http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lcR1Hk5_I0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

thanks for the link. I was watching community/office and missed that. WTF was he doing?!

LBJ just pulled a Joe Jones pick. Did nothing wrong, but it looked bad.

Good call by the refs.

Folks...the Eastern conference finals has begun.

Lebron and Wade combining to shoot 86 percent from the field tonight...

As in 86 percent of their shots they don't get touched but still think they got fouled.

the calls haven't all exactly been for them, but yeah these are "playoff" calls.

if LBJ finishes this game and runs to an end(even with the 2 seed) he will take MVP3. The last few nights have been unreal for him.

Let's see what he has to finish.

Miami too good tonight.

no matter what happens tonight, can't wait for this matchup in the ECF. Going to be unreal.

Bulls MUST beat Indiana next week. Would be nice if the Celtics could beat Miami in Boston.

Its interesting to watch games in which I have no stake then read fan reactions.

Lebron was hacked nearly every time he went to the hoop and got maybe 1/3rd of those calls.

quote:

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Lebron was hacked nearly every time he went to the hoop and got maybe 1/3rd of those calls

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Just because someone flails their arms wildly then glares at the refs doesn't mean he got hacked.

In all seriousness though, complaining about no-calls after taking the ball to the basket is part of the NBA Superstar rite of passage. Obviously Lebron and Wade are the masters, but Rose does it as well.

Maybe I'm biased when I say this, but the Bulls play very good help defense. Noah/Asik/Gibson are coached very well and are capable of challenging a shot without fouling, despite some occasional wild acting from Lebron and Wade. I'd imagine this is confusing for them because against teams that play lazy defense and don't have great personnel, taking the ball to the basket is surefire way to get to the line.

Not complaining at all. If I were Lebron/Wade/Rose, I would do the same thing if it could help me get a call later in the game. I just think it's funny.

Win over the Mavericks tonight + Wizards win in Miami means the Pacers game is no longer a must win.

I'm not overly excited about facing the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. They are the only team in the bottom 3 that has any chance of pulling off an upset (if Rose is hampered by injuries). Hopefully with inserting Amare back in the lineup will mess up the rhythm they had built while he was out. It already worked in their games against the Cavs.

1 seed has been clinched.

Bulls clinch home court advantage throughout the playoffs and will open with Philadelphia on Saturday.

Kinda worried about Rose's health. Its gonna be a tough playoffs.

I don't really have any expectations.

If Rose can play at 90% of his usual self and the rest of the guys can stay healthy, I'm just hoping for a shot at Miami and whatever happens happens.

If Rose clearly isn't himself and the rest of the team is banged up, I guess it's just a lost year.

I feel almost apathetic about the playoffs this year. It would be nice for the Bulls to get a shot at Miami but with Rose limited I jsut don't think they are going to be able to get past them. I really feel like the Bulls would be the favorites to win if Rose was 100% but I don't think he is going to get there. I am happy that the Bulls get the sixers in the first round as opposed to the knicks. Rose will be able to get significantly more rest in this series than if they had to face the knicks.

Sucks for Rose

I wonder how this affects Rose long-term. Chicago seems to have some ****ty luck following them around lately.

I'm psychic! It's incredible. My roommate gets home and tells me C Mike re tore his acl in the maroon and white game. After realizing that this wasn't true, considering he didn't play, I decided to make a joke back. During highlights of the bulls game, which I stopped watching with 4 min to go, I joked that Rose tore his acl. The next play they show: him getting injured! Find out now it was a torn acl! Amazing. Still can't believe my abilities

[This message has been edited by AgAllStar91 (edited 4/28/2012 5:48p).]

Soooo...

Last night sucked and this probably is not going to end well for the Bulls. Watson/Lucas can carry the load in the regular season when everyone is playing different teams every other night. But in a seven game series against another team that's talented enough to make the playoffs, I feel like Watson/Lucas will be game planned for and exploited accordingly.

With that said, I still think we can win the Sixers series and maybe the next one. There's a reason why the Sixers are the 8-seed and not the world-beaters they played like last night. They're very talented, but they're also fragile. If they're hot (like they were last night), they're going to play super-inspired basketball (play tough/smart team defense, always get back, etc). If they're missing shots, they'll lose confidence and their effort on defense will lack.

The Bulls will make adjustments... fix the halfcourt D and transition D. That will lead to more opportunities on offense. The team still has some veterans who took a huge blow to their pride last night. They'll come back ready to play, at least mentally ready.

I wouldn't be surprised with anything at this point. The Bulls might very well be toast and lose the next three. But if I had to bet, I'd say the Bulls will grab a game in Philadelphia and win the series in seven.

Posting so that SimpleBay won't appear as the last poster on this thread... which I'm sure has deterred many from viewing

Irony post

Also....the bulls will beat philly. Well coached, but too young

I wish Texags would allow users to delete SimpleBay posts on threads they've posted on.

Anybody else feel sick thinking about what could have been if Rose doesn't pop his ACL? They would have torn through this current Miami team. Bulls vs. OKC would have been a fun Finals matchup.

Agreed. The East was there for the taking this year.

Series against OKC would have fun, but I personally wouldn't have liked our chances.

Yeah, smart money would have been on OKC.

Any thoughts on what the Bulls do in the offseason? We're likely stuck with Boozer for another year. I wish they would amnesty him. They badly need another player that can create a shot.

I'll operate under the assumption that Rose will be back and healthy by April 2013 (certainly a debatable assumption).

1) Keep the current nucleus in tact as much as possible for next year, including keeping Boozer.
2) See if you can convince a veteran PG like Nash/Kidd to come in and run the point until Rose returns. I'd be willing to release (amnesty) Watson to clear some extra money and sign a cheap backup. I think our current roster minus Rose + Nash/Kidd is good for 50ish wins next year. Probably homecourt in the first round.
3) After next year Taj, Rip, Brewer, Korver and Watson become free agents. At that point I'd amnesty Boozer, pay Taj and re-vamp the rest of the roster. Maybe make a run at a big-time 2013 free agent.

Definitely interested to see what we do. I don't think our team with healthy Rose would be good enough to win it all next year. Healthy OKC and Miami still trump us in a seven game series IMO. We need to re-vamp the lineup and I think all the expiring contracts after 2013 give us a good chance to do that.