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  1. #1
    Down with GLOBALISM poido123's Avatar
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    Default How far is this team going this year?

    Let's say rose is back to or close to his 27/7 self.

    I honestly believe we have enough scoring, good passers and defense to win the whole thing, I really do.

    We have a lot more variety than we ever have. We have been very good with far less in playoffs past.

    We might still need another creator on offense, but adding gasol will help our spacing and I envision our ball movement to be much like the Spurs last year.

    Just maybe, we have enough to overcome our small weakness.

    The East looks a lot easier now. My head says the main threat will be who comes out of the West.

    I'm not too worried about the Cavs this year, they will need time to gel with a lot of significant changes and inexperience.

  2. #2
    Consensus Top 20-30 AT Roundball_Rock's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Agreed. As a floor, 55 or so wins and the ECF. This team, though, should win the top seed and win the East. The Finals would be tough, and this team likely would be an underdog to the Spurs/Thunder/Clippers, but they would have a legitimate chance and not get steamrolled like the 2014 Heat. The East being stronger may help sharpen the team since there presumably will be legitimate competition in the ECF and ECSF rounds as opposed to cruising to the ECF like the Heat did in 11', 13' and 14'.

    The Bulls have a ton of depth. Should CHI consider a trade to exchange some depth for a second shot creator?

  3. #3
    good scorer Rose's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    The difference between Pau's passing/midrange jumper and Boozer's isn't that great. So any difference you see there is probably gonna be a product having better guys in the offense. The team's offensive plays are actually fine, and have been spurs-lite since 2012, although last season there was a lot of Princeton sets obviously. With Rose back the offense is gonna be a lot more effective. Jimmy should have easier shots. Whoever starts at the 3 is gonna be focused on hitting 3s. Finally have a legit post scorer. It's gonna be nice.

    The bench has guys who are good consistent shooters in Dunleavy or McDermott (whichever doesn't start) and Mirotic if Thibs gives him minutes this year. Having a healthy Rose will make everything so much better and easier for everyone.

    I think ECF is the floor. Because like you said Cleveland has too many young guys/learning to play together to do. Although Blatt is a really really good coach. Wouldn't be surprised to see them in the ECF. The Pacers should rebound to an extent despite losing Lance. Miami really doesn't scare me. And the rest of the east is poodoo.

  4. #4
    Down with GLOBALISM poido123's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by Roundball_Rock
    Agreed. As a floor, 55 or so wins and the ECF. This team, though, should win the top seed and win the East. The Finals would be tough, and this team likely would be an underdog to the Spurs/Thunder/Clippers, but they would have a legitimate chance and not get steamrolled like the 2014 Heat. The East being stronger may help sharpen the team since there presumably will be legitimate competition in the ECF and ECSF rounds as opposed to cruising to the ECF like the Heat did in 11', 13' and 14'.

    The Bulls have a ton of depth. Should CHI consider a trade to exchange some depth for a second shot creator?

    I think we might look to get a creator at the trade deadline, once Thibs and management have had a good look at the current team in the first half of the season.

    Like others have mentioned, a creative backup SG or PG like an Aaron Brooks type might be the answer. We need a guy who can light up the scoring and break down defenses off the bench, or playing next to rose to create his own offense.

  5. #5
    Down with GLOBALISM poido123's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rose
    The difference between Pau's passing/midrange jumper and Boozer's isn't that great. So any difference you see there is probably gonna be a product having better guys in the offense. The team's offensive plays are actually fine, and have been spurs-lite since 2012, although last season there was a lot of Princeton sets obviously. With Rose back the offense is gonna be a lot more effective. Jimmy should have easier shots. Whoever starts at the 3 is gonna be focused on hitting 3s. Finally have a legit post scorer. It's gonna be nice.

    The bench has guys who are good consistent shooters in Dunleavy or McDermott (whichever doesn't start) and Mirotic if Thibs gives him minutes this year. Having a healthy Rose will make everything so much better and easier for everyone.

    I think ECF is the floor. Because like you said Cleveland has too many young guys/learning to play together to do. Although Blatt is a really really good coach. Wouldn't be surprised to see them in the ECF. The Pacers should rebound to an extent despite losing Lance. Miami really doesn't scare me. And the rest of the east is poodoo.

    The pacers will be really stagnant on offense. Lance provided them offensive creativity and energy for that team. I'm not worried by them.

    Gasol is a mile better passer than Boozer. I think that will help our spacing and passing. If we gel quickly, I can see this team whipping the ball inside and out much like the current Spurs team.

