I don't know why, but I'm just not buying Chicago. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel there's something missing. Could be 2 guard or maybe the point. Apart of me says that they need a true scorer, and another part of me says D-Rose is not a true point guard. I think D-Rose is a phenomenal basketball player, easily top 10, but I don't think he's ready to lead a franchise to a championship.

Right now, I got LA, San Antonio, Boston, and of course.... EL HEAT, all ahead of Chicago right now.

What do you mean by "I'm not buying Chicago"? That they aren't a legitimate contender in the east? If so you are in the minority. D-Rose is everything you want in a franchise player, this guy just gets it. He says all the right things, plays the game the right way, and stays out of trouble. He's grown tremendously since he came into the league three years ago and is just now coming into his own as a leader. He's improved his game every season. When he came into the league the knock on him was that he couldn't hit a jumpshot, he can now hit a consistent jumper. Last year the knock on him was that he couldn't shoot the 3, he worked on that in the offseason and now is a threat from the 3 point line.

You have to love this statement
 
What do you mean by "I'm not buying Chicago"? That they aren't a legitimate contender in the east? If so you are in the minority. D-Rose is everything you want in a franchise player, this guy just gets it. He says all the right things, plays the game the right way, and stays out of trouble. He's grown tremendously since he came into the league three years ago and is just now coming into his own as a leader. He's improved his game every season. When he came into the league the knock on him was that he couldn't hit a jumpshot, he can now hit a consistent jumper. Last year the knock on him was that he couldn't shoot the 3, he worked on that in the offseason and now is a threat from the 3 point line.

You have to love this statement

I never said I didn't like Derrick Rose, I just don't think he's ready to lead Chicago for a championship this year.

Like I've said in previous posts, he reminds me of may favorite player, D-Wade. And, ironically, people said the same thing about him in his 3rd year, and look how that turned out. So, I guess it's possible. But I just think there's 4 teams ahead of the Bulls right now.
 
I think there is two teams ahead of Chicago. And they're both in the West. I'd put money on Chicago making it to the Finals.
 
I don't know why, but I'm just not buying Chicago. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel there's something missing. Could be 2 guard or maybe the point. Apart of me says that they need a true scorer, and another part of me says D-Rose is not a true point guard. I think D-Rose is a phenomenal basketball player, easily top 10, but I don't think he's ready to lead a franchise to a championship.

Right now, I got LA, San Antonio, Boston, and of course.... EL HEAT, all ahead of Chicago right now.

The Heat ahead of Chicago right now????????

How's this?

You, a Heat fan, surely must know that not only are El Heat 0-3 against Chicago, but the Bulls are tops in the East at this point. If you have Boston up there, that's understood seeing as how they are the reigning East champs, but what reasoning can one give to put Miami over Chicago right now. Not sold on Chicago, but sold on Miami?

Please tell me you realize how nonsensical this sounds at this point.
 
The Heat ahead of Chicago right now????????

How's this?

You, a Heat fan, surely must know that not only are El Heat 0-3 against Chicago, but the Bulls are tops in the East at this point. If you have Boston up there, that's understood seeing as how they are the reigning East champs, but what reasoning can one give to put Miami over Chicago right now. Not sold on Chicago, but sold on Miami?

Please tell me you realize how nonsensical this sounds at this point.

2 out of the 3 games weren't legit.

First game Lebron didn't play. Also, Chris Bosh didn't play the 4th cause he got injured. And the Bulls only won by 3. That's not a legit comparison of the two teams.

Third game was decided by a BULLshit lose ball foul on Mike Miller. That was a stolen victory from the Heat.

Second game I'll give to the Bulls.... but Chris Bosh was all-time bad. And the Bulls still barely won that game.

Based off of 3 extremely close games I'm suppose to believe Chicago is a superior team? Not buying it.

Plus, Miami is playing very good basketball right now. Their throwing out a different lineup which has been very effective. And for the first time all season, this feels like DWade's team.
 
2 out of the 3 games weren't legit.

First game Lebron didn't play. Also, Chris Bosh didn't play the 4th cause he got injured. And the Bulls only won by 3. That's not a legit comparison of the two teams.

Third game was decided by a BULLshit lose ball foul on Mike Miller. That was a stolen victory from the Heat.

Second game I'll give to the Bulls.... but Chris Bosh was all-time bad. And the Bulls still barely won that game.

