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I've heard plenty of ESPN commentators and TNT commentators (including Charles Barkley) who think that the Bulls are the 2nd best team in the league. I personally think that title belongs safely with OKC, because they have less losses and a deeper team.
I've heard plenty of ESPN commentators and TNT commentators (including Charles Barkley) who think that the Bulls are the 2nd best team in the league. I personally think that title belongs safely with OKC, because they have less losses and a deeper team.
Who would you guys have over a 7 game series?
1) Their records are virtually the same and the Bulls have played 2 more road games and played 8 or so games without Rose.
2) The Bulls are the deepest team in the league per pretty much every coach and commentator I've heard talk. Most people that don't follow the Bulls greatly underestimate guys like Deng whom is their 2nd best player and even Noah because they think De-fense is what you put up around your yard to keep the dog in and only value guys that can score.
With all that said, I think it's somewhat of a toss-up. Neither team has a lot of deep playoff experience outside a few guys. Westbrook also tends to play a little *wild* and may try to show how great he is vs. Rose which would be problematic with his TO's.
With all that said, the Heat have a lot more playoff experience than either of those two teams. I *hope* my Bulls can beat them but in my experience of following the NBA the strong young teams like Bulls and OKC generally need a little more seasoning to make the finals....however the west's top teams have greatly weakened so OKC is probably going to be the WCC but it won't be easy.
Pretty much I look at the Bulls and OKC and their futures are both very bright.
I would lean towards Chicago here. Deeper, with a very aggressive defense. Can Kevin Durant handle the Bulls physical defense? Will Westbrook get caught up trying to outplay Rose? Do the Thunder have enough scoring beyond Durant, Westbrook, and Harden( my answer is no). I think Deng would make a pretty tough obstacle for Durant.
I think it would be a great series, but I'd have to lean towards da Bulls, especially if they have HCA.
I would lean towards Chicago here. Deeper, with a very aggressive defense. Can Kevin Durant handle the Bulls physical defense? Will Westbrook get caught up trying to outplay Rose? Do the Thunder have enough scoring beyond Durant, Westbrook, and Harden( my answer is no). I think Deng would make a pretty tough obstacle for Durant.
I think it would be a great series, but I'd have to lean towards da Bulls, especially if they have HCA.
Yeah, many people felt Deng got robbed last year not being named to the NBA 3rd defensive team. He is one of the few guys in the league that can at least make Durant work for it.
With Boozer healthier this year and another year to gel I'm not worried about the Bulls needing another "scorer".
I personally think Durant would be fine but Westbrook is potentially their achilles and not just against Chicago.
I would lean towards Chicago here. Deeper, with a very aggressive defense. Can Kevin Durant handle the Bulls physical defense? Will Westbrook get caught up trying to outplay Rose? Do the Thunder have enough scoring beyond Durant, Westbrook, and Harden( my answer is no). I think Deng would make a pretty tough obstacle for Durant.
I think it would be a great series, but I'd have to lean towards da Bulls, especially if they have HCA.
Chicago does have a better bench as well as they play better team defenese. There's no disputing that. I think this would be a hard one to pick. Initially I picked Oklahoma city, but their bench isn't that strong. That is relying way too much on Durant and Westbrook. Which I agree, can be a liability. It's all up to Westbrook on this one. If he wants to distribute the ball wisely and look for his shot "within" the game, I can see them beating Chicago. They better show a little defense too.
The problem with Chicago is that they rely too much on Derrick Rose. He's a great player and a nice kid, but others have to step up. A healthy Deng would help, but they don't have that many great scorers. They brought Boozer there for that, but so far he hasn't showed me much. If Boozer can up his game and the bench can contribute good minutes this is going to be a tough series..
Just because of Durant though, I give the Thunder a slight edge. My guts telling me otherwise, but he's a ptp'er in my book....For those that don't know Dickie V,, that's "prime time player"...You can't call him a diaper dandee anymore, because he's been in the league a couple of years..
Chicago does have a better bench as well as they play better team defenese. There's no disputing that. I think this would be a hard one to pick. Initially I picked Oklahoma city, but their bench isn't that strong. That is relying way too much on Durant and Westbrook. Which I agree, can be a liability. It's all up to Westbrook on this one. If he wants to distribute the ball wisely and look for his shot "within" the game, I can see them beating Chicago. They better show a little defense too.
The problem with Chicago is that they rely too much on Derrick Rose. He's a great player and a nice kid, but others have to step up. A healthy Deng would help, but they don't have that many great scorers. They brought Boozer there for that, but so far he hasn't showed me much. If Boozer can up his game and the bench can contribute good minutes this is going to be a tough series..
I'd agree with a good portion of that. How Westbrook plays will certainly be a huge deciding factor, but that's still a very big IF to me. Especially if the media plays up the individual matchup with Rose( which they're sure to), can you trust that Westbrook isn't going to try and outduel Rose, even if at the expense of the team? I'm not quite sold on that as yet.
Here's the thing with how much Chicago relies on Rose: While it definitely starts and ends with him, the Bulls still have more complimentary scorers than OKC. Rose is the alpha scorer, but Boozer, Deng, Hamilton, and even Noah can all score to varying degrees. Westbrook and Rose scoring-wise cancels each other out. Durant one-ups Deng in that department, but Deng is probably going to be expending most of his energy defending Durant, so any offense they get from him is a bonus. He's going to make it tough for Durant, and force him mainly into jumpshots, or into the teeth of Chicago's defense, where Noah, Gibson, and Asik await. That puts pressure on Hamilton and Boozer to contribute.
Now, on the OKC side of things, after Durant, Westbrook and Harden, there's a big drop off in scoring talent. I'm going to say that Durant is going to have at least a couple of subpar scoring nights, at least in terms of efficiency, due to Deng's defense. As said earlier, Westbrook is going to be neutralized by Rose, and when you get right down to it, Westbrook is going to have a harder time scoring on Chicago, than Rose on OKC. That leaves Harden, who can definitely score but I don't think he swings the tide to OKC given the Bulls team defense. I just don't think OKC has enough offensive firepower, while you can probably say the same about the Bulls it's not to the same degree, and they have the better defense and superior depth. I say Chicago in a tough 7 game series....could very well go the distance.
Chicago does have a better bench as well as they play better team defenese. There's no disputing that. I think this would be a hard one to pick. Initially I picked Oklahoma city, but their bench isn't that strong. That is relying way too much on Durant and Westbrook. Which I agree, can be a liability. It's all up to Westbrook on this one. If he wants to distribute the ball wisely and look for his shot "within" the game, I can see them beating Chicago. They better show a little defense too.
The problem with Chicago is that they rely too much on Derrick Rose. He's a great player and a nice kid, but others have to step up. A healthy Deng would help, but they don't have that many great scorers. They brought Boozer there for that, but so far he hasn't showed me much. If Boozer can up his game and the bench can contribute good minutes this is going to be a tough series..
Just because of Durant though, I give the Thunder a slight edge. My guts telling me otherwise, but he's a ptp'er in my book....For those that don't know Dickie V,, that's "prime time player"...You can't call him a diaper dandee anymore, because he's been in the league a couple of years..
I was going to rep you and then you had to go and mention Dick V....
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