    My main concern, is that Rose will need to adjust his game. If he can limit his kamikaze drives to the basket and look to pass the ball more as a traditional point guard, then I think we can operate at our best. Some games that style of play works, but in playoffs when defenses are trapping you etc, you gotta spread the ball and break open the defense.

  6. #6
    good scorer Rose's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by poido123
    The pacers will be really stagnant on offense. Lance provided them offensive creativity and energy for that team. I'm not worried by them.

    Gasol is a mile better passer than Boozer. I think that will help our spacing and passing. If we gel quickly, I can see this team whipping the ball inside and out much like the current Spurs team.

    My main concern, is that Rose will need to adjust his game. If he can limit his kamikaze drives to the basket and look to pass the ball more as a traditional point guard, then I think we can operate at our best. Some games that style of play works, but in playoffs when defenses are trapping you etc, you gotta spread the ball and break open the defense.
    I think Paul George makes another micro leap that he needs to make. I think they could look like the 2011 Bulls honestly. But they absolutely have to work out their weird locker room issues or whatever the **** happened.

    I don't think he is at all. I think he might be a bit better, maybe. But not a lot. I gave Boozer all the shit he deserved, but that man could pass. Created a lot of shots late in the shot clock out of nothing too. I think Pau will cause the team to gel faster though because he's more intelligent. He went from being the lead dog on a bad Memphis team to playing with Kobe nearly perfectly in pretty much 1 game. Most of our guys are actually high IQ players now though. The key ones (Pau being the exception) know Thibs offense. And the rest should catch on at a fair rate at both ends of the floor. I think the Bulls might stumble a bit at first maybe like the first 5 games are rough, but that's it. Nobody really plays the exact same way anymore as anyone else. Except maybe Dunleavy/McDermott a bit.

    The problem that I'm hoping the Bulls don't have is that everyone depends on Rose. A lot of times guys would just throw it back to him because they knew he was the best chance at scoring. Luckily Deng/Boozer are gone, Jimmy rarely played with him outside of practices. And Noah is what Noah is so yeah. And since Rose played pretty much the entire roster got overhauled. Taj is still here of course, Nzar might be, and Dunleavy will. But those two have barely with him more than we have. So I'm hoping that flaw stops. That was an absolute killer the past 3 years when Rose played.

  7. #7
    College superstar tamaraw08's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    I really think a lot will depend on Thib's ability to adjust and adapt to the recent lineup roster and learn from his past experiences.
    Last playoffs where in the team clearly bled for points and Thibs choosing to bench Dunleavy greatly disturbed me.
    He already established that he is a great defensive coach but Im not sure yet if he can truly maximize the team's strength on offense etc.
    Crystallas was right in terms of most shooters who played with the Bulls actually didn't shoot well during their Chicago stint. Heck even Korver's FG average dipped a bit.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Been saying it since we signed Pau and Mirotic... trade Dunleavy and Gibson for a creating/scoring wing.

  9. #9
    Do. Your. Job. Undisputed's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    If Derrick Rose can play at least 65-70 games this season and has his legs under him for the play-offs, no reason not to believe they can win a championship. Thibs is going to make anyone who plays for him grind for wins, and this crew seems more than capable. With trade pieces like Dunleavy and Taj, who knows what could happen mid-season.

  10. #10
    College superstar tamaraw08's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by Undisputed
    If Derrick Rose can play at least 65-70 games this season and has his legs under him for the play-offs, no reason not to believe they can win a championship. Thibs is going to make anyone who plays for him grind for wins, and this crew seems more than capable. With trade pieces like Dunleavy and Taj, who knows what could happen mid-season.
    For a team to actually contend, they need some depth and good reserves at every position. Noah and Pau have have not exactly played every game the past 5 seasons or so. And nobody is sure yet whether McDermott and Mirotic can actually defend. You also need an extra boost from the bench once the starters get their rest so....

  11. #11
    Local High School Star ljsbb27's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    It's nice to see some of the older and more experienced posters coming back on and contributing to the forum. Hopefully it stays like this for this upcoming season. Last year was very quite here after Rose went down again with injury.

    On that note if there are no significant injuries I expect this team to at least make the Eastern Conference Finals and if they gel well together I can see them coming out of the East. For now I think whoever makes it out of the West will most likely be the favorite, but maybe grinding through the extremely difficult Western Conference playoffs will take a huge toll on whoever eventually comes out and the Easter Conference representative (hopefully us) is able to take advantage.

