Can the Chicago Bulls Make The Eastern Conference Finals?

[Pooh25]

Can the Chicago Bulls Make The Eastern Conference Finals?

 

Over the past year and a half or so, the Chicago Bulls decided their team that initially surrounded Derrick Rose was good, but not good enough to win a championship and all the major free agent superstars(Bosh, Boozer, LeBron, Wade, Joe Johnson) were all expected free agents this year.

 

They began to reduce their roster by multiple trades, all in the hopes of creating enough cap space in 2010 to lure a superstar. The Tyrus Thomas trade to the Bobcats for Flip Murrray was simply for an expiring, but the Bulls could have used Thomas as an expiring contract by not matching his contract. I think they needed Tyrus Thomas as a backup to Carlos Boozer because Taj Gibson has not played well dating back to the playoffs and previous games before that. Tyrus was perfect for a sixth man role that he had in previous years. The other trade was trading John Salmons for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander. This was a good choice because we might have not known if Salmons would have opted out of his contract and inevitably screw the pre-constructed Chicago Bulls plans.

 

Then, the summer came and the Chicago Bulls traded away their 1st round pick(#17) to Washington and traded away beloved Kirk Hinrich for a expiring contract. They had to unload Kirk anyway they could have done.

 

LeBron, Bosh, Wade all pre-planned their destinies and took their talents to South Beach, when the Bulls got Korver, Boozer, Brewer, Watson, Bogans, etc...

 

They completely remodeled this team this year and are looking very good.

 

The question is: Can The Bulls make the Eastern Conference Finals?

 

 

 

 

 

[Check my Stats]

no.

[Force]

no.

Add some depth man to the post..

 

Guy is tryn to start conversation, not just looking for a simple yes or no.

[Flash]

No.

[Pooh25]

no.

Why not?

 

 

Add some depth man to the post..

 

Guy is tryn to start conversation, not just looking for a simple yes or no.

^This.

 

No.

To this:

Add some depth man to the post..

 

Guy is tryn to start conversation, not just looking for a simple yes or no.

[Dr. Feelgood]

I think the Bulls have the talent to make the Conference Finals. Adding in very solid depth in Korver, Brewer, Watson, etc goes a long way. You've got Rose, Boozer, Deng, and Noah as a great core. I think they'll all mesh very well together. I think this Bulls team will surprise a lot of people and I would not be surprised in the least to see them make the Conference Finals. Now do I think they'll make it? You've got the Heat, Magic, and the Celtics, then the Hawks, who will all be very tough teams for the Bulls. I'm gonna say that they wont make it this year but next year after everyone has played a season together, they will for sure.

Edited October 15, 2010 by Dr. Feelgood

[Pooh25]

I think the Bulls have the talent to make the Conference Finals. Adding in very solid depth in Korver, Brewer, Watson, etc goes a long way. You've got Rose, Boozer, Deng, and Noah as a great core. I think they'll all mesh very well together. I think this Bulls team will surprise a lot of people and I would not be surprised in the least to see them make the Conference Finals. Now do I think they'll make it? You've got the Heat, Magic, and the Celtics, then the Hawks, who will all be very tough teams for the Bulls. I'm gonna say that they wont make it this year but next year after everyone has played a season together, they will for sure.

You took the words out of my mouth, I couldn't have said it better lol...

 

I think the Bulls are a lock to make the ECF this year if they:

A) Trade for Melo w/ the pieces they have(Deng, Gibson, Brewer, etc... Picks)... Deng is looking really solid this year and he is reverting back to borderline to all-star form. He's finally letting the offense come to him, instead of forcing his shots and going 1 on 1 on offense last year during VDN's tenure.

Edited October 15, 2010 by TheBullsInsider

[Dash]

Its possible but there is just too much we don't know about this Bulls team right now. We already know what Rose can do to defenses, absolutely murdered the Magic in the lone game he was healthy with a 30/6/7 performance, but what about the rest of the team? How will the Rose/Boozer duo work out? Can Noah take the Dwight Howards and Chris Bosh's out of games and whose going to stop Wade/Lebron? How does the new-look bench respond? Can Thibodeau coach an offense?

 

So yes they potentially can make it to the ECF but its going to take a monster series from Rose/Boozer and great production from the bench to do.

[Pooh25]

Its possible but there is just too much we don't know about this Bulls team right now. We already know what Rose can do to defenses, absolutely murdered the Magic in the lone game he was healthy with a 30/6/7 performance, but what about the rest of the team?

