Going to be a real hard series for us aswell as them. The Bulls are an improved team from last yr. They have won more games then us, finished better (by two seeds) and did win 3 out of 4 games against us in the regular season. This is going to be a real war!, but if the Heat do what they did last yr, I know that they can win. Its going to go to 6 or 7 games for sure!
When Wade pushes off Hinrich, Hinrich grabs his arm. Happens often. (Neither is dirty, both are just gamesmanship.) Should be REAL fun with that shoulder being the dislocated one.
of all the teams Miami can play, Chicago is the worst to play first because they are goign to give wade a beating. Is wade really that hurt? if so, he's ****ed cause he's going to get blasted on the bad shoulder over and over.
whoes gonna hold wade? hinrich? ya dam right he's gonna hold wade! everybody is talkin about wade... whats wade gonna do?, listen folks... wade is gonna get checked by hinrich, hinrich always locks wade down, go check the #'s from the elite eight game marquette v.s kansas. check wades stats against chicago, has the worst #'s than against any other team... becasue of hinrich.
so what wade does in this series is completely irrelevent to what miami does as a team. if miami wants to win, they have to get eddie jones, white chocolate, toine, and shaq going! hey udonis killed us last year tho.
I was saying this constantly to begin the season, and I'll say it again. The Bulls match up absolutely perfectly with the Heat. Just the way both teams are built, the Bulls just happen to have the perfect player at every position to oppose the Heat.
Where should I start? Perhaps the obvious place, and that's with Wade. Watching this guy do his thing is more exciting than almost anything else in the league. And yet, the opposition happens to be the best perimeter defender in the league. Kirk certainly won't be stopping Wade anytime soon, but he certainly makes Dwyane work harder than he has to against anyone else. Fighting through those screens and getting back to his man is what Kirk happens to excel at, and he'll be doing plenty of that throughout the series. He's so quick and pesky, he should just bug the hell out of Wade. And with that shoulder not being completely healed, Wade won't be quite as potent as he normally is.
Then we have Shaq. Unstoppable right? Well yeah, that sounds about correct. However, with Ben on him, it cuts down on his productivity quite a bit. I don't think we'll see a whole lot of doubling from Skiles this series, and that has a lot to do with Ben's ego. He wants that challenge of taking on Shaq, and although he's obviously not going to do much to actually stop Shaq, just that attitude could be enough. Shaq is at his best when he can catch the ball, watch the defense collapse, kick it out, and sometimes repost, or the ball will swing around the other way. I think the key to stopping this year's Shaq is to try to make him beat you by himself, and not allow his mere presence to create openings for teammates. Because that's why Shaq is so valuable really. He's not really close to a top 10 scorer in the league anymore, but his presence forced defenses to key on him, and then he can share the wealth with his shooters, which are plentiful on this Heat team. Not many centers are willing, or have coaches who'll put them in that spot, of guarding Shaq 1v1. That's why Shaq still made such a difference in last years playoffs and finals, despite a few poor number showings.
Then you have the role players. Deng and Gordon are easily good enough defenders to keep Walker/Posey and Williams/Payton on the perimeter and out of the key most of the time. Nocioni is a wildcard who always steps up in the playoffs, and is a scrapper. He'll come up with all the big, small-time plays that Chicago needs.
If Chicago is hitting their jumpers, I don't think this will get past 6 games. When the Bulls are knocking shots down, they look as good as anyone in the league. The entire team is streaky, so that's a small worry, but Miami isn't a defensive juggernaut, save a few players, and Gordon/Hinrich should be able to penetrate into the key and create enough open looks for teammates and themselves to keep their scores in the 90's. Deng will also be big, whether they have Posey or Walker on him, on the block on either side, where he can have his way with his defender. PJ Brown might also be able to come in and give some solid post play. He had that spurt of a few games where he looked awesome in the post earlier this year. And he's certainly a heady enough player.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HaNdLe ThE RoCk
Negative.
I can see Miami winning this game in 6. Shaq is going to tear up big ben, who's going to stop wade?
Kirk?
He can't hold Wade and Wade is going to prove it, Chicago will lose in 6.
Heh, like I said, no one's going to stop Wade. But Hinrich can do a better job than anyone.
It's going to be a Hard 6. Where you will say the Bulls could have won this series. The problem is just like last year. They won't win it. However I think the Bulls will take just enough out of Miami for the Pistons in the next round. Which I don't think the Cav's would have.
8 on 5 basketball is going to make it tough on the Bulls. This is arguably the worst draw that any homecourt team has in either conference. Play the defending champions with no superstar to balance the calls, then get the rested #1 seed if they get out of it.
If the Bulls pull through here, it would be the upset of the first round.
Round 1 : Heat v Bulls games 1, 2 and 3
, Bulls lost in 6 last year this year their better stronger and the Heat are older and hurt so i say Bulls in 6
