Where some see a pick-your-poison playoff opponent for the Bulls, Tyrus Thomas sees three teams that should fear the Bulls in an opening-round series.
The Bulls clinched a playoff berth Friday night when the Charlotte Bobcats were eliminated with a loss at Oklahoma City.
''I think we're the most dangerous team that's going to be in the postseason in the Eastern Conference right now,'' Thomas said. ''We're the underdog right now. But I think we're going to shock a lot of people.''
Is it confidence based on the Bulls having the fourth-best post-All-Star break record (16-10), behind those top three teams in the conference? Or is it simply cockiness from a young player on a team which will try to climb to .500 tonight when it hosts the Bobcats?
''I think it's good,'' coach Vinny Del Negro said when asked those questions. ''You have to keep it all in perspective. I'd rather have a guy with a lot of confidence moving forward.''
Ben Gordon gave Thomas support for his postseason assessment.
''Yeah, I agree with him,'' Gordon said. ''Why not? I'm on the same page with Tyrus. It seems like we're getting better each game. We just hope every game could be a home game, but that's not the case.''
If the Bulls were to fall to the eighth and final playoff berth, they would open at Cleveland next weekend. The Cavaliers have lost one home game this season.
''We've proven we can beat the Cavaliers,'' Thomas said after practice Friday.
The Bulls did defeat the Cavs 102-93 in overtime at the United Center on Jan.15. They also lost the first three games against the Cavs by an average of 19.3 points.
''It's going to be a tough road for us, regardless,'' Thomas said. ''We dug ourselves a hole at the beginning of the season. Regardless of who we play, we're going to have to take care of our home and try to get a few in theirs. We've got to win the rest of our games in order to have momentum going into the playoffs.''