Based off of 3 extremely close games I'm suppose to believe Chicago is a superior team? Not buying it.

Plus, Miami is playing very good basketball right now. Their throwing out a different lineup which has been very effective. And for the first time all season, this feels like DWade's team.

It seems like you're totally ignoring everything else, and your assessment sounds like sour grapes. You failed to mention the fact that the Bulls weren't act full strength for those games either. #1 in the East, the probable MVP, best defense in the league... do these things mean nothing to you. Also, you still haven't come up with any reasons to be sold on Miami and not Chicago. In fact, the reasons you outlined would favor reasons to NOT be sold on Miami.
 
It seems like you're totally ignoring everything else, and your assessment sounds like sour grapes. You failed to mention the fact that the Bulls weren't act full strength for those games either. #1 in the East, the probable MVP, best defense in the league... do these things mean nothing to you. Also, you still haven't come up with any reasons to be sold on Miami and not Chicago. In fact, the reasons you outlined would favor reasons to NOT be sold on Miami.

Lakers were 0-2 against the Cavaliers last year. The Cavs finished with the best record in the NBA and Lebron was MVP. Also, the Lakers struggled down the stretch of the regular season. Why should I believe the Lakers were superior than the Cavs last season?

And If championships are decided on regular season victories and MVPs, Lebron would have 2 championship rings. So, no, MVP and #1 in the East means nothing to me. And best defense? That's debatable. Boston and Miami are both great defensive teams, so I don't really see an edge there.

Miami is really focusing on D right now. They have a bigger line-up which could cause fits for Chicago. And based off the 3 games I don't really see a huge edge Chicago has over the Heat. Every game has been EXTREMELY CLOSE.

If I had to make a power ranking...

1. Lakers
2. Celtics
3. Spurs
4. Heat
5a. Thunder
5b. Bulls
7. Mavs
 
Lakers were 0-2 against the Cavaliers last year. The Cavs finished with the best record in the NBA and Lebron was MVP. Also, the Lakers struggled down the stretch of the regular season. Why should I believe the Lakers were superior than the Cavs last season?

And If championships are decided on regular season victories and MVPs, Lebron would have 2 championship rings. So, no, MVP and #1 in the East means nothing to me. And best defense? That's debatable. Boston and Miami are both great defensive teams, so I don't really see an edge there.

Miami is really focusing on D right now. They have a bigger line-up which could cause fits for Chicago. And based off the 3 games I don't really see a huge edge Chicago has over the Heat. Every game has been EXTREMELY CLOSE.

If I had to make a power ranking...

1. Lakers
2. Celtics
3. Spurs
4. Heat
5a. Thunder
5b. Bulls
7. Mavs



Better record: Bulls
Better head-to-head record: Bulls
Defense: Bulls
Offense: Heat
Bench production: Bulls
Rebounding: Bulls
Coaching: Bulls

So how in the blue hell is Miami ahead of Chicago... seriously. Take the if's and maybes out of it. Chicago won the close games, and Miami can't close games. There is no way, right now, that Miami is better than Chicago. Please let me know how it is you feel El Heat is better than Da' Bulls given the facts above.
 
You can't expect rwill to step down and admit Chicago is better. He's a heat fan. He's gonna back his team. Of coarse he thinks the Heat can win.
 
Better record: Bulls
Better head-to-head record: Bulls
Defense: Bulls
Offense: Heat
Bench production: Bulls
Rebounding: Bulls
Coaching: Bulls

Record: Doesn't matter like I've stated before.
Heat to Head: Also doesn't matter. If it did, I would have the Heat ahead of the Lakers.
Off. and Def: It's hard to tell at this point. I'll give edge to the Heat because of D-Wade and Brons versatility.
Bench: Starters play longer minutes in the playoffs, so it wont be much of a factor. But I'll give the edge to the Bulls.
Rebounding: Ok, I'll give Chicago the edge, but Miami is playing a bigger line-up. Miami could close the gape.
Coaching: No team has an edge because their both too inexperienced.

You're also discounting the playoff factor. Things always change in the playoffs because the intensity heightens and starters play longer minutes. Also, there's hidden intangibles that always play out. If things always played out the way they did in the regular season, the Cavs have two championships, and Boston gets bounced in the 1st round last year.