Deng looks like he reverted to old allstar/borderline form.

Korver is the light outs shooter off the bench, which Thibs is going to utilize him as Ray Allen, coming off the screens and such.

Ronnie Brewer is the slasher and defender.

James Johnson - He finally is learning how to put everything together, mentored by the great Scottie Pippen.

Omer Asik: He looks great defensively, but he needs to work on his free throws.

 

How will the Rose/Boozer duo work out?

We can infer it can work similar to the Williams and Boozer duo in Utah.

 

Can Noah take the Dwight Howards and Chris Bosh's out of games

We have Omer Asik and Noah working on Howard... We have to limit him from easy positions and tiring him by running, which the Bulls will do. Howard hasn't proven a jumper yet and Thibs is the guy who is probably the best defensive specialist in the league. He is going to utilize something similar to how he beat Howard when he had Perkins.

 

and whose going to stop Wade/Lebron? How does the new-look bench respond? Can Thibodeau coach an offense?

You can't in a sense stop an elite player, but you can slow them down. That's what Thibs did last season with the Boston Celtics team defense which made LeBron an outside shooter, which he is not the greatest at and Thibs exploited the weaknesses of LeBron, which made LeBron suffer.

 

Bench, I do not know as of yet, we'll see come regular season.

 

Jeff Van Gundy, when Thibs was an assistant under him, "that he has a great offensive mind and it will not be a problem"(paraphrasing).

Edited October 15, 2010 by TheBullsInsider

[Check my Stats]

Add some depth man to the post..

 

Guy is tryn to start conversation, not just looking for a simple yes or no.

 

There's no conversation to be had. Are the Bulls on the level of the Celtics, Magic and Heat? Even the Hawks? I'm not ready to say they are above the Hawks personally.

[Newman]

This Bulls team is a 50-win team. Whether they get more than that depends on Boozer's integration into the team and how well everyone performs. If anything, they should definitely be at least the 4th seed in the East, as I see the Hawks dropping down to the second tier of the East.

[Dash]

Jeff Van Gundy, when Thibs was an assistant under him, "that he has a great offensive mind and it will not be a problem"(paraphrasing).

 

The Rockets under Jeff Van Gundy and Thibodeau were terribly bland offensively. I wouldn't get my hopes up.

[Force]

There's no conversation to be had. Are the Bulls on the level of the Celtics, Magic and Heat? Even the Hawks? I'm not ready to say they are above the Hawks personally.

Were the Bulls on Boston's level when they faced them in the first round 2 years ago and were an inch from beating them? They didnt have Garnett..I know, but still. Chicago could pull up a hell of a fight against Orlando and Boston in a 7 game series..they def. have a chance at winning. I don't see how both those teams would crush Chicago in the playoffs, cuz thats what I'm assuming if theres no conversation to be had. Atlanta? IMO, Chicago would beat them in 6.

[Pooh25]

Were the Bulls on Boston's level when they faced them in the first round 2 years ago and were an inch from beating them? They didnt have Garnett..I know, but still.

And the Bulls did not have Luol Deng either and we should have won that serious if the NBA actually ejected people out of the game(Rajon Rondo) and wasn't hypocritical.

 

Chicago could pull up a hell of a fight against Orlando and Boston in a 7 game series..they def. have a chance at winning. I don't see how both those teams would crush Chicago in the playoffs, cuz thats what I'm assuming if theres no conversation to be had. Atlanta? IMO, Chicago would beat them in 6.

The Bulls match up pretty well against these teams this year, last year not so much when we played Orlando.

 

Atlanta, plays a series of one v one basketball, and their system has been exposed. We have the greatest defensive coach in the NBA right now and he will surely exploit this system come playoff time... This is the guy who shut down Kobe and LeBron James, enough said.

[Pooh25]

The Rockets under Jeff Van Gundy and Thibodeau were terribly bland offensively. I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Okay...? Thibs was an assistant coach at that team, similar to when he was under Doc, a defensive guy. Van Gundy was saying that Thibodeau is capable of running a good offensive as well.

 

Read:

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/69557/20101014/motion_offense_creating_more_assists_for_chicago/

 

This Bulls team is a 50-win team. Whether they get more than that depends on Boozer's integration into the team and how well everyone performs. If anything, they should definitely be at least the 4th seed in the East, as I see the Hawks dropping down to the second tier of the East.

The Bulls team with Carlos Boozer is most likely 50-55 wins in the East.