The Bulls this series and in the future

[truthiness]

Since the Bulls seem positioned to be a contender for the next few years and a major rival for Miami in the East, let's take a look at the recent series and the near future. Especially since some Heat fans seem a bit scared of what the Bulls might look like next season.

1. The series was close, but not that close.

There were 2 blowouts and in the 3 games that were close (including the L), the Bulls made a ton of difficult shots, which is not sustainable over a longer period of time, while Miami missed a ton of open shots, especially 3's (looking at you, Shane).

Not to take anything from the Bulls players who played hard, but it was mostly luck that kept those games close.

2. Having Rose, Deng and Hinrich would have helped them, but I doubt it would have put them over the top.
Especially if Wade was healthy.

If Rose and Deng played, it would have cut into Robinson's and Butler's minutes. It's not like you take the current boxscore and you add Rose's and Deng's averages to the Bulls side so they end up with 40 extra points and 10 rebounds.

Not to mention that Robinson played way over his head, and both him and Butler might not have gotten a rhythm had they played much fewer minutes. Then you might have to factor in Rose's impact on offense, as with him the Bulls might move the ball less. I also think Boozer's numbers with Rose are much worse than without him.

Actually, having Hinrich would have hurt them IMO, cause he's a ball stopper on offense. He's overrated as a defender, too.

3. Bulls' future with Rose healthy

Assuming his muscle memory comes back sometime this summer, you would normally expect the Bulls to be back where they were a couple of years ago: a very good regular season team and one of the contenders. Some might even put them above the Heat, citing the emergence of Butler.

There is no doubt the Bulls FO could build a strong contender, as they have the main pieces in place already, but looking at their history of cheapness, I expect them to:
- not keep Robinson
- trade Deng, citing Butler's emergence, in order to save some money
- cut Hamilton (already done)
- try to rebuild the bench on the cheap again - they did it last season, but I don't think they'll get that lucky again

With these in mind, I don't really expect to become contenders, just a very solid regular season team, like the Suns were from 2005 to 2009.

I also wonder when (not if) Thibs' style will start rubbing players the wrong way. He seems to be the same kind of coach as Skiles, a guy who'd get the most out of his teams for a couple of seasons (and especially in the season), but then lose the team and get fired. You can't have a team overachieving all the time. They will get physically and mentally fatigued and will stop responding.

Conclusion: other than the Pacers, the East should stay wide open for the Heat for the next couple of years at least. The Pacers and Bulls will be in position to test the Heat, but if the big 3 stays healthy, the Heat should be in a great position for the near future.

[MiaFLSurf]

The Bulls are fools gold.

They play like a glorified high school team that tries to out-hustle everyone.

Doesnt work in the NBA Playoffs.

They will continue to get all their signature regular season wins, but will falter time and time again in the playoffs.

I blame their coaching. Awful offensive sets. Awful minutes management. Awful management of an 82 game schedule.

[mopper8]

I agree for the most part. The Deng and Hinrich absences were made up in large part by Butler playing 48 mpg, and Belinelli getting run and playing better offensively than Hinrich could've possibly hoped to. Noah's foot didn't seem to be bothering him as much in this series as had it been earlier, either.

That being said, obviously, depth and adding Derrick Rose improve the team. But as noted we weren't fully healthy either, and overall the series wasn't as close as some think. 2 blowouts and a 10 point win in there.

I made this point on the GB, and nobody really answered it, but I'll reiterate here: Miami is 50-5 in their last 55 games. How good do people expect the Bulls to be? I see no reason to think they'll be near as good as the Heat have been of late.

[Kerosene]

"You do one of two things," Wade said after his second-highest scoring game of this postseason. "You either sit out and watch your team play, or you get out there and try to find a way to help your team. There are really no other options. This ain't the regular season. You don't have time to take 10 games off to try to get back. This is the time of the year when you try to do whatever you can."

Wade taking shots at Rose?

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page ... daily-dime

[Heat fan06]

"You do one of two things," Wade said after his second-highest scoring game of this postseason. "You either sit out and watch your team play, or you get out there and try to find a way to help your team. There are really no other options. This ain't the regular season. You don't have time to take 10 games off to try to get back. This is the time of the year when you try to do whatever you can."

Wade taking shots at Rose?

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page ... daily-dime

sounds like it...

