wrote:The only threat to the Cavs in the East is themselves. They are head and shoulders above all the other teams, but do still seem to be in a weird funk. I would love to see Lebron and Wade finally go at it in a playoff series though, it's a shame they never did in both their primes. Wade is one of the few guys that never backs down from Bron and challenges him with all he has. They've had some classic head to head battles.
Wizards are a real threat but the way they're handling success would concern me if I was one of their fans. There's no need for all the talking they do. First off, they haven't won anything yet and this will be the first time they got out of the first round. It's a bad look. Second, it's counter productive the way they telegraph how physical they're going to play and now the league is watching them. If they play the Bulls the next round I expect them to win but the Bulls aren't a soft team. You talk all that smack to them, combined with physical play, and you might not like the response. Your team needs to make it through the series healthy too. Finally, there's nothing wrong with getting pumped up for a game or series but if you're not careful, you can end up forgetting that, first and foremost, you're there to win a basketball game. You get too caught up in all the intimidation nonsense and you can take yourself out of what you do well.
dlts20 wrote:Coxy wrote:OrlandoTill wrote:Do you firmly believe this or are saying this 'cause of your sig bet?
Would I have made the bet if I didn't think so?
None of the East teams will be able to keep up with Cleveland in the 4th. Lebron is a completely different animal in 4th quarters in the playoffs.
Sweep to the finals.
Meh. LeBron is one of the goats and has had some great 4ths but I've also seen a ton of occasions where he was great for 3 quarters and dissappear in the 4th. He can be a big front runner but is capable of getting tight and looking for someone to bail him out
dlts20 wrote:jbk1234 wrote:SerialChiller wrote:The only threat to the Cavs in the East is themselves. They are head and shoulders above all the other teams, but do still seem to be in a weird funk. I would love to see Lebron and Wade finally go at it in a playoff series though, it's a shame they never did in both their primes. Wade is one of the few guys that never backs down from Bron and challenges him with all he has. They've had some classic head to head battles.
Wizards are a real threat but the way they're handling success would concern me if I was one of their fans. There's no need for all the talking they do. First off, they haven't won anything yet and this will be the first time they got out of the first round. It's a bad look. Second, it's counter productive the way they telegraph how physical they're going to play and now the league is watching them. If they play the Bulls the next round I expect them to win but the Bulls aren't a soft team. You talk all that smack to them, combined with physical play, and you might not like the response. Your team needs to make it through the series healthy too. Finally, there's nothing wrong with getting pumped up for a game or series but if you're not careful, you can end up forgetting that, first and foremost, you're there to win a basketball game. You get too caught up in all the intimidation nonsense and you can take yourself out of what you do well.
This is wrong. 1st off our players are just intense and I like the passion but I can see where you and others may feel like this. However, you are wrong about them not getting past the 1st round. Missing the playoffs last year was a disappointment because they had a lead in the "2nd" round of the playoffs in each of the previous 2 seasons. In fact, the reason why they are celebrating so much is because they swept Toronto in the 1st round, then had a 1-0 lead on the Hawks in the 2nd round before Wall broke his hand. Wall is particularly upset because he came back 2 games later after no one thought he would and Schroeder was openly talking about chopping down on Wall's hand. Then after being eliminated Schroeder and Bazemore celebrated in his face. Also earlier this season Bazemore undercut Wall on a dunk that made Wall upset
76ciology wrote:Yeah until the fact that they wont be able to match up with Cavs offensive firepower
Coxy wrote:dlts20 wrote:Coxy wrote:
Would I have made the bet if I didn't think so?
None of the East teams will be able to keep up with Cleveland in the 4th. Lebron is a completely different animal in 4th quarters in the playoffs.
Sweep to the finals.
Meh. LeBron is one of the goats and has had some great 4ths but I've also seen a ton of occasions where he was great for 3 quarters and dissappear in the 4th. He can be a big front runner but is capable of getting tight and looking for someone to bail him out
Looks like my prediction is cooked today anyway. Pacers crushing.
dlts20 wrote:Coxy wrote:dlts20 wrote:Meh. LeBron is one of the goats and has had some great 4ths but I've also seen a ton of occasions where he was great for 3 quarters and dissappear in the 4th. He can be a big front runner but is capable of getting tight and looking for someone to bail him out
Looks like my prediction is cooked today anyway. Pacers crushing.
LeBron crushing again. Honestly before the playoffs started, I thought the Cavs were legitimately vulnerable. Then I went to YouTube and watched LeBron game 5,6,and 7 highlights from the finals and he literally looked like Karl Malone, MJ, and Magic sell combined. Just a Goat level player. Still think that they are flawed and the Wiz will give them fits
Coxy wrote:dlts20 wrote:Coxy wrote:
Looks like my prediction is cooked today anyway. Pacers crushing.
LeBron crushing again. Honestly before the playoffs started, I thought the Cavs were legitimately vulnerable. Then I went to YouTube and watched LeBron game 5,6,and 7 highlights from the finals and he literally looked like Karl Malone, MJ, and Magic sell combined. Just a Goat level player. Still think that they are flawed and the Wiz will give them fits
He's just another level of player that can propel a team to any sort of victory on his own. As a Warrior fan in this golden age we are having, he is the 1 player that keeps me up night thinking about. The Cavs are definitely vulnerable, but so is Golden State, so is San Antonio, so is Washington, so are the Clips, so are the Rox. Difference is though, the Cavs have Lebron James.
Sweep to the finals continues.
Jedi32 wrote:the biggest threat to the cavs in the east is health.
RingsDontLie wrote:Pennebaker wrote:RingsDontLie wrote:I think Bulls probably match up best with the CAVS. They got a good balance of vets and talent both offensively and defensively. Put Butler on Lebron, Rhondo on Kyrie. Then you got the dangerous closer in Wade who can take over a series still. Just seems like the Bulls are coming together and meshing well at the right time. Would like to see this series.
The 41-41 Bulls? Nah. Boston gave us a glimpse of what they were going to be like in the playoffs in the last Cavs-Celtics game. In other words, they weren't ready for the type of scrutiny and pressure the playoffs bring for a #1 seed. Boston would've performed much better as a #2 or #3 seed.
So I'd still say the Raptors. They are an experienced group now - with ECF history - and leaders that are increasingly learning how to play with short memories.
After Toronto I'd probably say the Bucks.
ECF history versus championship history on the bulls? What? Gotta remember this Bulls team had injury issues to wade and butler in february. They had in team fighting as well. I really think it has more to do with the bulls chemistry finally coming together. mirotic and zipser seem to be nice long distance shooters to spread the floor. I just dont see how wiz can beat the bulls. I think lowrys speed will pose as an issue though for the bulls. but lowry also has been known to disappear and struggle.