It's not like I have the Heat winning the championship and Chicago losing in the first round. But if I had to put my money on it, it's Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, and Heat, all ahead of Chicago.
 
Record: Doesn't matter like I've stated before.
Heat to Head: Also doesn't matter. If it did, I would have the Heat ahead of the Lakers.
Off. and Def: It's hard to tell at this point. I'll give edge to the Heat because of D-Wade and Brons versatility.
Bench: Starters play longer minutes in the playoffs, so it wont be much of a factor. But I'll give the edge to the Bulls.
Rebounding: Ok, I'll give Chicago the edge, but Miami is playing a bigger line-up. Miami could close the gape.
Coaching: No team has an edge because their both too inexperienced.

You're also discounting the playoff factor. Things always change in the playoffs because the intensity heightens and starters play longer minutes. Also, there's hidden intangibles that always play out. If things always played out the way they did in the regular season, the Cavs have two championships, and Boston gets bounced in the 1st round last year.

It's not like I have the Heat winning the championship and Chicago losing in the first round. But if I had to put my money on it, it's Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, and Heat, all ahead of Chicago.

This is extremely ridiculous. You know good and damn well if the Heat swept the Bulls head-to-head this season, you would not be spouting off that ridiculous notion that record and head-to-head don't matter at all.

And why is it that you think having a bigger lineup makes all the difference for the Heat? They suck. You're putting stock in Dampier, Juwan Howard and Ilgauskas? That is beyond laughable. And the fact that you said the Starters play longer in the playoffs makes the point that the bench is important. Nobody is gonna play all 48 mins. for 6 and 7 games.The Bulls ARE #2 in defense and #2 in rebounding in the league, whether you see it that way or not. There is nothing...



NOTHING...



That says Miami is ahead of Chicago in anyway. Forget how you feel, show me evidence that Miami is in anyway a better team than Chicago. I brought record, head-to-head, team stats, league standings, numbers... you know concrete evidence. What'chu got besides feelings to make your case for Miami?
 
Record: Doesn't matter like I've stated before.
Heat to Head: Also doesn't matter. If it did, I would have the Heat ahead of the Lakers.
Off. and Def: It's hard to tell at this point. I'll give edge to the Heat because of D-Wade and Brons versatility.
Bench: Starters play longer minutes in the playoffs, so it wont be much of a factor. But I'll give the edge to the Bulls.
Rebounding: Ok, I'll give Chicago the edge, but Miami is playing a bigger line-up. Miami could close the gape.
Coaching: No team has an edge because their both too inexperienced.

You're also discounting the playoff factor. Things always change in the playoffs because the intensity heightens and starters play longer minutes. Also, there's hidden intangibles that always play out. If things always played out the way they did in the regular season, the Cavs have two championships, and Boston gets bounced in the 1st round last year.

It's not like I have the Heat winning the championship and Chicago losing in the first round. But if I had to put my money on it, it's Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, and Heat, all ahead of Chicago.

I don't want to sound like a homer but I'd have to give the edge in coaching to the Bulls. Even though Thibodeau is a first time head coach he's been around in the league for something like 20 years as an assistant coach and he was the architect of that Boston Celtics defense when they won the championship.
 
This is extremely ridiculous. You know good and damn well if the Heat swept the Bulls head-to-head this season, you would not be spouting off that ridiculous notion that record and head-to-head don't matter at all.

So are you telling me you would favor the Heat ahead of the Lakers? Because based off of head-to-head, the Heat would be a big favorite.

Every game between Miami and Chicago were extremely close. They could have gone either way. Maybe if Chicago won every game convincingly, then yeah, I would put a lot of stock into head-to-head. But they didn't.

And why is it that you think having a bigger lineup makes all the difference for the Heat? They suck. You're putting stock in Dampier, Juwan Howard and Ilgauskas? That is beyond laughable. And the fact that you said the Starters play longer in the playoffs makes the point that the bench is important. Nobody is gonna play all 48 mins. for 6 and 7 games.The Bulls ARE #2 in defense and #2 in rebounding in the league, whether you see it that way or not. There is nothing...

Guys like Dampier, Howard, Magloire, Anthony, don't need to put up great stats. Their there to clog the paint, get rebounds, play D.... you know, the dirty work. It wont show up on stats, but it will be effective. They've been somewhat of the replacement of Udonis Haslem.

