Who do you prefer to play, Miami or Boston?

[boogydown]

Ainge made the Perkins deal for this exact series - Green guarding LeBron

Ainge didn't trade for Green just so he could guard Lebron. He traded Perkins because he was concerned he could lose him in free agency and didn't want to give a huge extension with the new CBA looming knowing there could be a hard cap preventing the Celtics from resigning him.

Short term it sucks for the Celtics who didn't expect issues because of Shaq and actually thought they may favor better from the trade. They also got a lottery pick in the trade which could very well get them an extremely good Center. Long term, the trade in my opinion was rather foolish of Oklahoma City to do when they could have just offered a bloated deal to Tyson Chandler etc. this summer and kept Green/Pick.

Another reason why the Bulls should not make any trades and just continue building up assets.

[Wizard of POOH]

I'll take Boston, Shaq should be alright against Miami, and if we get the Hawks we should be good for the ECF.

[Wont PerDont]

This is a tough question for me...

I've said all season long that we matchup better vs. Miami. Our frontcourt will KILL them on the glass and they don't have anyone quick enough to consistently stay in front of D Rose. I know they have Wade and LBJ, but those guys aren't going to consistently guard Rose and if they do, they won't be effective for long stretches. So, my head tells me to pick Miami.

Here's where the hard part comes in:

I can't think of any worse way to end such a promising season than to lose to those jackasses! It would ruin everything good about the season for me (or at least taint it severely). With that being said, the other side of that coin is that what could be more joyus than to not only be the team responsible for making them cry during their mid-season struggles, but to be the team that starts the media circus that will be the Heat being eliminated from the playoffs amidst all of their 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, BS talk!?! That would make me happy regardless of what happens in the Finals!

I also think Boston is a tougher matchup for us. They don't beat themselves, have a TON of experience, and have strengths that matchup vs. our strengths (i.e. a frontcourt of KG/Pierce/and a healthy Shaq is still formidable), AND they have the wings (Ray Ray and Pierce) to boot. Like it or not, they also have a better chance of neutralizing D Rose (w/Rondo) than Miami does. When you look at the Bulls vs. Miami, you can lean on the fact that our frontline (and PG play) is a HUGE mismatch for them. When you look at the Bulls vs. Boston, you just don't have that one thing you can point to and say that we are vastly superior to them. That scares me. Because when things are equal in the NBA playoffs, experience usually wins out. And there just isn't any contest when it comes to experience. We lose.

Bottomline is, I just think Boston is a tougher matchup for us, LBJ and Wade be damned.

[BullHeaded]

RIght now I think the better question is Atlanta or Orlando. In fact, too me the most important thing is that our series is a five game series and that one is a seven game series no matter WHO wins.

I took Boston in the poll... but I would prefer Atlanta in 7 over Orlando with us closing our first round series out in 5 and then meet Miami in the ECF than Atlanta in 5 after WE play a 6 or 7 game series.

[arjay702]

Boston.

We owe them from two years ago.

this. I still hate them. Shoving kurt into the table, poking brad's eye, having sex with each other... they stand for everything I'm against. I want to beat the defending ECF champs.

[dice]

^^^you'd rather have orlando in 7 than hawks in 6? crazy talk

this weekend may end up being a beautiful thing for us, assuming we handily beat indy on tuesday and rose is 100%. boston will have a rest advantage over miami and we will have a rest advantage over whoever we play next w/o being as rusty as we'd be coming off a sweep

yes, i voted boston. not only because i think we've got a better shot against them, but it keeps miami 3 steps away from a title rather than 2 going into next year. that would be a helpful psychological advantage

[cypherbulls]

Bring on Miami.

I'd rather beat the Heat and send a message, since the Heat will be the future rivalry of the Bulls going forward. Boston is nearing the end of their tenure.

[JeremyB0001]

Boston is much worse than Miami.

[Ghetto_Blaster]

I'd take Miami. We can baby their post players, Kobe Deng can handle James, and Bogans is a good defender to handle Wade. I mean we swept them this season but that doesn't really mean much since its a fresh slate for the playoffs. But Boston has more weapons.

[dice]

Deng can handle James, and Bogans is a good defender to handle Wade

is that your final answer?

[Benedict Miller]

Miami...we're struggling with physical play from the Pacers, what the hell are we gonna do with REAL physical play from the Celtics?

I agree with you UNTIL I consider the Celts aging roster. If Bosh should have a good series against us, then Miami's Wade/LeBron duo may be too much for us to overcome. We can hardly stop Indy enough to outscore them. How will we be able to do this against Miami's 3 stars?

Well our team goes as Rose goes, and I believe he would play better against Miami than he would against Boston. Yes Rose has destroyed Rondo, but Rondo's the Rondo of old now. Not saying he will contain Rose, but he will put pressure on Rose offensively and defensively, then he will have KG, J. O'neal and Shaq to deal with, and they will knock Rose on his ass alot more than McRoberts, Hansbrough, and Foster. Miami is not unbeatable, the 6ers just proved it today. and they are not a physical team.

[Bulltalk]

Miami...we're struggling with physical play from the Pacers, what the hell are we gonna do with REAL physical play from the Celtics?

I agree with you UNTIL I consider the Celts aging roster. If Bosh should have a good series against us, then Miami's Wade/LeBron duo may be too much for us to overcome. We can hardly stop Indy enough to outscore them. How will we be able to do this against Miami's 3 stars?

Well our team goes as Rose goes, and I believe he would play better against Miami than he would against Boston. Yes Rose has destroyed Rondo, but Rondo's the Rondo of old now. Not saying he will contain Rose, but he will put pressure on Rose offensively and defensively, then he will have KG, J. O'neal and Shaq to deal with, and they will knock Rose on his ass alot more than McRoberts, Hansbrough, and Foster. Miami is not unbeatable, the 6ers just proved it today. and they are not a physical team.

