In the off-season, we all thought that this would be the Eastern Conference Finals, instead of the Semifinals. But the Atlanta Hawks swooped in, and knocked everyone down a notch.
Both Cleveland and Chicago haven't played perfect seasons, but thanks to their residence in the Eastern Conference, they're both the second and third seed respectively.
What do I expect to see in the series? The quickest take, is that this is going to be a battle between James and Irving versus Butler and a combination of Rose/Gasol/Noah and a deeper bench. If James and Irving impose their will, this series may not last longer than 6. If the Bulls offense (instead of their defense) can dictate the pace, this is a series that may not need 7 games for the Bulls to advance.
That being said, here's things to look for.
Lebron James in chill mode
For most of the season, and even during the Boston series, James has had the luxury of not having to unleash his fully array of talents and skills on offense or defense. This is likely the series he removes the limiters and activates the nitro more often times than not. Compared to previous years, the Bulls have two defenders that can hold their own against James in Butler and Snell. However, the Bulls have been careless with the ball, even in the postseason, serving up a buffet of cross court passes and lazy entry passes that James tends to feast on for psychologically damaging fast break dunks.
A DRose by any other name
For an eternity, many Bulls teams have waited for The Return of DRose. Unfortunately, and as Game 5 against Milwaukee demonstrated, it has led to a mindset that his mere presence guarantees a win. In the season, and in the playoffs, there have been glimpses of what we remember: the speed, power and strength to get shots that are tough to defend against. We have also seen the benefit of all his time off, in that his passing IQ and focus on defense has improved. However, he's still plagued by inconsistency, and when he loses focus, as he famously did on the Game 4 game winning shot, it can be disastrous. It also seems that he's done well, when he gets more than 2 days off between games. Which DRose can consistently show up will be a huge advantage for the Bulls.
"Is this what the playoffs are like?"
The United Center was in playoff mode for the home opener against the Cavs, and Irving asked the above late in the 4th quarter of a game that the Cavs would win. It's likely he will not be blinded by the playoff lights. But his performance and the performance of another first time playoff performer, Nikola Mirotic will dictate the course of this series.
Notorious B-I-G-S
Both frontlines will make or break this series. Mosgov and Thompson (and the occasional cameo by Perkins) will attempt to offset the defense bending abilities that they lost by losing Kevin Love for the playoffs. The Bulls will have an easy time when Noah is active and productive on both ends of the floor. On offense, Noah needs to be a threat to score outside and in, which will open up passing and scoring opportunities. Defensively, he'll need to limit Cleveland offensive rebounds, which hurt in the regular season. Expect Gasol to get primarily mid-range looks, and to get drawn into pick and roll situations to pull him out of the paint. Gibson and Mirotic will be situationally combined based on need.
The Intangibles
David Blatt is a first time coach, Thibs isn't. However, both Randy Wittman and now Jason Kidd seem to have had better game plans in consecutive series against this coaching staff. JR Smith is out for two games, but Cleveland could win without him. Dunleavy is an underrated key to the Bulls spacing, and when Milwaukee eliminated his shot opportunities the Bulls offense went into the toilet in Game 5. I somehow get the feeling that Hinrich is going to get more minutes than people expect in this series. In Game 2, less early cheering led to a win and in Game 5 more early cheering led to a loss. I expect to go the less cheering model in Game 3.
Conclusion
We have waited for this series all season, now it is just put up or shut up. Either team can make it out of this series and end up in the NBA Finals, but one step at a time. If there is any time to BULL-ieve, why not now?
Bulls in 7.
-- wake.eat.sleep