[truthiness]

I don't have a problem if he's taking shots at Rose.

Sounds like his injury is worse than what Rose has. He also went through some major injuries and came back playing the same reckless style as ever.

He earned the right to talk about other players' injuries.

[mopper8]

I love Wade's comments, but...

the flip-side of that is that Wade foolishly IMO delayed surgery on his shoulder so he could come back and play at ~60% in the playoffs, and that pushed back his recovery timeline to the point that it totally hampered his next season as well. That effectively cost him 2 years of his prime--the year cut short by injury and then played out at far less effectiveness, and the following mess of a year while he worked his way back into form.
If he had simply cut his losses on the 07 season and got surgery and started recovery immediately, he might have had a real season in 08.

[DivineFury]

I love Wade's comments, but...

the flip-side of that is that Wade foolishly IMO delayed surgery on his shoulder so he could come back and play at ~60% in the playoffs, and that pushed back his recovery timeline to the point that it totally hampered his next season as well. That effectively cost him 2 years of his prime--the year cut short by injury and then played out at far less effectiveness, and the following mess of a year while he worked his way back into form.
If he had simply cut his losses on the 07 season and got surgery and started recovery immediately, he might have had a real season in 08.

Wade was still young and impulsive back then, plus he was the team's superstar. He did what he thought was right, just like Rose has. What Rose is doing can be successfully argued as both wise and wussy. You could make a case for both - see Shumpert / Adrian Peterson. Same goes for Wade.

However, Wade wasn't taking a shot at Rose in his comment about playing through injury. I think they learned better than that after the Dirk incident in 2011. He has been heckled by media about his knee and his output all series long. I believe the question was something like "do you feel you should sit and heal up so you could be more helpful to the team" or something.

[GreenHat]

I don't have a problem if he's taking shots at Rose.

Sounds like his injury is worse than what Rose has. He also went through some major injuries and came back playing the same reckless style as ever.

He earned the right to talk about other players' injuries.

Are you saying Wade's bone bruise is worse than Rose's torn ACL? Don't be that guy

[Heat3]

There is nothing wrong with Rose's ACL. He's been cleared for months. By his own admission it's not physical. Dude was the healthiest player on his team.

[BahamaBull]

Since the Bulls seem positioned to be a contender for the next few years and a major rival for Miami in the East, let's take a look at the recent series and the near future. Especially since some Heat fans seem a bit scared of what the Bulls might look like next season.

1. The series was close, but not that close.

There were 2 blowouts and in the 3 games that were close (including the L), the Bulls made a ton of difficult shots, which is not sustainable over a longer period of time, while Miami missed a ton of open shots, especially 3's (looking at you, Shane).

Not to take anything from the Bulls players who played hard, but it was mostly luck that kept those games close.

2. Having Rose, Deng and Hinrich would have helped them, but I doubt it would have put them over the top.
Especially if Wade was healthy.

If Rose and Deng played, it would have cut into Robinson's and Butler's minutes. It's not like you take the current boxscore and you add Rose's and Deng's averages to the Bulls side so they end up with 40 extra points and 10 rebounds.

Not to mention that Robinson played way over his head, and both him and Butler might not have gotten a rhythm had they played much fewer minutes. Then you might have to factor in Rose's impact on offense, as with him the Bulls might move the ball less. I also think Boozer's numbers with Rose are much worse than without him.

Actually, having Hinrich would have hurt them IMO, cause he's a ball stopper on offense. He's overrated as a defender, too.

3. Bulls' future with Rose healthy

Assuming his muscle memory comes back sometime this summer, you would normally expect the Bulls to be back where they were a couple of years ago: a very good regular season team and one of the contenders. Some might even put them above the Heat, citing the emergence of Butler.

There is no doubt the Bulls FO could build a strong contender, as they have the main pieces in place already, but looking at their history of cheapness, I expect them to:
- not keep Robinson
- trade Deng, citing Butler's emergence, in order to save some money
- cut Hamilton (already done)
- try to rebuild the bench on the cheap again - they did it last season, but I don't think they'll get that lucky again

With these in mind, I don't really expect to become contenders, just a very solid regular season team, like the Suns were from 2005 to 2009.

I also wonder when (not if) Thibs' style will start rubbing players the wrong way. He seems to be the same kind of coach as Skiles, a guy who'd get the most out of his teams for a couple of seasons (and especially in the season), but then lose the team and get fired. You can't have a team overachieving all the time. They will get physically and mentally fatigued and will stop responding.