And for the bench, sure, it's not Miami strong point. But starters like Wade, Lebron, Bosh, will play longer minutes (guaranteed 41 plus), which will help in that area.

That says Miami is ahead of Chicago in anyway. Forget how you feel, show me evidence that Miami is in anyway a better team than Chicago. I brought record, head-to-head, team stats, league standings, numbers... you know concrete evidence. What'chu got besides feelings to make your case for Miami?

And again... you don't win championships based on the regular season.

It's nice if you're trying build your NCAA tourny resume. "Congrats.... you got yourself a 1 seed!" To bad this is the NBA where resumes don't matter. Because teams can "flip the switch" (so cliche), and fancy stats get you no where.

I'm not basing this on stats. I'm basing it on from what I've seen so far, and intangibles I think will work in the playoffs. Like veteran leadership, experience, talent etc...

Predicting the playoffs isn't a exact science like you're trying to make it out to be.
 
So are you telling me you would favor the Heat ahead of the Lakers? Because based off of head-to-head, the Heat would be a big favorite.

Every game between Miami and Chicago were extremely close. They could have gone either way. Maybe if Chicago won every game convincingly, then yeah, I would put a lot of stock into head-to-head. But they didn't.



Guys like Dampier, Howard, Magloire, Anthony, don't need to put up great stats. Their there to clog the paint, get rebounds, play D.... you know, the dirty work. It wont show up on stats, but it will be effective. They've been somewhat of the replacement of Udonis Haslem.

And for the bench, sure, it's not Miami strong point. But starters like Wade, Lebron, Bosh, will play longer minutes (guaranteed 41 plus), which will help in that area.



And again... you don't win championships based on the regular season.

It's nice if you're trying build your NCAA tourny resume. "Congrats.... you got yourself a 1 seed!" To bad this is the NBA where resumes don't matter. Because teams can "flip the switch" (so cliche), and fancy stats get you no where.

I'm not basing this on stats. I'm basing it on from what I've seen so far, and intangibles I think will work in the playoffs. Like veteran leadership, experience, talent etc...

Predicting the playoffs isn't a exact science like you're trying to make it out to be.

It doesn't matter how the Bulls won, convincingly or not, a win is a win. That's one of the lamest excuses anybody can use for a team losing.

I would say that the Bulls are a better all around team while the Heat just have more talent and firepower. If the two were to meet in the playoffs of course I'm rooting for my Bulls but the Heat are a good team and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they beat the Bulls.
 
It doesn't matter how the Bulls won, convincingly or not, a win is a win. That's one of the lamest excuses anybody can use for a team losing.

I would say that the Bulls are a better all around team while the Heat just have more talent and firepower. If the two were to meet in the playoffs of course I'm rooting for my Bulls but the Heat are a good team and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they beat the Bulls.

But the Heat are 0-3 against the Bulls!!!!

Based on that, how in logical sense can the Heat beat the Bulls!? It's theoretically impossible!
 
But the Heat are 0-3 against the Bulls!!!!

Based on that, how in logical sense can the Heat beat the Bulls!? It's theoretically impossible!

There really is nothing impossible about it.

I personally will be suprised if the Heat beat the Bulls in a 7 game series. First off, the Bulls have a clear and decided team defense and rebounding advantage (per league rankings). Recent history also dictates that Chicago will be the toughest out in the playoffs. They very recently gave NBA fans the greatest first round series in the history of the playoffs, and they are twice as good as that team. The Heat aren't any good against top comp, period. Miami's bigs are damn near useless, and have done next to nothing outside of Bosh. Chicago is just too good right now, and their doing it at less than 100%

If they meet, Bulls 4-2
 
There really is nothing impossible about it.

I personally will be suprised if the Heat beat the Bulls in a 7 game series. First off, the Bulls have a clear and decided team defense and rebounding advantage (per league rankings). Recent history also dictates that Chicago will be the toughest out in the playoffs. They very recently gave NBA fans the greatest first round series in the history of the playoffs, and they are twice as good as that team. The Heat aren't any good against top comp, period. Miami's bigs are damn near useless, and have done next to nothing outside of Bosh. Chicago is just too good right now, and their doing it at less than 100%

If they meet, Bulls 4-2

really? no response to http://board.freeones.com/showpost.php?p=5537097&postcount=833
 
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