It's not looking good right now for my hometown Chicago Bulls as they face a 2-0 deficit to the Cleveland Lebrons. Due to a family committment, I did not see much of Game 1. I did, however, suffer through Game 2 and, lo and behold, saw some encouraging signs that the Bulls can actually make this a series. Now I'm not going to go nuts and let my homeristic tendencies spew forth from this page with crazy talk about how they can actually pull off a miracle and advance to round 2. Deep down I still believe, but, realistically, it's probably not going to happen. In honor of John Paxson, our starting point guard during our first championship run of the 90's (who now doubles as an alleged bully GM who got into a fracas with our current Coach), here are five reasons why the Bulls will win Game 3, his number. If I thought of any more than 5, someone would have to beat me over the head with a billy club until I regained a sense of normalcy and objectivity.
1. Holding Lebron James in Check?: If you check the stat line from Game 2, you will scoff at the notion that the Bulls will be able to do anything to keep him from slaying them. James scored 40 points on 16-23 from the field, 6-6 from the line, and 2-4 from 3. But if you watched the game, you saw that some the shots he was making were ludicrous. Yes, even legends get lucky sometimes, and Bron Bron was plenty lucky in Game 2. I actually thought Luol Deng and rookie James Johnson did a pretty decent job being physical with him and making him take poor shots. If they do the same thing in Game 3, chances are the luck will even out. I also don't see Jamario Moon going 4-5 from 3 ever again in his life unless he's shooting baskets by himself at home. That's 16-18 points right there.
2. Fat Shaq: My brother and I were laughing about how the announcers kept talking about how Shaq supposedly lost 20 pounds, as if they were almost willing it to be true. He's obese, slow, and a shell of what he once was as a player. It's almost as if when they run an isolation for him in the post, Lebron has a look on his face like "do we really have to do this 12-15 times a game so I can watch this fat ass miss a finger roll or draw a foul?" The Cavs were much better off when the Diesel was on the bench and Varajeo came into the game, as he matches up much better with his long-lost twin brother Joakim Noah. Aside from maybe gettting Noah and Chicago's other bigs into foul trouble, Shaq brings nothing postive for the Cavs. The more minutes he plays, the better I like our chances.
3. The Joakim Noah Comedy Tour: Noah is rapidly becoming my favorite Bull right now, and has a chance to be one of my favorites of all time. Normally I like guards because, well I played guard myself. I like guys who can shoot the ball, because that's pretty much all I did, spot up and shoot 3's. But how could I not like someone who not only brings it each and every possession, annoys the shit out of everyone else on the other teams' roster, but also bashes the city he's up against to take the pressure off of everyone else and put it squarely on his shoulders. He's better than anyone Cleveland has down low, and, as he becomes more and more assertive offensively, displaying a great passing touch as well as an improving jumper, the Bulls chances for a win goes up and then some. Don't worry, Jo, I hate Cleveland too.
4. Mad House on Madison: In an NBA climate where arenas pump in noise to attempt to rile up the fanbase, Chicago is arguably one of the last places where it still feels like the NBA of the 80's and 90's where fans actually cared. I know the crowd will show up and be the 6th man they're supposed to be, much like last year in the Boston series. If the Bulls hang around at the end of the game, it will make a difference.
5. Kirk Hinrich: Hinrich was terrible in Game 2, as his missing a couple of early shots made him hesitant the whole rest of the game. He needs to--and will-- knock down some shots early, allowing Cleveland to think twice about completely collapsing on Derrick Rose on his forays to the basket.
-Rose could and should have taken over in the 4th last game. This game, being at home and knowing that the Bulls have to win, he'll show that he cannot be stopped when he takes it to the hole.
-After getting beat on the boards 50-38 in Game 1, Chicago was +1 in the second tilt. They looked more comfortable overall in Game 2, and I look for them to have the advantage here in Game 3 by +5 or more.
-Mo Williams was absolutely unstoppable when these two teams played during the final week. He doesn't look unstoppable anymore, and wilted under the bright lights of playoff pressure last spring. Without Williams being the second bananna, Lebron has to do more, and, as I covered, he's not going to make some of the shots he made on Monday.
-After the Bulls win Game 3, they get another game at home to try and swing the momentum back in their favor. I'm betting that they will, making this series a lot more competitve than everyone things. Lebron might get his ring, but Chitown is going to make him earn it.
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4 comments:
gotta say I don't see this becoming much of a series. I have a hard time calling LeBron's Game 2 luck because we've seen him before, but I will admit that a lot of those 3's will not always drop for him. Also, the Cavs don't need as much from Mo Williams anymore now that they've got Jamison. The two of them pretty much play like 2A and 2B, which is why I think this Cavs team is better than any of LeBron's past teams. It'll take a lot of both Mo and Jamison to play poorly for an entire game.
April 21, 2010 at 7:22 PMPS You sure #4 isn't Bill Simmons using Berndon as a pen name?
I gotta say after game 2, I really didn't see Lebron letting them steal a game. But good call Berndon, especially on Hinrich being a huge key to the game. I'm hoping they can steal a couple more and make the Cavs really sweat.
April 22, 2010 at 10:53 PMThe way that 4th unwound gives convinces me that this series goes 5 at most. However, I give credit where credit's due--Hinrich came up very big tonight.
April 22, 2010 at 11:18 PMAlso, on Hinrich, it's been said before, but he kind of looks like a hobbit. As his career progresses and he searches for a ring, will he become Gollum?
i hate to say i told you so, but yeah i'll go ahead and say it: Hey world, I told you so....it's funny too how it played out exactly how i said it would save for the thing about the crowd....aside from the random "cleveland sucks" chants, they were pretty terrible. Oklahoma City's crowd was 20 times better. It's just further proof that Chicago has become Blackhawk crazy. Hockey is arguably just as big, if not bigger than bball right now, something that I never thought I'd see here. Just to clarify to Teach and others, I never once said that they would win the series, or even that they would make it one. All I said was that they'd win game 3. I'm hopeful that they will, but the way Cleveland came back make me have my doubts.
April 23, 2010 at 1:47 AMPost a Comment