The Cavs vs Bulls Series

[Frank Reynolds]

With Indy being out of the picture, it's looking like an inevitable showdown with Chicago.

How the two teams match up...
Who should be favored...

I trust that we can run with this thread, and get into some good analysis of what seems like an inevitable 7 game series with the Chicago Bulls.

 

[Triplethreat]

I don't see it as inevitable at all.

The East is getting better. Toronto deserves respect. Washington deserves respect. These are good teams that hypothetically could make that jump to elite status this year.

Why do people just count out the rest of the east lol?

 

[The Oi]

Wouldn't write off the Heat to advance to the ECF and I wouldn't write them off from competing with the Cavs either. That's assuming, of course, a healthy Wade and an injured Rose.

 

[Anglefan]

Bulls are the only team with the upside to beat the Cavs as the rosters stand now. And as it stands now, the Cavs' third best player is crushing the Bulls' best player, so it looks like there will be very little resistance in the east this year.

 

[Ohio]

People are giving the Bulls way too much credit. Mostly because they foolishly assume Rose has returned to MVP form. But anyone who has watched Team USA knows he has been below average at best.

If we do face the Bulls I don't even see it going 7 games. Probably 5 honestly.

And Washington, Miami, and Toronto could all easily beat Chicago.

 

[CavsHomer]

Great thread!
Bulls are our biggest rival for sure.
But I wouldn't be surprised at all, if Charlotte/Washington/Toronto/Miami beat them in the playoffs.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

I started this thread because I'm really baffled how the media almost unanimously believes that the Bulls could beat the Cavaliers. I smell some anti-Cleveland sentiment creeping in. We have the best player in the world. We just acquired another top 5-7 player in the league.

Let's be real:

-Their best player Rose hasn't played in two full NBA seasons. One would think that's something noteworthy.
-Rose has never been able to beat LeBron in a series.
-LeBron can lock down Derrick Rose.
-Who on the Bulls can lock down LeBron? Snell? Butler?

-Pau Gasol is going to be wildly uncomfortable when he's got to cover Kevin Love at the 3 pt line. It's a lateral move from Carlos Boozer. Gasol is mildly more skilled, but he's softer than Charmin. They insert Gibson, we insert Andy.

-After Taj Gibson, the Bulls go to Mirotic. He might be a player to watch out for, but Tristan is a pest, and he requires constant monitoring, he's a headache to deal with. Advantage to Nikola, but is that a big enough advantage to win you the series? No.

-Joakim Noah is the Bulls biggest asset, but he's frequently going to be on an island.

With Love spacing the floor, there's a lot of room open for us to drive and kick. Could Noah easily get into foul trouble being on an island, defending Irving, Waiters, LeBron James, Andy and Tristan?

-Spacing might be the Cavaliers ultimate weapon in this series, this advantage is very real, and it is something that's completely unreported on.

This Bulls team could have beaten the old Cavaliers, but this new team is going to be something to deal with. Joakim Noah can't stop a barrage of 3pt bombs, the Bulls can't stop LeBron James, let alone LeBron playing next to Love, Irving, Waiters, Miller, Jones...

 

[Pioneer10]

http://realcavsfans.com/community/index.php?threads/2014-2015-eastern-conference.44452/page-15

We've gone over a lot of these topics in this thread already.

The Bulls case is based on a few assumptions
-they are going to have a very good frontcourt which has both good offensive and defensive players
-2 of the Cavs big 3 are one way players and so the Bulls won't have as much trouble scoring against the Cavs compared to the Miami Big 3
-Butler plays Lebron tough. He's not going to stop Lebron but the assumption is with him the Bulls defense isn't going to get distorted enough so that other guys are left wide open.

I think they actually have a good case if their players were 3 years younger: a combination of younger Gasol combined with Noah and pre-injury Rose would have made for a super team not dissimilar to what we've done. Too bad Gasol is going to be 34 and coming off a World Cup and Rose is post-injury. Basically if the absolute best case scenario for them is needed for the Bulls o beat us: Mirotic and McDermott pan out and produce more then what is typically seen of even in good rookies, Gasol plays like he's 30, and Rose plays like he did pre-injury then yes they are going to be a significant threat to the Cavs (this is also assuming the Cavs also don't max out: i.e. Irving and Love don't improve on defense, we don't add a decent roleplaying big, Waiters, Delly, and Thompson don't improve). The chances of all these happening are slim.

It would be interesting if they are able to add a decent wing: they really need someone at the 2 or 3 who can provide offense right now. The Bulls have more depth upfront then we do but thankfully with Love we're not that far behind them. Meanwhile on the perimeter they seem significantly weaker then us (depending on Butler, Rose, and some crap vs Lebron, Irving, Waiters, Delly, Marion, Miller) is not a recipe for success

 

[OldManRemy]

The Bulls need a healthy Rose to get past the Raptors or Wizards. I am not sold on Rose's health. At times, he has looked so bad during these games that I question why he made the team over Wall or Lillard. The Team USA has looked like a Rose rehab to me at times (decent defense but not the best guard defender and his offense has been terrible).

