As a five seed, the Chicago Bulls were not expected to make a deep run in this year’s NBA playoffs, even if their melodramatic superstar finally returned to action. With that being said, the Bulls are hours away from beginning a grueling series with the Miami Heat. The last time these two locked horns in the postseason the Bulls were ravaged by LeBron James back in 2011 in a series that only last four games.
Chicago comes in limping to say the least – Joakim Noah is perhaps the healthiest one of the bunch and he has been playing with plantar fasciitis the entire postseason. Noah is the driving force behind the Bulls’ resurgence and we all know that he is not fond of the league’s MVP, or the city of Cleveland. As one of the most controversial players in the league, Noah has managed to call James “Hollywood as hell” on multiple occasions.
A huge factor in this series will be the three-point shooting considering the interior game that the Bulls play and the transitional attack that the Heat feature. Ray Allen was with the Boston Celtics in 2011, however he will make sure his presence is felt in this game. Unfortunately, Richard Hamilton of the Bulls is on coach Tom Thibodeau‘s bad side, so we will not be able to see the two sharpshooters run through thousands of double off-ball screens in the coming weeks.
The consensus opinion here is that the Bulls will be swept, but if indeed they shock the world it will mean that Thibodeau should be the coach of the year from now until doomsday.
