Do the Bulls look like they have lost ground to Atlanta and Cavaliers?

[poido123]

Different story a few weeks ago.


I think the Cavs have leapfrogged the bulls with the last few trades and Atlanta are clearly playing better basketball.


how are we going to Counter the Cavs moves or overcoming the Hawks who are playing great team ball and suffocating Defense?

Ball is in the management's court.

To sit on their hands through the trade deadline would be foolish IMO. We need to get better and deeper at the centre spot and wings.

[kurple]

you counter the cavs by trading for afflalo or wilson

[poido123]

you counter the cavs by trading for afflalo or wilson


Gibson for afflalo straight Up?

Not sure what I'd trade for Wilson, who I consider to be less of a player than afflalo...

[kurple]

dont the bulls have a bunch of picks?

i would have done that deal in a heartbeat a couple years ago. but gibson is 30 already, he will be 32-33 when we are finished rebuilding

i would deffo consider it

[blablabla]

Does that makes sense for Denver, considering that Taj has 3years left on his contract compared to Affalio's 2
On the other hand a trade that works would be Dunleavy and Hinrich for Affalio as Hinrichs contract is cheap and Dunleavys is expiring. Make the Bulls add a first rounder and it's done. Another trade that would work is Dunleavy, Snell and Moore for Affalio and Green. I like Snell as a player and i think he could turn into a solid option if given playing time which is not the case in Chicago

Maybe they could also trade for Plumlee, i'm not sure what the Suns would want for him but he would be a nice backup at the 5

[poido123]

dont the bulls have a bunch of picks?

i would have done that deal in a heartbeat a couple years ago. but gibson is 30 already, he will be 32-33 when we are finished rebuilding

i would deffo consider it


I'd happily trade a pick since we are in win now mode.

Bulls have to go all in. Gasol, Noah and Rose Are not going to be healthy forever. Noahs still injured :(

[BigTicket]

I hope the OP is right, but honestly it's too early to tell.

It's true that the Bulls have struggled lately, but that might just be the injury issues.

Also, Atlanta is playing fantastic ball right now, but I don't believe they can keep it up for the whole rest of the season + playoffs, every team has hot and cold streaks.

[Richesly]

I hope the OP is right, but honestly it's too early to tell.

It's true that the Bulls have struggled lately, but that might just be the injury issues.

Also, Atlanta is playing fantastic ball right now, but I don't believe they can keep it up for the whole rest of the season + playoffs, every team has hot and cold streaks.
As Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose said, this is not a hot streak
This is how good they are.

[navy]

Overreaction.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

Overreaction.

This.

:facepalm

You counter it by your DPOY returning and your MVP getting back into form. You have 4 all stars for crying out loud, one of if not the best front courts in the league, are a defensive juggernaut and have multiple 20+ ppg scorers. You're stacked and don't need more help. Then again, the Cavs and OKC were stacked as well and got even more help, so all's fair I suppose.

:coleman:

[beastee]

This team is very simple. They need Noah to be healthy. If he is never healthy this year, they can't and won't beat the Cavs or Wizards...and now probably even Atlanta. Taj Gibson is a nice player, but he is not a starter. Also, Hinrich needs to see his playing time reduced drastically. He is no longer a 30+ minute guy, but Thibs loves hard workers.

No team can be great with 2 of their 5 starters out for a long period of time.

Health is always an issue with the Bulls...they need a new medical staff.

[beastee]

Even though I am down on the Bulls right now, I have been consistent telling the Hawks fans not to get too cocky, that it's going to be Bulls vs. Cavs in ECF. Here is an interesting article that points out even Vegas and NBA insiders still believe this to be the case:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12197528/nba-why-chicago-bulls-cleveland-cavaliers-favorites-east-finals

[BigTicket]

As Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose said, this is not a hot streak
This is how good they are.

27-2 is a hot streak. Not even the 96 Bulls were that good.

[atljonesbro]

27-2 is a hot streak. Not even the 96 Bulls were that good.
They're still the clear cut best team in the East and they will be all year long and going into the playoffs.

