Bulls Lose

The series was played in spurts and the Pistons did a great job coming out on top of all those.

As Matt said on Blog a Bull:

"Sunday's game will be like a freaking wake."

Hopefully next year things would be better.

Bulls Lose Game 1 to Pistons

Bulls lost.

What can I say, Detroit outplayed them in every aspect of the game. How the Pistons handled everything is pretty much the best way to play Basketball.

I do expect the Bulls to show up in game 2. I mean, a lose like that could only result in two things: the Bulls's moral would be an all-time low the rest of the series or, it could stand as a wake up call and they'd go out on a tear come game 2.

If the Bulls steal one from the Pistons' homecourt then this would become a very interesting series for Bulls fans.

Head to Head: Pistons-Bulls

Deng is Good

Sorry if it's been a while since I posted here but I was quite busy for the past week and had rarely any time to log on to the web.

As we all know, Luol Deng won the Sportsmanship Award. Congrats to Deng and I hope he continues to put up monster numbers and move well around the floor like a Kurt Cobain on Acid in their 2nd round series against the Pistons.

Pistons vs. Bulls: Head to Head

Guards: Hinrich/Gordon vs. Billups/Hamilton

Capt. Kirk owns both defensively; however, during the regular season, Skiles usually puts him on Rip who likes to run all over the floor like the roadrunner out for a roadkill. Defensively too, if Rip is to guard Kirk, I believe Kirk will have a great offensive game since Hamilton is not that good of a defender compared to Billups.

As for the B Gordon, he's a defensive liability in this series. Billups and Hamilton are considerably taller and stronger. However, both move like cruise ships compared to Gordon. If Ben could find a way to stay in front of his defensive man and squeeze into those screen sequences that the Pistons love so much to give, then I think he'll give his man some trouble. One problem though is if he guards Billups and Chauncy decides to post up on him. Gordon would be creamed down the block against Chauncy since he's shorter and Billups is stronger. Offensively though, if Gordon plays as consistent as he did against the Heat, I believe he'll outscore whoever he is pitted against.

I expect Skiles to throw in Thabo for some help here defensively. As much as I love BG, there's little way he could matchup defensively with the Pistons backcourt.

Edge: Pistons

SF: Deng vs. Prince

People talk about this match up as the crucial match up of the series. And most also believe that Prince is going to come up on top because he could shut down Deng defensively.

Well, I don't think so.

Deng is not a face-up-I'll-take-you-off-the-dribble-or-jumper type of player. He plays more like a Dan Issel that's much more athletic, a better shooter, quicker, faster and covers the floor better. He rarely takes his defenders off the dribble, usually preferring to rotate and grab offensive put backs. But, if he does take it to the floor, he usually limits it to 3 or 4 bounces before he throws off a shot which is usually that sweet-looking running hook that's incredibly hard to stop.

Because of this, Prince will definitely have problems guarding him. Prince is a very good 1-on-1 perimeter defender. He could have been effective guarding a Wade or a Carter but he's going to have a hard time against Deng. Sure, he might disrupt Deng's jumpers due to his long reach but heck, Deng could find other ways to score and still be as effective. Offensively though, Prince isn't as good as a scorer as Billups or Hamilton and Deng could also hold his own on the defensive side so I guess...

Edge: Bulls

PF and Center: BWall/ PJ Brown vs. Webber/Sheed

Offensively, Bulls would get trounced on this one plus, Sheed could extend BWall's defense enough so that he won't be available for help to his teammates. On the other hand, BWall might already know how to play Sheed since he's been his teammate for a considerable number of years.

PJ vs. C-Webb. I'd give C-Webb a slight advantage over this one since he's much more effective offensively than PJ. However, PJ can guard him although, much like Sheed, a slight problem might be that Webber could extend PJ's D if he shoots well enough.

Edge: Pistons

Coaching: Skiles vs. Saunders

Skiles is better than Saunders as an in-game tactician. Skiles is also cooler looking (hahaha!) and a better motivator.

Edge: Bulls

Bench: TT, Thabo, Duhon, Nocioni, Griffin vs. Delfino, McDyess, Hunter

Pistons are stronger physically but Bulls' bench are quicker (a testament is TT constantly being able to slip into the paint during their regular season matches against Detroit) and, reliable perimeter and help defenders which is crucial in helping Hinrich and Gordon against Rip and Chauncey.

Experience goes to Detroit side though but heck, except for the two rookies, Bulls bench knows how it feels like to be in the playoffs too. Experience is not going to be much of a factor here--at least not as much as what most people claim it would be.

Edge: Bulls

This is going to be a long, hard-fought series. Experience edge by the Pistons won't matter as much since the Bulls also have significant playoff experience. They may not have gotten past the 1st round before but, bear in mind that this team have been in the playoffs 3 straight years running now--they also know how it feels like to be in this situation.

This series will come down to who asserts their game and who defends well enough to take those key stops down the stretch because games in this series will go down the wire.

Whoever wins this series, I believe, will win the Eastern Conference title.

My Prediction: Bulls in 6 or 7

NBA All-Defensive Team Results

BWall and Capt. Kirk made it to the 2nd All-Defensive Team.

Bowen in the first team? What's up with that? He was a great defensive player a few seasons ago but now he's just like any other aging basketball schmoe. He can't keep up with younger, more athletic players anymore. I don't think he deserves to be a part of any All-Defensive team, specially the 1st team. He did limp behind chasing Lebron and Dwyane Wade on the court so far in the Spurs' games against the Heat and the Cavaliers this season. He looks more like Keith Richards still desperately trying to live out the Rock n' Roll lifestyle at age sixty.

Anyway, BWall and Kirk deserves to be in the 1st team and not the 2nd simply because they are able to defend the opposing team's top guys efficiently. For instance, Shaq and Wade in the Miami series were defended by those two in terrific fashion--a major reason why the Bulls swept Miami.

Let me ask this question then, Popovich won't put Duncan strictly on Shaq during a Heat-Spurs game, right? Duncan's not usually that effective one on one Defensively against a top center or PF. He's great as a help defender but Wallace is also good with that. Camby, on the other hand looked like a terrific defensive player because he plays with teammates whose defensive capabilities are almost non-existent. His 3 blocks per game average, if you've seen a number of Nuggets games this season, usually comes off from covering defensive blunders by his teammates. If the Nuggets were only good at protecting against the penetration and entry passes then Camby wouldn't have needed to block that many shots. To sum it all up, the Nuggets D is as open as Paris Hilton's pants. I give Camby credit though for being able to time those shots well but still, I doubt he could really match up well with the best big guys out there. He's been consistently shaky against Duncan and an aging Shaq throughout the season.

Oh well, these all-NBA teams and personal awards are usually popularity contests and based on poorly interpreted stat sheets so I really can't complain that much. A championship though isn't.