Bulls Beat #109 - I told you so

[dougthonus]

The Bulls blow it against the Raptors, but they're the larger winners of the seeding war as they now play a Garnettless Celtics team. I break down the matchup and answer your email questions.

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Bulls Beat #109

 

[Poohdini fan#1]

I am as happy as every one else that KG is out but with no Deng and a hurt Salmons, Pierce is going to kill us.

 

[dougthonus]

This very well may be true.

However, Boston without KG is just a worse team than Orlando. If we can't beat them, then we had no shot against Orlando at all.

 

[Poohdini fan#1]

dougthonus wrote:

This very well may be true.

However, Boston without KG is just a worse team than Orlando. If we can't beat them, then we had no shot against Orlando at all.

I agree with that. I wanted to play Boston anyway because of KG being hurt but I'm much more worried about Pierce than Rondo.

 

[AirP]

Poohdini fan#1 wrote:

I am as happy as every one else that KG is out but with no Deng and a hurt Salmons, Pierce is going to kill us.

Thabo would be nice to have right now... he'd be a solid option to play defense on Pierce.

 

[dougthonus]

I agree with that. I wanted to play Boston anyway because of KG being hurt but I'm much more worried about Pierce than Rondo.

I don't think we will be able to stop Pierce, but I have that built into my projection of the series. Rondo vs Rose is where I see us losing the series. Rose needs to win that matchup, but I don't think he will.

 

[Poohdini fan#1]

dougthonus wrote:

I don't think we will be able to stop Pierce, but I have that built into my projection of the series. Rondo vs Rose is where I see us losing the series. Rose needs to win that matchup, but I don't think he will.

If Rose can keep playing like he has this month I think he'll win that matchup.

 

[dougthonus]

I don't think he'll be able to play that well against Rondo. Rondo is the type of guard who can hurt him badly on both ends of the floor too. I think Devin Harris might be the only other point guard in the league whom I'd say is close when it comes to tough matchup for Rose.

There are other guys who might burn Rose on offense, but they'd probably get burnt on defense. Rondo has the ability to burn Rose and the ability to defend him better than most.

 

[Poohdini fan#1]

ok I know april was short but go back to march til now and I like the way Rose has played compaired to Rondo. I think Rose will balance out what Rondo gives Boston or it will at least be close. on the other hand i think the play of Pierce is what will tip the scale in favor of Boston.

 

[J-Mart]

I'm not worried about Rose, he will step up his game. Rose's history shows this.

If you ask me, the key to this series is Salmons. If he isn't healthy, I don't see this turning out well. Deng's absence will finally hit us since Salmons appears to be the only guy we have to defend Pierce. Maybe LJ will step up? lol

This series will also come down to whos bench performs better. If we let the Celtics' post scrubs do well this series will not be pretty. Tyrus/Noah/Miller/Thomas will really need to step up their defense since our team has a tendency to let no name bigs dominate us.

 

[PJ Brown]

Listening now. I do agree with the basic premise. I wanted the Celtics (not the way we got them, though) and now I too feel a twinge of I told you so-ism. With KG out, the Bulls should make it a series. At the very least, the team has to go in feeling like they have a chance.

 

[Ralphb07]

Rose will win the showdown with Rondo. Let's see how aggressive Rondo is not having KG to back him up. Also Rose knowing no one can stop him at the rim.

I fully understand everyone's thinking as why Rondo will win it but IMO Rose has hit another level in the past 2 weeks. He's nowhere near what he'll be two years from now but I feel he's a step up from throughout this season.

 

[??? ??????]

I think the Bulls need to attack Kendrick Perkins right off the bat. Once Perkins is out, there will be a huge drop off in the Celtics defense.

I'd start the game by having Ben Gordon, John Salmons (if healthy), and Tyrus Thomas attack Perkins and try to get him into early foul trouble. If we can get Perkins, that really opens up the drive for Rose, Gordon, and Johnny Fish.

 

[wjb1492]

Looks like those infamous Rose-colored glasses are out in full force. I hope Derrick plays Rondo even. I don't think some of you are giving Rondo his due, and it's always funny to me when people talk about "our" players having another gear and stepping up, while seeming to assume that the opponent doesn't and won't. I also have little faith that the refs will call Derrick getting fouled the same way as Rondo.

 

[dougthonus]

I think Rose vs Rondo determines the series.

Of course, I am predicting us to lose the series.

 

[~rabid platypus~]

The Cards have been scheduled to start at 7:07 pm Wednesday in St. Louis for game 5 of the NLDS. That means there will likely be lighter crowds for the game. I checked ticketmaster, and there are still multiple whole rows available in many sections. I would expect Blues fans are easily outnumbered by Hawks fans for the game.</p>

 

[Spunky Porkstacker]

That is a big game for the Cards tomorrow night ! Cardinal nation has to be very nervous.</p>

 

[~rabid platypus~]

The Cards have been down and behind before, and have come back. They are 7-1 in elimination games since 2011. That is incredible! With Waino getting the start, I think we can beat Pitt. But, Pitt has given us fits this year so they still need to be their best to beat them.</p>

 

[BiscuitintheBasket]

So you're saying that 'Hawks fans will be able to get cheap tickets without buying multiple games, and thus make the arena red?</p>

 

[MassHavoc]

The Bulls preseason didn't sell so great last night either.</p>