Camden wrote:I doubt the Bulls get passed the Cavs. They won with offense last night, but that's not their identity. LeBron and Kyrie WILL get it going.
Also, Lip, they got overlooked because they lost back-to-back games to a banged up Bucks team and they looked shitty doing it. If you watch then enough, you'll see they rely on isolations a ton, especially with D-Rose. I just don't believe in hero ball (unless you're LeBron). Move the ball around and get good looks. Oh, and get to the rim. Rose was 11-26 last night with 0 FTAs. He settles for that mid-range way too often.
I think CLE gets it together. You can't expect them to play that poorly again.
I picked Chicago to win the series. And make it out of the East at the beginning of the season. I have more doubts now... even after that win.
You're right about the hero ball stuff. Flip Saunders would have been proud with those contested 22 foot jumpers that the Bulls resort to late in the shot clock at the end of game. Conversely, James and Irving seem to get into that lane rather easily... having another big sitting 25 feet waiting to shoot would seem to be a viable option on those occasions.
I wish Noah was healthy. I think him being a shell of himself is part of their problem.
Cleveland definitely needs to make adjustments. Gasol had way too many open shots around the free throw line off pick and pops.
DRose needs to stick to facilitating. He had a couple great passes in the 4th but also had equally horrendous pull up Js.
I'll take the Bulls in 6
I think the Bulls win. Lebron notoriously struggles against Butler relative to everybody else and he and Kyrie have to score a combined 50 a night to even have a chance at winning. JR Smith has to be their 3rd best player when he comes back and that is a disaster. I don't think the Cavs have the scoring depth needed to win this series without Love. I also haven't heard of a 99-92 win being an offensive win before. Having the top 2 guys is great, but they're gonna wear down as the series goes on because they need to play 40+ minutes a night because they have no depth. The Cavs had 9 bench points to the Bulls' 19. That's the game and probably the story of the series right there.
bleedspeed177 wrote:Cavs won. I felt the Bulls needed to win both games with JR out to win the series. Cavs will close it in 6.
I have same feeling. Small ball lineup of Irving, Smith, Shumpert, Lebron and Mozgov/Thompson will be just too much for Bulls. If Shumpert will be injured next game, Bulls will still have change to win at least that.
bleedspeed177 wrote:Cavs won. I felt the Bulls needed to win both games with JR out to win the series. Cavs will close it in 6.
I have same feeling. Small ball lineup of Irving, Smith, Shumpert, Lebron and Mozgov/Thompson will be just too much for Bulls. If Shumpert will be injured next game, Bulls will still have change to win at least that.
I'm cheering for the Cavs, but I still think the Bulls win this series. Cavs can't count on getting the 3-point shooting they got tonight. I'm not a Kevin Love fan, but there is this: During the regular season, Cavs were 3-0 over the Bulls with Love in the lineup, 0-1 without him.
Mikkeman wrote:
I'm cheering for the Cavs, but I still think the Bulls win this series. Cavs can't count on getting the 3-point shooting they got tonight. I'm not a Kevin Love fan, but there is this: During the regular season, Cavs were 3-0 over the Bulls with Love in the lineup, 0-1 without him.
I'm not ready to give that much credit for Love about those 3 wins. He shot combined .286 in those three games against Bulls and Bulls were missing Butler in 1st Cavs win, Noah and Dunleavy in 2nd win and Rose in 3rd win. In lone Bulls win, they were also missing Butler but Snell played out of his mind especially in defensive end against LeBron.
