The Cavs vs Bulls Series

Bulls have no cap space next year. They are going to be over the cap when they sign Jimmy. Won't be able to make moves that don't involve trades until summer of 2016. Without Jimmy's qualifying offer they will be around $65 with their first round pick. They don't have the ability to use the small qualifier to sneak in another big asset like the Spurs are going to do with Kawhi. One of the reasons they are waiting to sign him. They will be able to go over the cap to sign him to a max after they use the cap space available.

Lebron is a beast. He does get tired more often it seems. Biggest difference in this series is that slots 3-8 of the Cavs vastly outperformed slots 3-8 of the Bulls. More often than not that is what series come down to. Besides your stars who else is going to step up.

Bulls_fan said:

The Bulls did quit. It was a perfect illustration of how the season went. They all felt like they deserved the title and that they no longer had to work for it. Once the Cavs made them work after that run, they threw in the towel. It's crazy how you go through hell for 4 years but keep giving everything you have, just to see the guys throw it away the season they can finally make some actual noise and not just a fight.

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I'm rewatching the second quarter right now. The game is a back and forth, Kyrie goes down. Delly doesn't come in right away, but LeBron tweaks his back on the Heinrich jump ball and Thompson has his shoulder on ice. The Bulls smell blood and it actually looks like the Cavs are going to punt on the game and regroup for game 7.

Then it happens - Mirotic clotheslines Shumpert. Suddenly Shump starts slashing and hitting threes, mind you LBJ is basically a decoy with a wrenched back at this point, passing off out of the elbow. Snell is a moron and fouls Smith on a three. JR and Jones hit a few jumpers and Delly gets his first three. Chicago can't hit the broad side of a barn. Now Thompson is back in because the Cavaliers have a little lead.

By the time they return for the half, the Bulls have pit themselves in a position where they have to make a run. The Cavaliers pack the paint and challenge the Bulls to hit outside shots, and they never do. Delly and Shumpert play lights out defense all 3rd quarter long. The Bulls are trying their asses off, but the defense just crushes their souls and their own lack of shooting doubles the frustration.

That is what really happened. People only remember the 4th quarter, not what led to the 4th.

KilgoreTrout said:

People should be chattering more! These are the HIGH times! We have 5 days to bask in our series victory! To tell tales around the fire about the ruthless conquest of our enemy!

In 5 days, we march into battle again! It will get stressful again! Let us not only discuss the battle in the heat of it! Let us also pass the goblet around, in between battles, and tell tales of heroism!

Tell them, @King Stannis!

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Eh, one day of crowing is enough for me. Time to face the task at hand.

The Cavs are going take back the Conference from the pretenders who think it's theirs. We shall mount Danny Ferry's head on a spike (or Paul Pierce's).

Just a history on the Cavs-Bulls "Jordan" playoff series.

As tiring as it was to have Jordan knock the Cavs out 4 times (mainly because of Jordan's arrogance), only one of them really hurt, and that was the 1992 team. That was the one and only year the key guys on the Wilkens Cavs were healthy in the playoffs. The Bulls were clearly better, a great team, and won as most people expected but the Cavs were the 2nd best team in the league that year so it was one of those "if it hadn't been for Jordan" things even though you knew the end was coming.

Now, the 1989 Cavs would've taken care of Chicago pretty easily without all the injuries they suffered late in the season. Rick Mahorn levied the most serious blow with his cheap shot on Price. That 1989 Cavs team was a title contender before the injuries and had no trouble with Chicago, but in their hobbled state they had no shot against those Detroit 'bad boy' slimebags even if they'd gotten by Chicago. So, while Jordan's shot was depressing the Cavs weren't getting a ring that year anyway.

The other two Cavs teams had no chance at a title.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/a-eulogy-for-if-only-the-bulls-as-we-know-them-are-probably-done/

There's a great need to stop a myth before it becomes revisionist history...

The Bulls did not quit. The Cavs whupped them.

Watch that 4th Q again. They drive, TT swats the ball against the backboard like his hand was Thor's hammer. Gasol tries his best low-post move, Delly comes in and knocks the ball away. They try get open, the Cavs fight through screens to prevent it. They try to trap and load up on Bron, and, remember, he enjoys that view.

Then the Kung Fu Kangaroo Bruce Lee'd them to death.

Bulls_fan said:

A few questions for you guys:

-If a team offers Thompson the max, which I think happens, will you guys match?

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Well yes, of course, because you've left yourself with no other choice at that point.

A good GM (which I think Griffin is) should see this coming a mile away and preempt the max offer with a trade.

Trade the series MVP?!?! WTF?!

Listen, Thompson is one of the key reasons that we beat the Bulls. I give credit where it's due, and I'm PROUD of Tristan. I've watched him grow from a rookie who didn't know which hand to shoot with into a legitimate big-man in this league, and he's not even close to being a finished product.

