The keys to beating the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals...

[chambers]

my bad!

[chambers]

I don't know how many bulls games you guys are watching, but saying that the bulls are dependent on rose's penetrating, sells them a bit short.  When they have korver, rose, and deng in the game, they can be lethal from distance (especially since the athleticism of those two demands they be given some amount of space).

 Then when they have brewer in the SG spot, they become a dangerous uptempo team, and would have a size and/or athleticism advantage over us at every spot besides PF.

 People always point to their SG slot as a weak link, but really they play it by committee, and use it to change the look depending on their matchups (bogans for d, korver to stretch, brewer to run). 

If shaq can come back near his pre-injury form, I'll be confident that our size (and the fouls he draws) will create enough of an advantage for us, but otherwise, I think the bulls could be a lot tougher than some would give them credit for 

Compare the 2 benches and who will be on the floor.
I think that the Celtics crush the bulls on paper and in game time- especially come playoff time.
Our experience and size is going to play a huge part when boozer/noah are both off the floor.
Rondo, delonte and green runnin around out there is going to be insane.
Some good points though.

[Donoghus]

I don't know how many bulls games you guys are watching, but saying that the bulls are dependent on rose's penetrating, sells them a bit short.  When they have korver, rose, and deng in the game, they can be lethal from distance (especially since the athleticism of those two demands they be given some amount of space).

 Then when they have brewer in the SG spot, they become a dangerous uptempo team, and would have a size and/or athleticism advantage over us at every spot besides PF.

 People always point to their SG slot as a weak link, but really they play it by committee, and use it to change the look depending on their matchups (bogans for d, korver to stretch, brewer to run). 

If shaq can come back near his pre-injury form, I'll be confident that our size (and the fouls he draws) will create enough of an advantage for us, but otherwise, I think the bulls could be a lot tougher than some would give them credit for 

Compare the 2 benches and who will be on the floor.
I think that the Celtics crush the bulls on paper and in game time- especially come playoff time.
Our experience and size is going to play a huge part when boozer/noah are both off the floor.
Rondo, delonte and green runnin around out there is going to be insane.
Some good points though.

I wouldn't sleep on that Bulls bench.  It's pretty solid.  Gibson will give people fits, Korver can be very dangerous when he's on and Asik can be a headache down low. 

I don't think the Celtics crush them at all. I expect a long drawn-out series; 6-7 games.

[Donoghus]

I don't know how many bulls games you guys are watching, but saying that the bulls are dependent on rose's penetrating, sells them a bit short.  When they have korver, rose, and deng in the game, they can be lethal from distance (especially since the athleticism of those two demands they be given some amount of space).

 Then when they have brewer in the SG spot, they become a dangerous uptempo team, and would have a size and/or athleticism advantage over us at every spot besides PF.

 People always point to their SG slot as a weak link, but really they play it by committee, and use it to change the look depending on their matchups (bogans for d, korver to stretch, brewer to run). 

If shaq can come back near his pre-injury form, I'll be confident that our size (and the fouls he draws) will create enough of an advantage for us, but otherwise, I think the bulls could be a lot tougher than some would give them credit for 

Compare the 2 benches and who will be on the floor.
I think that the Celtics crush the bulls on paper and in game time- especially come playoff time.
Our experience and size is going to play a huge part when boozer/noah are both off the floor.
Rondo, delonte and green runnin around out there is going to be insane.
Some good points though.

I wouldn't sleep on that Bulls bench.  It's pretty solid.  Gibson will give people fits, Korver can be very dangerous when he's on and Asik can be a headache down low. 

I don't think the Celtics crush them at all. I expect a long drawn-out series; 6-7 games.

I totally failed to mention the likes of Kurt Thomas, Ronnie Brewer, and Rasaul Butler.  That team has some depth.

[coco]

The Key is having Rondo well rested.

[chambers]

I don't know how many bulls games you guys are watching, but saying that the bulls are dependent on rose's penetrating, sells them a bit short.  When they have korver, rose, and deng in the game, they can be lethal from distance (especially since the athleticism of those two demands they be given some amount of space).

 Then when they have brewer in the SG spot, they become a dangerous uptempo team, and would have a size and/or athleticism advantage over us at every spot besides PF.

