Raps will make the playoffs, and 2nd round, if healthy

[chifan1798]

Once again, reading comprehension. Yikes. Bulls won their championships 25-30 years ago. And I'm clearly talking about the Bulls team this year with their core consisting of players who have a) never played in the playoffs or b) have performed poorly in the playoffs.

You seem hung up on experience, or lack thereof. The Hawks made it to the ECF last year, with a young team that didn't have much experience, so it is possible for a team with limited experience, to make it far in the playoffs. No one is saying that the Bulls are going to be favorites in the east, but hanging on to the "experience" reasoning isn't much, when the Bulls simply out-talent a team like the Raptors.

The Hawks had a pretty easy path though beating the Knicks and then facing a Sixers team that imploded. This year the Hawks have been below .500. The Hawks won't get out of the first round this year. They might not even make the playoffs.

But that's the thing, do they out talent the Raptors? I've stated the problems with their core already on here so I don't need to repeat it. Playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season. After witnessing Vucevic and Derozan in the playoffs and knowing what Lavine brings to the table, I am confident that the Bulls will not be a good playoff team. No one is saying that the Raptors are going to bring home a championship, in fact we get destroyed by the Nets and Bucks but the Bulls are not a scary team and they have tons of question marks.

The thing is, there aren’t a bunch of question marks. The only one is PF, and that’s because we lost PWill the 5th game of the season. But the injury happened so early, that he could return anywhere from next month, to April. Offense is great, and defense is decent when we have all of our usual defenders on the team. They are first in the east, and could potentially stay there, or at least top two. First place teams very rarely lose to an 8th seed with both teams at relatively full strength. Talent wins in this league. If the Bulls and Raptors were close in talent level, then maybe the Raptors would have a chance, but that’s not the case.

I’m going to guess that you were amongst the people weren’t “confident” that the Bulls would be anything better than possibly a play-in team. Halfway through the season, they’ve definitely done way better than anyone predicted. I don’t see that trend really changing (barring injuries of course).

[Los_29]

You seem hung up on experience, or lack thereof. The Hawks made it to the ECF last year, with a young team that didn't have much experience, so it is possible for a team with limited experience, to make it far in the playoffs. No one is saying that the Bulls are going to be favorites in the east, but hanging on to the "experience" reasoning isn't much, when the Bulls simply out-talent a team like the Raptors.

The Hawks had a pretty easy path though beating the Knicks and then facing a Sixers team that imploded. This year the Hawks have been below .500. The Hawks won't get out of the first round this year. They might not even make the playoffs.

But that's the thing, do they out talent the Raptors? I've stated the problems with their core already on here so I don't need to repeat it. Playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season. After witnessing Vucevic and Derozan in the playoffs and knowing what Lavine brings to the table, I am confident that the Bulls will not be a good playoff team. No one is saying that the Raptors are going to bring home a championship, in fact we get destroyed by the Nets and Bucks but the Bulls are not a scary team and they have tons of question marks.

The thing is, there aren’t a bunch of question marks. The only one is PF, and that’s because we lost PWill the 5th game of the season. But the injury happened so early, that he could return anywhere from next month, to April. Offense is great, and defense is decent when we have all of our usual defenders on the team. They are first in the east, and could potentially stay there, or at least top two. First place teams very rarely lose to an 8th seed with both teams at relatively full strength. Talent wins in this league. If the Bulls and Raptors were close in talent level, then maybe the Raptors would have a chance, but that’s not the case.

I’m going to guess that you were amongst the people weren’t “confident” that the Bulls would be anything better than possibly a play-in team. Halfway through the season, they’ve definitely done way better than anyone predicted. I don’t see that trend really changing (barring injuries of course).

Actually before the season I had Chicago finishing high in the East. Certainly not 1st but I think we all know they won’t finish ahead of Milwaukee and Brooklyn. I loved the moves they made in the off-season because it would make them a fun team to watch. However I also said they would lose early in the playoffs. My opinion hasn’t changed. Like it or not the talent level between Demar/Lavine/Vucevic/Ball and FVV/Pascal/OG/Barnes/GTJ isn’t much. In fact you can easily make a case that the Raptors have the personnel more suited to playoff basketball. And three of those Raptors have rings.

At the end of the day, the Raptors aren’t going far in the playoffs. Too young and no depth. But they are certainly good enough to compete and possibly beat Chicago. This isn’t a controversial take. We are only 35 games into the season. Lots of basketball left to be played. Chicago won’t be first for long.

[chifan1798]

The thing is, there aren’t a bunch of question marks. The only one is PF, and that’s because we lost PWill the 5th game of the season. But the injury happened so early, that he could return anywhere from next month, to April. Offense is great, and defense is decent when we have all of our usual defenders on the team. They are first in the east, and could potentially stay there, or at least top two. First place teams very rarely lose to an 8th seed with both teams at relatively full strength. Talent wins in this league. If the Bulls and Raptors were close in talent level, then maybe the Raptors would have a chance, but that’s not the case.

I’m going to guess that you were amongst the people weren’t “confident” that the Bulls would be anything better than possibly a play-in team. Halfway through the season, they’ve definitely done way better than anyone predicted. I don’t see that trend really changing (barring injuries of course).