But... with that said. Tristan is a bad contract waiting to happen. We're already burdened with bad/questionable contracts. Even some people question whether or not Kevin Love is truly worth a max contract to the Cavaliers (because he's not putting up max production with how we use him, not because of any fault of his own).

So, as I've been saying for the entire season and even more so with the emergence of Thompson as a big time RFA; he is #1 on my list to trade to a team in need of interior presence and rebounding.

I really feel like this team needs more insurance against injury, and that means another All-Star caliber player. That's not Thompson, Mozgov, Shumpert, Smith, or Varejao. So we need to consolidate some of these players along with our picks and Haywood's $10M write-off to get another player two-way player.

Bulls_fan said:

-Any targets with that Haywood non guaranteed deal? Could be huge.

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Lots.

However, my primary guy is LaMarcus Aldridge, and I say this because he has implied that Cleveland would be his number one destination if Kevin Love were to leave in free agency. I think it's possible to make Love and Aldridge work on the same roster, and since we play small in the 4th regardless (no Mozgov), then playing Aldridge and Love simultaneously wouldn't be any worse defensively.

Another guy that was mentioned was Iguodala, which I think would be great.

Bulls_fan said:

-Has Lebron regressed a bit, or was Butler's defense that good?

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LeBron has regressed. Just look at him, he's nowhere near the same guy he was last year.

He's getting used to his new physique which is much leaner, and he has a much longer recovery time due to various training reasons...

Suffice it to say, James of last season would've torched Butler or anyone else for that matter; whereas this year, he's still very much figuring out a new play style.

Bulls_fan said:

In the past I would say that Lebron beat the Bulls, this time I thought Jimmy did a great job and everybody else on the team beat the Bulls.

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Nah.. Bulls were basically one shot away from losing in 5. And the Cavs really controlled this series. With that James really didn't dominate the Bulls, the entire Cavaliers led by James and David Blatt dominated the Bulls.

Butler really isn't a factor here. You guys needed consistency from more than one player to compete. This series was only close because the Cavaliers are down two of their Big 3.

Imagine what would've happened had Kyrie and Love had been healthy throughout? It would've been a sweep.

Randolphkeys said:

I'm rewatching the second quarter right now. The game is a back and forth, Kyrie goes down. Delly doesn't come in right away, but LeBron tweaks his back on the Heinrich jump ball and Thompson has his shoulder on ice. The Bulls smell blood and it actually looks like the Cavs are going to punt on the game and regroup for game 7.

Then it happens - Mirotic clotheslines Shumpert. Suddenly Shump starts slashing and hitting threes, mind you LBJ is basically a decoy with a wrenched back at this point, passing off out of the elbow. Snell is a moron and fouls Smith on a three. JR and Jones hit a few jumpers and Delly gets his first three. Chicago can't hit the broad side of a barn. Now Thompson is back in because the Cavaliers have a little lead.

By the time they return for the half, the Bulls have pit themselves in a position where they have to make a run. The Cavaliers pack the paint and challenge the Bulls to hit outside shots, and they never do. Delly and Shumpert play lights out defense all 3rd quarter long. The Bulls are trying their asses off, but the defense just crushes their souls and their own lack of shooting doubles the frustration.

That is what really happened. People only remember the 4th quarter, not what led to the 4th.

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I didn't TiVo the game. Anywhere I can see it again?

Does Simmons actually think that if Snell and Mirotic played a lot it would have made a difference? In game 5 the Cavs made runs with Mirotic out there- went at him (wasn't he like a -23 out there?)- and then the fatal run in game 6 for the Bulls also happened with him on the court... it was his silly flagrant that seemed to set off the Cavs fireworks. Mirotic gave up more than he delivered.

Maybe they should've played Aaron Brooks more too. SMH. They just can't admit the obvious.

NaySmith said:

There's a great need to stop a myth before it becomes revisionist history...

The Bulls did not quit. The Cavs whupped them.

Watch that 4th Q again. They drive, TT swats the ball against the backboard like his hand was Thor's hammer. Gasol tries his best low-post move, Delly comes in and knocks the ball away. They try get open, the Cavs fight through screens to prevent it. They try to trap and load up on Bron, and, remember, he enjoys that view.

Then the Kung Fu Kangaroo Bruce Lee'd them to death.

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I like you, NaySmith.

Bulls_fan said:

A few questions for you guys:

-If a team offers Thompson the max, which I think happens, will you guys match?

-Any targets with that Haywood non guaranteed deal? Could be huge.

-Has Lebron regressed a bit, or was Butler's defense that good? In the past I would say that Lebron beat the Bulls, this time I thought Jimmy did a great job and everybody else on the team beat the Bulls.

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-I'd have a tough time answering "no" right now. Tristan isn't going anywhere.