    Rose - Hinrich - Brooks
    Butler - Snell
    Dunleavy-McDermott
    Gasol-Mirotic
    Noah-Gibson-Bairstow

    That's our roster as of right now. Correct me if I'm wrong or make any necessary additions/deletion.
    I like our depth and I like that at least on paper it seems everyone from top to bottom will be able to mesh and play well together and compliment each other's games.

    Ball movement and spacing will be essential to our success.

    When you have excellent passers and shooters it allows you to achieve both of those.

    Add to that our amazing team defense and we will certainly have a chance to beat anyone.

    Noah and Gasol will do a great job of passing and getting us easy baskets as well as be effective in pick and roll.

    Dunleavy, Mirotic and McDermott will provide us outside shooting and open up space for Rose and Butler to attack the basket and use drive and kick to get those shooters good looks.

    Our bench will be key and I'm confident it will outplay most other second units.

    Extremely excited for this upcoming season.

  12. #12
    Do. Your. Job. Undisputed's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by tamaraw08
    For a team to actually contend, they need some depth and good reserves at every position. Noah and Pau have have not exactly played every game the past 5 seasons or so. And nobody is sure yet whether McDermott and Mirotic can actually defend. You also need an extra boost from the bench once the starters get their rest so....
    This team should contend for a title if key players stay healthy. Healthy players is something that no one can bank on, to win a championship, you also need a whole lot of luck when it comes to injuries. Defense with this team does not concern me regardless of who is on the squad with Thibs running things.

    If all goes as well as possible, no reason in the world to believe they can make the ECF and possibly the finals.

  13. #13
    College superstar tamaraw08's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by Undisputed
    This team should contend for a title if key players stay healthy. Healthy players is something that no one can bank on, to win a championship, you also need a whole lot of luck when it comes to injuries. Defense with this team does not concern me regardless of who is on the squad with Thibs running things.

    If all goes as well as possible, no reason in the world to believe they can make the ECF and possibly the finals.
    You just don't need reserves in the playoffs but also for the very long marathon of 82 gruelling games. The Spurs were lucky to have a strong bench esp when they had to rest their key players in the reg season bec they were able to still win and get the BEST RECORD. Home court advantage is huge esp on game 7's. Ask the Spurs, OKC, Clips etc. They all needed that just the last playoffs. Or the Lakers in 1999 vs Portland and 2008 vs Boston etc etc.

  14. #14
    College superstar tamaraw08's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    Quote Originally Posted by ljsbb27
    It's nice to see some of the older and more experienced posters coming back on and contributing to the forum. Hopefully it stays like this for this upcoming season. Last year was very quite here after Rose went down again with injury.

    On that note if there are no significant injuries I expect this team to at least make the Eastern Conference Finals and if they gel well together I can see them coming out of the East. For now I think whoever makes it out of the West will most likely be the favorite, but maybe grinding through the extremely difficult Western Conference playoffs will take a huge toll on whoever eventually comes out and the Easter Conference representative (hopefully us) is able to take advantage.

    Rose - Hinrich - BrooksButler - Snell
    Dunleavy-McDermottGasol-Mirotic
    Noah-Gibson-Bairstow

    That's our roster as of right now. Correct me if I'm wrong or make any necessary additions/deletion.
    I like our depth and I like that at least on paper it seems everyone from top to bottom will be able to mesh and play well together and compliment each other's games.

    Ball movement and spacing will be essential to our success.

    When you have excellent passers and shooters it allows you to achieve both of those.

    Add to that our amazing team defense and we will certainly have a chance to beat anyone.

    Noah and Gasol will do a great job of passing and getting us easy baskets as well as be effective in pick and roll.

    Dunleavy, Mirotic and McDermott will provide us outside shooting and open up space for Rose and Butler to attack the basket and use drive and kick to get those shooters good looks.

    Our bench will be key and I'm confident it will outplay most other second units.

    Extremely excited for this upcoming season.
    Again my biggest concern now is if Thibs would show some confidence in playing the names I bolded in your post. Last summer, analysts said Dunleavy is a very good pickup not only bec he is a good shooter but also plays pretty good defense. Well, when the Bulls were bleeding for points vs the Wizards, Thibs chose to bench him in crucial moments of the first 2 games where they lost both games. putting them in a huge hole.
    Watching Doc Rivers, he too puts a huge emphasis on defense, but he found ways to play Jamaal Crawford and other weak defenders to help out the team on offense.

  15. #15
    Smile, you're on ISH Crystallas's Avatar
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    Default Re: How far is this team going this year?

    62-20

    3rd place East, 5th place NBA.

    ECF, lose in 5.

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