Actually before the season I had Chicago finishing high in the East. Certainly not 1st but I think we all know they won’t finish ahead of Milwaukee and Brooklyn. I loved the moves they made in the off-season because it would make them a fun team to watch. However I also said they would lose early in the playoffs. My opinion hasn’t changed. Like it or not the talent level between Demar/Lavine/Vucevic/Ball and FVV/Pascal/OG/Barnes/GTJ isn’t much. In fact you can easily make a case that the Raptors have the personnel more suited to playoff basketball. And three of those Raptors have rings.

At the end of the day, the Raptors aren’t going far in the playoffs. Too young and no depth. But they are certainly good enough to compete and possibly beat Chicago. This isn’t a controversial take. We are only 35 games into the season. Lots of basketball left to be played. Chicago won’t be first for long.

They’re too young, and no depth, but yet they can beat the bulls? Lol, make up your mind.

Also, there is a significant difference in the talent level, given that the Bulls have 2 players in the top 7-8 in scoring in the league…one is an MVP candidate. We have Vuc who is an all star caliber player, and has been doing amazing since a slow start. When we got Coby White back from his injury, it took him some time to find his rhythm, but now it seems he has got it back. Not to mention Ball and Caruso who are huge contributors….not to mention the other role players that have been stepping up. When we’re healthy, our depth is there. The Bulls will do what they can to keep that first seed….and at this point, no reason to say they can’t still end up there after 82 games.

[Raps in 4]

We're getting a rematch of the 2019 finals.

[everdiso]

Raps vs Bulls - average of BPM/DPM/EPM/Raptor/Lebron

VanVleet (27): 37.5min, 24.0usg%, 4.9 average rating
Derozan (32): 35.2min, 31.3usg%, 2.4 avg

Siakam (27): 35.3min, 25.3usg%, 1.6 avg
Lavine (26): 35.1min, 30.3usg%, 2.0 avg

Barnes (20): 35.6min, 18.6usg%, 0.9 avg
Ball (24): 35.4min, 17.3usg%, 1.7 avg

Anunoby (24): 35.9min, 22.5usg%, 0.9 avg
Vucevic (31): 33.3min, 23.2usg%, 1.2 avg

Trent (22): 34.0min, 20.3usg%, 0.5 avg
Caruso (27): 28.0min, 13.6usg%, 2.3 avg



Achiuwa (22): 24.4min, 17.7usg%, -1.8 avg
White (21): 24.7min, 19.6usg%, -2.5 avg

Birch (29): 21.6min, 12.3usg%, -0.2 avg
Green (28): 22.2min, 10.9usg%, -0.2 avg

Boucher (28): 17.4min, 24.0usg%, -0.2 avg
Jones (24): 17.7min, 13.0usg%, 0.0 avg

[Los_29]

The thing is, there aren’t a bunch of question marks. The only one is PF, and that’s because we lost PWill the 5th game of the season. But the injury happened so early, that he could return anywhere from next month, to April. Offense is great, and defense is decent when we have all of our usual defenders on the team. They are first in the east, and could potentially stay there, or at least top two. First place teams very rarely lose to an 8th seed with both teams at relatively full strength. Talent wins in this league. If the Bulls and Raptors were close in talent level, then maybe the Raptors would have a chance, but that’s not the case.

I’m going to guess that you were amongst the people weren’t “confident” that the Bulls would be anything better than possibly a play-in team. Halfway through the season, they’ve definitely done way better than anyone predicted. I don’t see that trend really changing (barring injuries of course).

Actually before the season I had Chicago finishing high in the East. Certainly not 1st but I think we all know they won’t finish ahead of Milwaukee and Brooklyn. I loved the moves they made in the off-season because it would make them a fun team to watch. However I also said they would lose early in the playoffs. My opinion hasn’t changed. Like it or not the talent level between Demar/Lavine/Vucevic/Ball and FVV/Pascal/OG/Barnes/GTJ isn’t much. In fact you can easily make a case that the Raptors have the personnel more suited to playoff basketball. And three of those Raptors have rings.

At the end of the day, the Raptors aren’t going far in the playoffs. Too young and no depth. But they are certainly good enough to compete and possibly beat Chicago. This isn’t a controversial take. We are only 35 games into the season. Lots of basketball left to be played. Chicago won’t be first for long.

They’re too young, and no depth, but yet they can beat the bulls? Lol, make up your mind.

Also, there is a significant difference in the talent level, given that the Bulls have 2 players in the top 7-8 in scoring in the league…one is an MVP candidate. We have Vuc who is an all star caliber player, and has been doing amazing since a slow start. When we got Coby White back from his injury, it took him some time to find his rhythm, but now it seems he has got it back. Not to mention Ball and Caruso who are huge contributors….not to mention the other role players that have been stepping up. When we’re healthy, our depth is there. The Bulls will do what they can to keep that first seed….and at this point, no reason to say they can’t still end up there after 82 games.

I said we are too young and don't have the depth to make noise in the playoffs. But our lack of depth and youth can still beat a team in Chicago who also lacks depth and also lacks experience. Not to mention Chicago is built for regular season success not playoff success.

And scoring is one aspect of basketball. Demar Derozan didn't get much interest in the free agent market for a reason. It's because he's got a ton of limitations in his game. You keep talking about the regular season but we both know that the regular season is completely different to the playoffs.

There are many reasons why the Bulls won't retain that #1 spot. They've had one of the easiest schedules thus far in the league. They aren't as good as the Nets, Heat and Bucks and they've been relatively healthy all year aside from a covid outbreak which every team in the league has experienced.

So to conclude, the Raptors won't go far in the playoffs but if they get the Bulls there is a chance they can win because of how flawed the Bulls roster is.