-There's a ton of targets, no specific ones that I've heard. Will definitely be used though, either to bolster the roster or to add assets.

-He put up some eye popping stats overall (26/11/9/1.7/1.7), he had 3 problems in the series:

*He didn't shoot well at all
*He was careless
*He didn't finish at the rim like he's capable.

I believe with Kyrie being banged up and not his usual self, LeBron tried to do too much. He ran way too much "bad iso", where he dribbles for 15-20 seconds while his teammates stand around. For the most part, he was his own worst enemy.

Bulls_fan said:

A few questions for you guys:

-If a team offers Thompson the max, which I think happens, will you guys match?

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Given the Cavs cap situation, I think you match any offer for Thompson. The cap is set to explode in two years. Today's fifteen million is tomorrow's MLE. Thompson is quickly proving himself to be invaluable. You don't let him go.

I mean, Thompson was the best big in a series featuring Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, Timofey Mozgov, and Joakim Noah. He earned his money in this series.

Bulls_fan said:

-Has Lebron regressed a bit, or was Butler's defense that good? In the past I would say that Lebron beat the Bulls, this time I thought Jimmy did a great job and everybody else on the team beat the Bulls.

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I think it's a bit of both, honestly. LeBron has obviously regressed a bit, but he played pretty well this series despite not being able to hit the ocean from a boat (aside from game five, obviously). He rebounded everything in sight and passed the ball really well.

I do credit Blatt for how well prepared all our role players were because they vastly outperformed Chicago's role players, but LeBron made a ton of great passes to open guys. He also annoyed the hell out of me with some of his isos, but it's hard to argue with the overall results. Chicago put all their effort into stopping LeBron, but he kicked the ball and our role players made the Bulls pay. To me, that's a combo of LeBron and our coaching staff.

LeBron is thirty. It's all downhill from here. But he's going to pull some vintage performances out of nowhere and he's still an incredibly good player, even when he's equally frustrating (as has been the case at times this year). At the end of the day, this is probably the weakest Cavs team the Bulls are likely to play for the next three to five years. Their window was wide open when Love went down and with Kyrie hobbled. They just couldn't take advantage of it.

I'm honestly hoping it will be downhill from here on for the Chicago Bulls for a long time. Being the team that gets to officially blow up the Bulls Franchise is one of the most pleasurable things I can imagine outside of winning a championship when its come to being a fan of the NBA.

And it would just add to the good memories and story of LeBron's career 4-0 shutdown against them and specifically our latest series. Looking back their were a lot of great moments just made for us as Cavaliers fans. LeBron's miracle shot, then his dominant vintage performance in game 5. Then of course the biggest surprise of all coming from Dellavedova and our bench, completely crushing the Chicago Bulls despite only 15 points from LeBron and 2 out of our best 3 not even playing.

All my stress and frustration that was built up over the first 7 games is officially gone. I feel like we've done well for ourselves considering the circumstances, hopefully more is to come, but we've got something to hang our hat on now and hopefully a bright future ahead for the next 4-5+ years.

So yeah, that's good stuff!

scopedog said:

I'm honestly hoping it will be downhill from here on for the Chicago Bulls for a long time. Being the team that gets to officially blow up the Bulls Franchise is one of the most pleasurable things I can imagine outside of winning a championship when its come to being a fan of the NBA.

And it would just add to the good memories and story of LeBron's career 4-0 shutdown against them and specifically our latest series. Looking back their were a lot of great moments just made for us as Cavaliers fans. LeBron's miracle shot, then his dominant vintage performance in game 5. Then of course the biggest surprise of all coming from Dellavedova and our bench, completely crushing the Chicago Bulls despite only 15 points from LeBron and 2 out of our best 3 not even playing.

All my stress and frustration that was built up over the first 7 games is officially gone. I feel like we've done well for ourselves considering the circumstances, hopefully more is to come, but we've got something to hang our hat on now and hopefully a bright future ahead for the next 4-5+ years.

So yeah, that's good stuff!

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Don't think it will, I actually think they can only get better after this season - the media treats thibs like a demigod coach but the reality is he is not very good and extremely stubborn on making any adjustments or using his bench, he is also horrible offensively.
(from what I understand the bulls front office wanted to hire an offensive assistant to handle the offensive side but thibs adamantly refused)

about the players, I don't think anybody is safe on that roster expect butler/rose/gasol maybe mirotic - and lets be honest Taj/Kirk/Brooks/Dunleavy/Snell are not very good and they can only get better if they unload them off, and Noa is a complete joke of a player he was their biggest hole, looked like a Dleague player to me

I was surprised to see that BLatt did goto that lineup of Delly, Smith.Shump, James and Thompson during the regular season and the team saw similar success but blatt only used the lineup for a total of 34 minutes compared to 20 minutes in the playoffs.