Bulls (1-0) at Celtics (2-0)

[xmuscularghandix]

The Bulls worry me a little bit because we don't have a single matchup that we can exploit - if anything, we are just marginally better at each position.  Paul has problems with Deng.  Salmons can score with Allen.  KG doesn't look to score enough to take advantage of Tyrus.  Perk and Noah aren't scorers.  Rondo and Rose can't stop each other.  Quisy = Hinrich.

Hopefully Sheed can torch Brad Miller, because that's the only clear mismatch I see... everything else is slight.

I disagree with you, Perk has shown alot of improvement on his offense this year and with the strength difference between him and Noah i wouldn't be surprised if they go to him alot.

KG also is a great deal better than Thomas who is a good help defender but Baby scored over 20 pts in 3 out of last years 7 games.

And Rose doesn't get inside like he did before with any combo of Perk, Sheed, and KG in the game.

 

[Atzar]

The Bulls worry me a little bit because we don't have a single matchup that we can exploit - if anything, we are just marginally better at each position.  Paul has problems with Deng.  Salmons can score with Allen.  KG doesn't look to score enough to take advantage of Tyrus.  Perk and Noah aren't scorers.  Rondo and Rose can't stop each other.  Quisy = Hinrich.

Hopefully Sheed can torch Brad Miller, because that's the only clear mismatch I see... everything else is slight.

I disagree with you, Perk has shown alot of improvement on his offense this year and with the strength difference between him and Noah i wouldn't be surprised if they go to him alot.

KG also is a great deal better than Thomas who is a good help defender but Baby scored over 20 pts in 3 out of last years 7 games.

And Rose doesn't get inside like he did before with any combo of Perk, Sheed, and KG in the game.

 

I know KG is a lot better than Tyrus, but he doesn't look for his shot enough to capitalize on it.  He could drop 30 on him easily, but he just won't because that's not the way he plays.  Hopefully he'll make an exception. 

Regardless of whether Perk has improved, he's still the #5 option on this team.  I doubt that they'll look to him to shoulder the scoring load.

I hope you're right about shutting down Rose's penetration.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm thinking about this too much.  There's no question who has the better team... I'm just edgy about the fact that we don't have a surefire go-to guy in this game.

[Bahku]

The Bulls worry me a little bit because we don't have a single matchup that we can exploit - if anything, we are just marginally better at each position.  Paul has problems with Deng.  Salmons can score with Allen.  KG doesn't look to score enough to take advantage of Tyrus.  Perk and Noah aren't scorers.  Rondo and Rose can't stop each other.  Quisy = Hinrich.

Hopefully Sheed can torch Brad Miller, because that's the only clear mismatch I see... everything else is slight.

I disagree with you, Perk has shown alot of improvement on his offense this year and with the strength difference between him and Noah i wouldn't be surprised if they go to him alot.

KG also is a great deal better than Thomas who is a good help defender but Baby scored over 20 pts in 3 out of last years 7 games.

And Rose doesn't get inside like he did before with any combo of Perk, Sheed, and KG in the game.

 

I know KG is a lot better than Tyrus, but he doesn't look for his shot enough to capitalize on it.  He could drop 30 on him easily, but he just won't because that's not the way he plays.  Hopefully he'll make an exception. 

Regardless of whether Perk has improved, he's still the #5 option on this team.  I doubt that they'll look to him to shoulder the scoring load.

I hope you're right about shutting down Rose's penetration.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm thinking about this too much.  There's no question who has the better team... I'm just edgy about the fact that we don't have a surefire go-to guy in this game.

Pierce can be a surefire go-to guy in any game ... I think we win this one by 14 going away. I think we'll actually do better against the better teams this year, and may have a problem with a couple of the mediocre ones, (the "let-down" syndrome). Should be a great game, though.

[Atzar]

The Bulls worry me a little bit because we don't have a single matchup that we can exploit - if anything, we are just marginally better at each position.  Paul has problems with Deng.  Salmons can score with Allen.  KG doesn't look to score enough to take advantage of Tyrus.  Perk and Noah aren't scorers.  Rondo and Rose can't stop each other.  Quisy = Hinrich.

Hopefully Sheed can torch Brad Miller, because that's the only clear mismatch I see... everything else is slight.

I disagree with you, Perk has shown alot of improvement on his offense this year and with the strength difference between him and Noah i wouldn't be surprised if they go to him alot.

KG also is a great deal better than Thomas who is a good help defender but Baby scored over 20 pts in 3 out of last years 7 games.

And Rose doesn't get inside like he did before with any combo of Perk, Sheed, and KG in the game.

 

I know KG is a lot better than Tyrus, but he doesn't look for his shot enough to capitalize on it.  He could drop 30 on him easily, but he just won't because that's not the way he plays.  Hopefully he'll make an exception. 

Regardless of whether Perk has improved, he's still the #5 option on this team.  I doubt that they'll look to him to shoulder the scoring load.

I hope you're right about shutting down Rose's penetration.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm thinking about this too much.  There's no question who has the better team... I'm just edgy about the fact that we don't have a surefire go-to guy in this game.

Pierce can be a surefire go-to guy in any game ... I think we win this one by 14 going away. I think we'll actually do better against the better teams this year, and may have a problem with a couple of the mediocre ones, (the "let-down" syndrome). Should be a great game, though.

