http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/matchups I really hope that the Bulls can hold #5 vs Brooklyn. Way better then against the Pacers.
I'd rather have #6. If somehow the Heat lose / get hurt / Bulls might have some kind of path to the NBA Finals. Avoid them as long as possible. And perhaps Rose comes back. Can he really continue to sit out a longish playoff run for another 1-1.5 months?
It is also possible that Heat lose / get hurt in the 1st round. So I don't see a difference here. But I hope that it will be much easier for the injured Bulls to play against Nets and not the Pacers in 1st round.
Pacers are a tougher 1st round opponent. They offer an easier road to the ECFs though. Bulls can beat Pacers with Rose. Without Rose, none of this really matters anyway.
This is really how I see it too. It's anyone's guess what the injury situation with our team is. At this point my optimism has been worn down to the nub. Two years of persistent injury problems will do that to you. Derrick's coming up on the one year anniversary of his ACL tear. My guess is he could start playing today without negative consequences, but there's nothing anybody can do about it. It's his perogative, and he needs to be happy with the team and comfortable with himself. Everything else is secondary. If everyone else is healthy (a big IF, I know...) then we have a decent shot at making it to the finals if we get the 6th seed. When we were healthy the first half of the season we looked about like the #3 team in the East, and I think we could take the Pacers....but it'd be a tough fight. If we go into the playoffs as-is I can't say I'm optimistic, regardless of our opponent. Nazr Mohammed as your starting center can only get you so far.
As you guys point out, there are plusses and minuses to both the 5 and 6 seeds. The most poignant comment has been K4E's:
I seriously doubt Rose is going to make his return for the playoffs with no regular season games to get a feel for what he can do. More interesting was last game, Taj, Noah, Rip, and Marco all played. Seems to indicate they'll be playing in the playoff games, too.
Ridiculous? Noah got a badly needed rest. They all did. Hopefully they're really ready for playoffs and we'll actually advance to the 2nd round.
Ridiculous that Rose is going to be sitting out the playoffs. Its his body / career, but I'm officially disappointed as a fan in him that he's not playing ball and how this entire situation was handled.
I'm disappointed that he isn't playing limited minutes. But... http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/bulls-announce-see-red-playoff-campaign.html
Well, we're closing in on the 1 year anniversary of his injury. At that point is there any reason not to go out and give it a shot?