But if Rose is indeed healthy, only a minor tweak is needed like a back-up center. If Okafor can get healthy, he'd be nice to have off the bench to match Chicago if they go big or if Cleveland gets foul trouble. And as a minor aside, watching Senegal beat Croatia and Gorgui Dieng being the best player on the floor (averaging like 20 and 11 during these games), makes me wish Dieng was included in the Love trade. Even if Rose was 100% healthy, with another solid big, I wouldn't see any reason to have fear.

 

[ThirdWorld]

Bulls vs LeBron
GAME 6 NEVER

All these hype pre-season always gonna end up as bust

It might be the Wizards or even Miami that will give the Cavs a bit of trouble

 

[QuadrupleDouble]

Let's wait until we play a game before we start talking about playoff matchups.

On paper, I'm more worried about Miami.

 

[Mdog1]

Expecting Rose to be healthy, and in the dame breath saying Love and Irving are injury prone? Are those the analysts we are listening to?

They deserve no weight to their opinions. The Bulls could be good, the Cavs could be great. I like our chances of being one of the greatest offensive teams ever, than theirs of being healthy.

People just see our big 3 and think we are all offense, compared to the championship Heat who were stalwarts defensively, what they don't realise is our 8th best player would have started for them, and been their 4th guy. Birdman looked great with the Heat, TT is basically a higher upside Birdman. Then we have Dion, Andy, Marion, Miller. This is not a Heat situation, our bench players plus LeBron and Andy could make a run in the East, let alone adding in Kyrie, Love, and Dion.

 

[dark2332]

Honestly, I'd like to see how well our team comes together before we start stacking us up. The potential is there to be one of the best teams of the past decade. The potential is also there to be a disappointment like the D'Antoni era Suns. I want to see how well Irving and Love play defensively. Both seem to be mentioning a new commitment on that end of the floor.

If everyone on the roster exerts energy defensively and accepts their respective roles, it doesn't even matter if Rose is healthy. Our team is head and shoulders above the rest in the East from a talent standpoint. Our biggest challenge will be ourselves and a bunch of egos accepting the roles the team needs them to play.

 

[Marcus]

A few things:

- Rose has played 10 games in the last 2 years.
- He didn't look all that great in limited action last year, either.
- Rose has been rather underwhelming in international play thus far.
- The Bulls have made exactly one ECF since they drafted Rose, and they were smoked in 5 games by LeBron James' Heat.
- Derrick Rose and the Bulls have NEVER beaten LeBron James in a playoff series. Ever.

The Bulls won't be a pushover team, and I expect them to be in the upper echelon of the NBA, but it is ridiculous just how overrated they have become. It's like people are looking for any reason at all to doubt this Cavs team and their chances.

The East is on the rise as a whole. Charlotte has a good young team. The Raptors have a good team. Washington is certainly on the rise. Indiana is a top tier team with Paul George, and is probably still a lower seed without him. Miami is still going to be a middle seed... they might even still win the Southeast. I'm more concerned about some of those teams than I am the Bulls, although admittedly I think the Cavs won't face a truly daunting challenge until the match up with the West winner. Even then, the only team I see as capable of knocking them off in a seven game series is the Spurs.

I just don't understand all the hype surrounding Chicago. It's like everyone assumes that Rose is going to just lace them up and play MVP basketball again. This team has two bonafide MVP candidates in LeBron and Love, and a rising star in Irving. And that's not even discussing the amount of depth this team currently enjoys, either, with guys like Marion, Miller, and Thompson ready to come off the bench. In fact, the Cavs' bench could probably be better than some starting lineups in the league on a given night.

That's why I'm taking the Cavs over the Bulls all day, every day. Thibs is going to run that team into the ground like he does every single year, and the Cavs will have fresh legs come playoff time due to the fact that they're likely going to have many games wrapped up before the end of the third quarter this year, as well as have a top seed locked up early enough to give the core guys some rest.

 

[iamacavalier]

If you watch the lakers play the Wolves in the 13/14 season Gasol rarely guarded Love and I found that strange. Then I went back and watched some games from 2012. Love gets the ball on the 3 point line and either blows past him or has a easy jumper because Gasol has to give him space. Here is 2012 highlights for just a taste of what im talking about where Love went 25 pts and 13 boards and frustrated Gasol.

So I assume they switch Gasol and Noah on D and that pulls Noah out of the paint. And leaves a 34 year old Gasol in the paint as the lone backup to stop Irving, Waiters, and Oh yeah Lebron...

Love creates so many mismatches for teams like that its crazy. And we know Noah is better than Anderson at this point in their careers. But who better to defend noah than Anderson.