Conclusion: other than the Pacers, the East should stay wide open for the Heat for the next couple of years at least. The Pacers and Bulls will be in position to test the Heat, but if the big 3 stays healthy, the Heat should be in a great position for the near future.

I really think a healthy Bulls team is your toughest opponent. Not being a homer at all...

Nate is great but he is no former MVP...Plus he sucked big time on the defensive end. I mean BIG TIME! Derrick is a good defender...We also missed Kirks D this entire series.

Luol Deng is a two time all star and Jimmy didnt play 48 minutes because Lu was out. Jimmy is our starting 2 guard and at the same time Dengs replacement at the 3. With Lu playing he was probrably going to play in the 40s as well...

Bulls also played with an injuried Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah. Anyway, it wasnt meant to be. I think you guys could and probrably would beat us this year even if we were healthy but it wouldnt be as easy as it was.

Congrats on the win and I wish you guys a healthy playoff run from now on and hopefully we will see again for years to come.

SMH to the dude saying Thibs is a bad coach hahaha

[MissileMike]

A healthy bulls team is the only real threat to the Heat in the next three years. The problem for the bulls is this: when are they ever healthy? If you look at the last two years, the answer is never.

[weouthere]

We will likely get better every year, I'm not worried about the Bulls. Just hope we keep improving

[greg4012]

it's becoming pretty apparent that Thibs has a GREAT system, but the problem with his system is that it defines the team to an extent that it seems to hamper the extent to which talent can make a huge difference. Thibs system seems to be all about plug and play to the point where in spurts guys like John Lucas III and Nate Robinson can make almost the same impact as Rose. Rose is the second worst defender in their starting lineup, and is essentially just a guy on D. So him coming back is a lot more marginal than that of a real MVP (the system was implemented at the same time that Rose had a burst in production so everyone attributed the Bulls success to him thus giving him the MVP for the story).

They will definitely be a very tough out moving forward and if healthy (big IF if you have noticed the trend with Thibs) will definitely push the HEAT. But, without a major change to what they have I just see a team that will match the HEAT defensively but fall short of the HEAT's offensive prowess. Yes, they will take some from us in the regular season because Thibs makes them play harder than everyone else in the regular season, and yes almost every game will always be close for 3+ quarters, but when it really comes down to consecutive single possession execution, Miami will pull it out.

[shanedude]

A healthy Bulls team poses the biggest threat to the Heat in the East. Too bad for Chicago that team doesn't exist.

[truthiness]

Are you saying Wade's bone bruise is worse than Rose's torn ACL? Don't be that guy

Did I say that ?
Read more carefully.
I said that RIGHT NOW Wade's injury (bone bruise) is worse than what Rose has (lack of muscle memory, whatever the **** that is). Especially since AFAIK you build muscle memory through repetition, so the fastest way for Rose to get that muscle memory would be to play as much as possible.

[SweetTouch]

I see a lot of toying with youngstas in the future

[RexBoyWonder]

I see a lot of toying with youngstas in the future

Not Worried about Bulls or anyone.

Our fate is our own hands. If we make the right moves, bring in the right players (all we need is a couple of young good role players) we'll be fine going forward.

[dreamchaser]

I see a lot of toying with youngstas in the future

Sir...You deserve an And 1 for this...

[Altered_Beast]

i see that youre trying to discredit that team but in reality a fully healthy bulls team wouldve been a top 3 team this season and probably pushed us to 6-7 tough games in the ECF.

thibs is a great coach, much like doc rivers he knows how to give the heat problems even with a limited roster

rose is the best pg in the league. there i said it. quote me on it whatever. guys is a beast, even though he sat this season out (didnt man up to help his team) the dude is still a great player.

butler-deng-hinrich are all solid defenders with good bbiq and decent jumpers. deng is an allstar lets not forget, however i think many bulls fans overrate butler to the point he might be disappointing next season like avery bradley.

boozer is a weak link. he doesnt play defense and his offense is inconsistent. amnestying him would be a good option

noah and gibson are a good frontcourt defensively. their offense sucks but its hard to score on those guys in the paint.

overall i think bulls fans should be optimistic going forward but still the heat are gonna improve as well