Indeed.  TP's to you and Ghandi for the discussion.

[xmuscularghandix]

The Bulls worry me a little bit because we don't have a single matchup that we can exploit - if anything, we are just marginally better at each position.  Paul has problems with Deng.  Salmons can score with Allen.  KG doesn't look to score enough to take advantage of Tyrus.  Perk and Noah aren't scorers.  Rondo and Rose can't stop each other.  Quisy = Hinrich.

Hopefully Sheed can torch Brad Miller, because that's the only clear mismatch I see... everything else is slight.

I disagree with you, Perk has shown alot of improvement on his offense this year and with the strength difference between him and Noah i wouldn't be surprised if they go to him alot.

KG also is a great deal better than Thomas who is a good help defender but Baby scored over 20 pts in 3 out of last years 7 games.

And Rose doesn't get inside like he did before with any combo of Perk, Sheed, and KG in the game.

 

I know KG is a lot better than Tyrus, but he doesn't look for his shot enough to capitalize on it.  He could drop 30 on him easily, but he just won't because that's not the way he plays.  Hopefully he'll make an exception. 

Regardless of whether Perk has improved, he's still the #5 option on this team.  I doubt that they'll look to him to shoulder the scoring load.

I hope you're right about shutting down Rose's penetration.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm thinking about this too much.  There's no question who has the better team... I'm just edgy about the fact that we don't have a surefire go-to guy in this game.

The past two games they've started off by getting the ball to Perk down low right away. I think they'll do it again.

TP for the discussion. Either way we're winning this game.

[GreenFaith1819]

I believe the C's will win easily. We are a much better defensive team now.

Rose can cancel those nice drives he had to the basket against the C's in the playoffs last year. Just ask Raymond Felton (Bobcats) about the C's interior defense.

And the Bulls cannot focus on just P2 and Ray Allen now. Now they have to focus on Sheed, KG, Marquis Daniels as well as Rondo, and an improved Perk. A LOT more matchup problems.

Throw in Shelden Williams, too..he's been playing well in Glen Davis' absence.

It will be a good game, but I look for the Celtics to send a message to the Bulls with this one.

[Rondo2287]

I believe the C's will win easily. We are a much better defensive team now.

Rose can cancel those nice drives he had to the basket against the C's in the playoffs last year. Just ask Raymond Felton (Bobcats) about the C's interior defense.

And the Bulls cannot focus on just P2 and Ray Allen now. Now they have to focus on Sheed, KG, Marquis Daniels as well as Rondo, and an improved Perk. A LOT more matchup problems.

Throw in Shelden Williams, too..he's been playing well in Glen Davis' absence.

It will be a good game, but I look for the Celtics to send a message to the Bulls with this one.

I think this is a really good point, pervious discussion here was really centered on scoring comparissons between players in our starting lineups.  But I really think if we play good defense that is gonna be the difference maker.  TP

[Brickowski]

The Bulls handled the Spurs pretty easily.  They are a very underrated team. Deng looked like he's back 100%, and they're not going to miss Gordon at all. Rondo is going to have hus hands full with Rose and Hinrich.

The Celtics are fortunate that the game is in Boston, and that the Bulls played last night.

[jackson_34]

Gonna be a great match, probably looking foward to this more than the cavs game.

Obviously our defence has stepped up since we last saw them, but I expect the game to be close for the most of it. 

[Evantime34]

Mark it down, Rondo will have a big game. Not in the way he has been having them the first two games (great assist numbers), but by putting the ball in the hoop. Expect 25+ from him tonight I guransheed it.

[Rondo2287]

Mark it down, Rondo will have a big game. Not in the way he has been having them the first two games (great assist numbers), but by putting the ball in the hoop. Expect 25+ from him tonight I guransheed it.

Im Marking it down!

[Evantime34]

Mark it down, Rondo will have a big game. Not in the way he has been having them the first two games (great assist numbers), but by putting the ball in the hoop. Expect 25+ from him tonight I guransheed it.

Im Marking it down!

Rondo I hadn't noticed the Rice picture till now, I like it. TP, go Eagles!

[RockinRyA]

well i think rondo has been keeping his man in front of him and gambling less the past 2 games. if he puts his head into defense, this wont even be close.

that and our interior help is far superior from last playoffs'

[WeMadeIt17]

Mark this one down Rondo goes for a Triple Double tonight just like he did in the playoffs! Guransheed!

[FLCeltsFan]

The Bulls handled the Spurs pretty easily.  They are a very underrated team. Deng looked like he's back 100%, and they're not going to miss Gordon at all. Rondo is going to have hus hands full with Rose and Hinrich.

The Celtics are fortunate that the game is in Boston, and that the Bulls played last night.

I thought the Spurs looked a step slow last night.  They were out rebounded over all and especially 15-8 on the offensive end.   The Bulls did look good though. 

Marquis Daniels will be a bit harder for Hinrich to handle than Marbury.  Miller will find Sheed harder to deal with than Mikki Moore. And the biggest change is that they won't be getting to the hoop near as easily with KG alongside Perk as they did with just Perk patrolling the paint alone. 

They have Deng back and he always gives Pierce trouble, but on this team, if Deng shuts Pierce down, there are so many weapons who can take over and let Pierce take an easy night. 

I see a Celtics win here...