[theaussieguy]

bulls rely on too many 'ifs'

'if' rose is healthy

'if' rose is playing at a high level

'if' rose is making shots

'if' butler is making shots

'if' noah is healthy

'if' pau gasol is feeling confident


just not a championship team, they will not win it this year and probably never will with their current group, deal with it, can't wait to requote this when they get blown out of the playoffs

[fpliii]

They're still the clear cut best team in the East and they will be all year long and going into the playoffs.
How can you say that with a straight face though? Same thing happened with Portland and Indiana last year, and both teams fell off pretty hard.

You guys are looking terrific now, but let's be real here, the regular season is only halfway over.

[BigTicket]

They're still the clear cut best team in the East and they will be all year long and going into the playoffs.

They're certainly the best team right now, but only time will tell if that is still the case once the playoffs start.

[HurricaneKid]

I've been wondering when the Bulls were going to start getting called out. Their "defensive juggernaut" status is completely unearned this year. They are 14th in DRTG and are as bad a defense as Thibbs has had for 10 years.

And they are missing more than just Noah. Pau gives them more offensively but there is a price to pay on the other side of the ball. Rose can go through stretches where he looks great. But if you look at the body of work he isn't in the top half of NBA PGs this year. And when he wants to go get his it comes at the price of Butler not getting his.

Their offense has never been pretty. But now they have traded away their defense for a better offense and it still doesn't look good.

[atljonesbro]

How can you say that with a straight face though? Same thing happened with Portland and Indiana last year, and both teams fell off pretty hard.

You guys are looking terrific now, but let's be real here, the regular season is only halfway over.
That's not good logic at all. Just because it happened once before doesn't mean it's gonna happen every time. This Atlanta is better than both of those team were anyways. Defensive and Offensive juggernaut, elite coaching, deep bench, 3 Allstar level players, maybe 4 depending on how you feel about Korver.

[Charlie Sheen]

How can you say that with a straight face though? Same thing happened with Portland and Indiana last year, and both teams fell off pretty hard.

You guys are looking terrific now, but let's be real here, the regular season is only halfway over.

Without last year's Miami Heat lurking, the East is up for grabs. Maybe the Pacers didn't fall off as hard as you first thought, but the rest of the East was catching up to them.

[Mr. Incredible]

Sorry man. LeBron owns the Bulls. Does not matter what uniform he is wearing.

[Mr. Jabbar]

gasol is getting back to his prior laker form, not good news

*awaits shitstorm

[smoovegittar]

Been saying it all along... the clock's ticking.

Mid season Bulls fans getting squeamish.

[Sportal]

bulls rely on too many 'ifs'

'if' rose is healthy

'if' rose is playing at a high level

'if' rose is making shots

'if' butler is making shots

'if' noah is healthy

'if' pau gasol is feeling confident


just not a championship team, they will not win it this year and probably never will with their current group, deal with it, can't wait to requote this when they get blown out of the playoffs

This Aussie guy is right you know...

There is too many intangibles that the Bulls franchise have to rely upon for them to be successful this year and future years. What are the chances that they all happen at the same time, really?

[poido123]

No one gives us any hope.


Good to know :lol


And the token "pau sucks" in every bulls thread haha

[Bigsmoke]

LeBron James getting into MVP form:applause:

[Hotlantadude81]

Different story a few weeks ago.


I think the Cavs have leapfrogged the bulls with the last few trades and Atlanta are clearly playing better basketball.


how are we going to Counter the Cavs moves or overcoming the Hawks who are playing great team ball and suffocating Defense?

Ball is in the management's court.

To sit on their hands through the trade deadline would be foolish IMO. We need to get better and deeper at the centre spot and wings.

With the schedules coming up... Chicago could be 10 games back within 2 weeks.

[hahaitme]

- Pau can't sustain his level of play
- Rose is a shadow of his former self, probably scared to finish hard
- Butler has tried to pick up the offensive load and in turn has dropped his effort on D. Dude is also playing way too many minutes

Atlanta is killing it, Cavs are.. a bit mediocre, but just came off a ton of games missing LeBron and Marion. With the recent trades they should pick up some steam too.

So to answer your question, yes, definitely.