Okay, Nick is going to dodge that one, which is not surprising.
Here is something to think about:
If Chicago overwhelmingly won the first overall seed, meaning it had the most regular season wins, wouldn't it follow that a lot of these issues worked themselves out over the season?
For instance:
2. The Bulls have possibly the worst bench in the league and given that they have three of the top 51 highest ranked players in fouls per minute(Noah 51st, Ilyasova 17th, Amundson 11th) they are going to get into foul problems and their bench can't pick up the slack.
3. The Boxers have championship(six NBA championships) experience and veterans that have accomplished great things internationally(Olympic and FIBA gold medals, Euroleague Final Fours MVPs). The Bulls have one championship ring winner, a guy that got benched for the playoffs when his team won the championship(Allen) and are relying heavily on second year players, rookies, and players playing in roles they just are not used to playing in (Ilyasova starting, Amundson as a first big off the bench)
If my squad managed the first overall seed by a VERY healthy margin, wouldn't it follow that these issues (overcoming early foul problems, adjusting to new roles, etc) worked themselves out over the previous 86+ games or so? Remember these playoffs aren't happening in September. Its happening in May, after Ersan Ilyasova and Louis Amundson have spent the entire year in new roles. They must have figured out how to be okay in them, or else the Bulls would not have won so many games.
Basically what I'm saying is that these issues of Nick's (new roles, Ersan's foul-prone tendencies) are issues that would've had to work themselves out, and in a positive manner.
Otherwise why were the Bulls the best team in the conference? They're not going to just suddenly fall apart and forget what they'd been doing during the season, and Nick isn't presenting anything revolutionary. In fact, he's kind of dodging nearly every argument that is challenging him while I'm running around like a chicken wiht my head cut off trying to address issues from GM's who haven't made up their minds.
Fact: LeBron has not ever been beaten in the playoffs by anything other than an utterly elite NBA team, if not the best defensive team in the league.
Fact: You all looked at the other teams in the conference and voted Chicago first. You can say "I didn't believe they were a 1 seed, I had them at 3" or whatever, but the fact is, we finished first, and with a large margin which means we won the most games.
Fact: If this were the real NBA, a lot of the reservations people have about Ersan Ilyasova or Louis Amundson or Mike MIller would have been sorted out, and for the better if this team was a legitimate #1 seed. And, since this team won the #1 seed easily, I don't see a real choice there.
Did winning the #1 seed sort out the deficiencies of the real life Cavs over the past two years and get them to a championship?
No wait. Don't answer that. Let me rephrase the question.
Did winning the #1 seed sort out the deficiencies of the real life Cavs over the past two years and even get them into the Finals?
No, but lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
My point, my only point, is that if Chicago overwhelmingly got the 1 seed (which they did. agreed?), that would mean a lot went right for them this season.
You point out two things; you point out that Ersan Ilyasova and Louis Amundson are playing in new roles, implying that not only will they not be comfortable there, their minute by minute production should suffer.
My point is that if Chicago overwhelmingly got the #1 seed, they're a 60 win team, minimum. They're #1 in the power rankings, they're way ahead in the +/- differential, Hollinger loves them, blah blah blah.
While that kind of success can't be used to suggest that Noah develops Hakeem's post game out of nowhere, I think, in the same way that you have to assume Bynum is on the court for your squad, that Ersan Ilyasova is comfortable now in his role as a starter, Amundson is comfortable in his role as 1st big off the bench, and Mike Miller has embraced his role as shooter first, everything else second.
I mean, if you can't make those kinds of judgements I'd just keep harping on the fact that Bynum hasn't finished a season healthy in 3 years, and there is no way he's healthy now.
Who, do you think Bynum is 100% to finish the season? I see KCattheStripe up there...KC, you think Bynum stays healthy all season and is 100% in the playoffs consider he hasn't finished the season in full health since Bush was president?
Topic: CB Draft '10 Playoffs Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (Read 36842 times)