Relevant points. I just come to a different conclusion. We'll see.

Star players mean a lot in the playoffs. You need players who can create for themselves often enough. Miami's best players are in their primes, where Boston's best players are well past their primes. That's significant to me, especially in a potentially long series.

Just slightly different opinions. That's all.

[jumpmanjay]

boston. i want the fogey team to beat the cheat...then i want to beat the fogey team and give them payback from 2009.

[Benedict Miller]

Relevant points. I just come to a different conclusion. We'll see.

Star players mean a lot in the playoffs. You need players who can create for themselves often enough. Miami's best players are in their primes, where Boston's best players are well past their primes. That's significant to me, especially in a potentially long series.

Just slightly different opinions. That's all

Actually you do have a point, you need stars to win championships. And while I say that physicality may be effecting Rose, that may not be the case, it could be size with Paul George 6'8 and Dahntay Jones 6'6, and Wade and James to me have been the best one on one defenders against Rose. But like I said we go as Rose goes, we'll just have to see. To be honest, I don't want to play either one right now with my lack of faith in Booze. We need someone else that we can depend on if Rose is taken out the game.

[Eshai]

You should worry about getting past ATL or ORL first, who both have much more playoff experience than you and just as much talent, if not more. Even though your up 3-1, you havent played very good, if that was ORL/ATL you were playing you would be swept right now playing like that, as they would've closed those games out with wins in the first 3. So just sayin idk how you can talk about the ECF when you're struggling to beat an 8th seed.

I believe on PTI Wilbon said the Pacers would defeat the Hawks/Magic and even their coaches behind closed doors would admit that

Bulls will eat up both teams inside. Magic with Gortat would be a Eastern Conference contender right now

um, I doubt that the Pacers could beat the hawks or magic. They are a good team, not saying they arent, but all playoff teams are good, even 8th seeds, doesn't mean they can beat a contender. A 1 seed should still be far superior though. It doesnt matter if you win by 1 or 20 now, but it will if you keep playing like that through the rest of the playoffs. I read a quote by Rose recently saying they need to start putting teams away and not letting them hang around. It seems they still havent figured that out yet, and it will eventually catch to them.

In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round most of the games will be close. On one hand you could say playing all these close games now will give them experience and an edge, but on the other hand it will also wear them out. Thats why its best to make the early reound games as easy as possible, because mentally, having to go through 4 rounds of down to the wire games will drain a team by the CF or Finals, if you get there.

You should come out next game at home and put them away early and move on to the next series. It looks like either the 2nd round is going to start next week against ATL, or you could get a long break, if you win game 5.

IMO, you have no advantage inside against Dwight Howard vs ORL. ATL has a great perimeter trio to wear out Rose, and imo Smith and Horford are just as good, if not better than Noah and Boozer. ATL's going to be tough and it looks like it could be them. ORL has the edge experience vs the Bulls, but they've become discombobulated mess since their trade. You should hope they can come back and beat ATL. It'll also give you rest. 2nd round is going to be great all around, all the series' will be great. I'm actually a Pistons fan, and could never root for the Bulls, but I respect your guy's defense this year, good luck the rest of the way.

[tclg]

i want to play boston just because I want to defeat the EC champs for the last two years. And I woul dhave more time to rub it in my friends face

[arjay702]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9lVQC1WmYM[/youtube]

REMEMBER THIS FEELING?!

[Woody Allen]

OK, I see the original question it widely misinterpreted here: It is not asking which team you'd rather beat, it is asking which team you think we have better odds against.

[arjay702]

OK, I see the original question it widely misinterpreted here: It is not asking which team you'd rather beat, it is asking which team you think we have better odds against.

How so?

Since Miami and Boston both look to advance...who do you prefer to play if we make it to the ECF?

OP does not question who we think we have better odds against. I think we can take either path to respond.

[Rerisen]

It's a wash. We actually match up better against Miami I believe because of Rose and our ability to rebound inside.

Either team though, our best defenders match up with their best scorers (SG, SF, Center - we can have Noah on Bosh or KG).

Boston though I feel is a weaker team than past years, and I think we have a better idea of what it takes to beat them. They are on a stable, readable level. Therefore, if they beat Miami it will only mean Miami is the flawed team that they have often resembled this year, but it won't necessarily say anything huge about Boston.

However if Miami beats Boston by comparison, it will mean Miami has started to get their flaws worked out and is probably coming in pretty strong and confident. They are obviously the team with higher upside vs their season. But again, we have some matchup advantages which would work in our favor to even that out.

With Boston, Rondo is fully capable of having games as impactful as Rose, even if not every game perhaps. And I don't like that.

HCA favors us more against Boston I believe, as Miami is more likely to get very generous foul calls even on the road due to their superstars.

So either team is going to be a huge challenge, but I don't really have a major preference. Though if one is willing to contemplate the Bulls losing to either team, it throws in another aspect. Which of these teams would you rather have a shot to win a title, if its not Chicago? On that note, I'd obviously go Boston. Miami is less likeable and the consequence for the league might be bad for us, if a premeditated superteam like that wins.

As Bill Simmons said, a Bulls vs Miami series would be pretty much good vs evil. Everything we believe about basketball to be on the line. One team, all heart, great chemistry, traditionally built with one superstar and role players all doing their job, vs the bastardized all star team that formed so they could win titles and have it "be easy", filling out their roster with guys that could hardly make rotations on most teams, except they needed bodies.