 People always point to their SG slot as a weak link, but really they play it by committee, and use it to change the look depending on their matchups (bogans for d, korver to stretch, brewer to run). 

If shaq can come back near his pre-injury form, I'll be confident that our size (and the fouls he draws) will create enough of an advantage for us, but otherwise, I think the bulls could be a lot tougher than some would give them credit for 

Compare the 2 benches and who will be on the floor.
I think that the Celtics crush the bulls on paper and in game time- especially come playoff time.
Our experience and size is going to play a huge part when boozer/noah are both off the floor.
Rondo, delonte and green runnin around out there is going to be insane.
Some good points though.

I wouldn't sleep on that Bulls bench.  It's pretty solid.  Gibson will give people fits, Korver can be very dangerous when he's on and Asik can be a headache down low. 

I don't think the Celtics crush them at all. I expect a long drawn-out series; 6-7 games.

take their top 5 bench guys vs our top 5 bench guys. ( I know this isn't how they'd be played in reality but...)

Davis
Green
Krstic
West
J Oneal
 vs
Gibson
Korver/brewer
Cj watson
Asik,

They have Gibson, Asik and Kurt Thomas as the backup bigs. WHich of these guys is supposed to guard big baby and/or Jeff Green when they're both on or if JO is on with them aswell and Green is playing the 3.
I can't see any comparison.
We CRUSH them in depth in my opinion.

[action781]

Not that concerned about Chicago. I still don't think they matchup well enough against the Celtics to take Boston in a seven game series.

A victory for Chicago would be more about Boston underperforming than the Bulls being the better side. That's the only way they win.

Miami are the biggest threat in the East. They haven't gotten it together yet but there is no denying their talent ... they are a very dangerous team to play against. All it will take is for them to get hot at the wrong time and things will get very complicated very quickly.

That always was my thinking.  Never really considered Bulls even a major threat.  But a few weeks ago, I started to become very nervous after consideration of a few things.

1.  Thibs is a really good coach.  He knows our system and will prepare better for us than any other team can.

2.  Rose has transcended his game incredibly this year.  With the improvement of his 3 point shot, blazing quickness, and size, he's going to be a very tough cover for Rondo and especially for any of our bench point guards.

3.  Experience is huge for us, but I think Chicago's youth might be more important.  Rose, Deng, Boozer, and Noah can all average 40+ minutes a night.  That means they will be getting some playing time against our bench every game.  I love our bench, but it's not on the level of those guys.  Keeping them from going on runs during that time will be key for us.

4.  They have the best defense in the NBA.  By the #'s and by personnel (coach included).  Last season I don't remember who had the best defense by the #'s (Cleveland), but I felt the celtics still did personnel-wise.  That's not the case anymore with Perk gone.


So, now I have a new line of thinking.  If we have to play Miami/Chicago in the 2nd round, I think I'd prefer Miami for the reasons above regarding Chicago.  But, if those 2 play eachother in the 2nd round and we have to play the winner in the East Finals, I would want to meet Chicago.  I think Miami is the more talented team and their ONLY knock against them is that they can't "put it together" especially against the elite teams.  Well, if they beat Chicago in a 7 game series, then they have put it together and also know have the confidence of beating an elite team 4 times and I do not want to see them in this scenario.  

[screwedupmaniac]

My key to beating the Bulls:

1. Play our game and not the Bulls' game

2. Get physical (Boozer will crumble, and I'm interested to see how Rose will respond to a few hard fouls)

3. Deny Rose the ball and make the rest of the team handle the ball

I'm excited to see the different defensive schemes that Doc and Thibs will throw back and forth at each other.

[dtrader]

The whole veteran experience versus youth is huge in this series. The fact that they have the option of (and most likely will be) playing their core for nearly a full game, mitigates a lot of the benefit our depth provides.

It won't matter much, who on their bench can guard BBD+green, if they still have their starters in, and we're trying to figure out who to put on Noah who'se still running around playing his 45th minute. Shaq is the X factor here, because even if he's in, Noah won't be running at nearly the same speed if he's already absorbed 20+ minutes of Shaqs abuse lol.

[Boris Badenov]

Other than kidnapping Thibodeau, nothing springs to mind.

Here's the key question, more seriously: does his familiarity with our system give him an edge, or vice versa? Is it a wash?

