Minnesota Sports Forum

Two top-five players in the NBA on the same team is good enough for 60 wins in my book.

I don't care. I am a pulling for the Bulls next year. Love how that team is built.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11334160/2014-summer-forecast-east-standings

ESPN's Eastern Conference forecast

Cheering for the Bulls
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11337607/the-chicago-bulls-contingency-plan-take-far-nba


Reasons to believe
A basic tenet of NBA analysis is that all teams exist to pursue championships, and strategies that seal a team off from that pursuit must be avoided. When Chicago signed Gasol, the fear was the Bulls had fallen into just such a strategy. But to avoid getting stuck, teams need to not only have a sturdy foundation in place, but they need to have upside on their roster beyond the core players. As the summer has progressed, it's become apparent that may be what's occurred in Chicago. The key developments:

Derrick Rose: Rose is the cornerstone, but after 10 subpar games in two years, he doesn't engender much optimism on the statistical front. His projection is not only less than half of Joakim Noah's, but it's lower than those of Mirotic and Jimmy Butler. Meanwhile, Rose is back on the court and drawing plaudits for his performance with Team USA. Rose was worth 16.6 WARP during his last healthy season. While his full recovery might eat into the production of his teammates, it would also considerably boost Chicago's already excellent forecast.

Joakim Noah: For all the caterwauling about Chicago missing out on a second star, we need to remember that Noah was a first-team, All-NBA center last season, the Defensive Player of the Year and ranked 10th in the league in WARP. Chicago's solid early projection is a product of Noah's excellence, and depth. He has become that missing star.

Doug McDermott: Lived up to his sharp-shooting reputation during the Summer League.
Nikola Mirotic: You want upside? Mirotic was MVP of a high-level European league at 22 years of age. He's long, with inside-outside skills, a reputation for unselfishness and a skill set that is ideally suited to work off Rose. His statistical translations are outstanding. Early SCHOENE has Mirotic at 5.2 WARP in just 25 forecasted minutes per game. That would make him the leading contender for Rookie of the Year.

Summer stars: We just finished watching Bulls first-rounder Doug McDermott light up the Las Vegas Summer League, and second-year wing Tony Snell play like a guy poised for a breakout sophomore season in the same circuit. In Mirotic and McDermott, the Bulls can feature two elite deep shooters who both have a number of value-added aspects to their arsenals. McDermott has the third-highest WARP projection among rookies, and that's in just 20 MPG. And if Snell's improvement is real, Chicago could have all 10 of its rotation players performing better than replacement.

San Antonio Spurs: No one can match the consistency and continuity of the Spurs. Still, San Antonio demonstrated that those traits along with selflessness, depth and coaching can trump star power and win championships. Given the max-level dollars Cleveland will be spending to keep its star trio intact, the Bulls should continue to have the depth and continuity that the Cavaliers will have to sacrifice. And while we're high on new Cavs coach Dave Blatt, Thibodeau is a proven commodity in Chicago.

I'm with ya in cheering for the Bulls this year, bleed. The Cavs look better on paper, but the Bulls will be much easier to cheer for. I'll be tuned in to all Bulls/Cavs games!

I don't see a team in the East besides the Bulls that could beat the Cavs in a game.

Cavs are in a division with the Bucks,Pacers,and Pistons. There's also the Celtics, 76ers, Knicks, Magic, and the Nets. I see 32-0 right there. They go 3-1 against the Heat,Wiz,Bulls, Bobcats, Raptors, and the Hawks So were at 50 wins right there.

Only way they win less then 62-65 is if they clinch the 1st seed super early and rest everyone

alexftbl8181 wrote:I don't see a team in the East besides the Bulls that could beat the Cavs in a game.

Cavs are in a division with the Bucks,Pacers,and Pistons. There's also the Celtics, 76ers, Knicks, Magic, and the Nets. I see 32-0 right there. They go 3-1 against the Heat,Wiz,Bulls, Bobcats, Raptors, and the Hawks So were at 50 wins right there.

Only way they win less then 62-65 is if they clinch the 1st seed super early and rest everyone

This post brings back memories of 4 years ago when LeBron took his talents to South Beach and everyone said The Big Three would easily win 65-70 games. They won 58, and finished four games behind the Bulls.

I think the Wizards and Hornets will give them a little resistance along with the Bulls. The Bulls are really a matchup nightmare for the Cavs.

I'd agree that the Bulls, Wizards, Hornets, Hawks could give them trouble. If Pacers had George they would too...

I'll go with Cavs at 59 wins and 2nd in the east behind the Bulls.

Rose > Irving
Butler > Waiters
Gibson < Lebron
Gasol < Love
Noah > Varejo

Bench Bulls >> Bench Cavs

Coach Bulls > Coach Cavs

Bench Bulls, Snell, McDermont, Mirotic, Hinrich
Bench Cavs: T Thompson, M Miller, Haywood



Looking at these two teams match ups closer I'm thinking that Cleveland will be forced to move Lebron over to guard Rose as Kyrie wont be able to handle him if healthy. Irving moves to Butler? Waiters to Gibson? I don't see the Cavs being able to guard the Bulls......

Also, on defense Noah would guard Love and Bulls Defense would really stiffle the Cavs as I believe Noah can shut down Love offensively. He's agile like a younger KG and can guard inside and out. With Love locked down Gibson can put major pressure on Lebron to be #1 scorer. Lebron vs. Gibson or Butler is tough matchup for Lebron.....

Butler locks down on Waiters, Rose slows Kyrie....Bulls Bench obliterates Cavs Bench....

I definitely pick the Bulls in a 7 game series if the lineups stay similar to what I posted above.

The Bulls are in great shape and have better depth than Cleveland. They added a couple of offensive weapons this offseason to go along with their stifling defense. And, oh yeah, Rose is back. They are a really, really good team. So good, in fact, that they really didn't even have to make a trade for Love.