That edge could be largely mental, too. It might go a long way toward giving the Bulls the confidence that most inexperienced teams lack.

[slamtheking]

If healthy, I don't see the Bulls stopping the C's in a 7 game series.  Perhaps I'm being a bit naive but I just don't see it.  They don't have the variety of scoring options that the C's have nor do they have as strong a bench.

The depth chart of each position favors the C's in each spot -- if everyone is healthy. 

Rose is their best player but he's going to have to handle Rondo AND Delonte -- 2 PG's that are very different.  Deng can't play the whole game covering both PP and Green.  Boozer isn't as good as KG.  They've got no one on Ray's level.  Their center rotation of Noah and Asik isn't as good as Shaq/JO/Krstic.  Gibson and BBD are a wash essentially if Gibson plays well.

Again, I just don't see how the Bulls beat the C's in a series regardless of who has HCA.

[BballTim]

Key is for Rondo to be aggressive against Rose. That's the bottom line.

On defense, big man help won't be of much use of Rondo let's Rose go by him like he did a couple of years ago constantly. Particularly with Noah and Boozer around. But we don't want Rondo in foul trouble either. We have West and Arroyo that should lessen the risk of Rondo getting in foul trouble, so I really want Rondo putting great energy and pressure whenever he's on the floor and forget about getting in foul trouble.

Fact is, if Rondo is aggressive, he would be much harder to guard for Rose than it would be Rondo to guard Rose in reversed roles.

  Rondo might have had 1-2 games where Rose got by him "constantly" a couple of years ago out of the 11 games they played against each other that season.

Rose is too quick/strong to contain in the P&R without excellent big man help.

He was doing it without P&R, just blowing by him because Rondo wasn't moving his feet and going for the poke from behind. Got a couple of plays etched in my mind in which Rondo was staying with Rose very well like he should, then inexplicably plants his feet and let Rose go by him just so he could poke him from behind.

Remember, Rose was a rookie back then and quite inconsistent for that matter. Didn't have a jumper, though it fell for him in a few games in that series against us.

He's a much improved offensive player in all areas of his game. If Rondo defends him like he did in that series, we'd be in big trouble.

So yes, Rondo needs to step it up against him defensively.

  Those games where his jumper went in were the only games he was able to do any damage after game 1 in that series. He went for 36 points, 11 assist and 5 TO in game 1 and averaged 17 points, 6 assists and 5 turnovers in the other 6 games. He took 12 FT in game 1 and a total of 13 in games 2-7. Some of the turnovers were pokes from behind but most of them were Rondo harassing Rose into a bad pass or just a straight up steal.

  Should be an interesting matchup. Rondo's done well against Rose in 2 of the three meetings this year, both Celts wins. The third matchup was all Rose, but it was our 5th game in 7 days and Rondo's 5th game back from injury. If Rose gets 30+ points the Celts are in trouble, if he gets closer to the 19 he averaged the first 2 games the Celts are in good shape.

[Prof. Clutch]

Just walk in the building

I think if this is the C's mentality than we have a problem.  It's the times when the Celtics think they can just show up and they'll win that they run into problems.

[Chris]

Just walk in the building

I think if this is the C's mentality than we have a problem.  It's the times when the Celtics think they can just show up and they'll win that they run into problems.

Couldn't agree more. 

I think the matchups favor the C's overall, particularly given the two systems, but that is assuming they are completely focussed (and healthy).  Those advantages vanish if they are not executing at the top of their game.

[ben_from_boston]

The Big 3 plus Baby and DWest will eat non-Rose Chicago.
Rondo vs. Rose.
Rose's game looks pretty.  His dunks are very flashy.
Rondo is one of the most cerebral athletes in the NBA.
He has Kobe-level intelligence, which, in conjunction with KG's on-court leadership, affects the rest of the team.
When healthy (big if?), he is more than quick enough to keep up with Rose
Rondo is a heavy player--his play is dense and carries huge momentum.
Physically he actually doesn't need to do much to affect a game, so when he
is physical he completely swings the game in the C's favor.
I acknowledge Rose's abilities, but, at least, compared to a healthy Rondo, his
play and his dunks are light. 

Maybe I'm overdoing it with my analysis of Rondo, but I admit I'm very partial to him
as a player.