Bulls/Bucks Playoff Schedule

Discussion in 'Chicago Bulls' started by Denny Crane, Apr 16, 2015.

  1. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Game 1 Saturday, April 18 Milwaukee @ Chicago 6:00 p.m. ESPN

    Game 2 Monday, April 20 Milwaukee @ Chicago 7:00 p.m. TNT

    Game 3 Thursday, April 23 Chicago @ Milwaukee 7:00 p.m. NBA-TV

    Game 4 Saturday, April 25 Chicago @ Milwaukee 4:30 p.m. TNT

    Game 5* Monday, April 27 Milwaukee @ Chicago TBD CSN/TBD

    Game 6* Thursday, April 30 Chicago @ Milwaukee TBD CSN/TBD

    Game 7* Saturday, May 2 Milwaukee @ Chicago TBD CSN/TNT
     
  2. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-150416/eastern-conference-playoff-preview

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    3. Bulls-Bucks will be ...
    Arnovitz: A war of attrition. In theory -- and it's still just a theory -- the Bulls can hang with anyone in the East. The Bucks, after the midseason shuffle at the point, are playing some of the best defense in the league. Like the Celtics, the baby Bucks will have a nice baptism into postseason basketball, but for their sake, I worry about the bowl at Bradley Center being a little too red. Bulls in six.

    Ford: Bucks GM John Hammond has done great work rebuilding this team fast, and coach Jason Kidd has done an amazing job getting them to play together and play hard. If the Bulls had this cohesiveness all season, they might be the No. 1 seed. Nevertheless with Derrick Rose finally back and healthy, and the rest of the roster healing as well, I expect we will see a much more dangerous Bulls team in the playoffs. With Joakim Noah defending the rim, Jimmy Butlerslashing to the basket and Nikola Mirotic nailing critical 3s in the fourth, this team is deep and could very well end up representing the East in the Finals. Bulls in five.

    Gutierrez: Sloppy. Just a guess here, but the Bucks do force the most turnovers of any team in the league, and the Bulls do have a Derrick Rose who's still working his way back. And both teams are in the top five in field goal percentage against, so even if it's not sloppy, there's not much of a chance it'll be pretty. Bulls in six.

    Windhorst: Great for the carbon footprint. No charter flights! As long as everyone figures out that Chicago is due south of Milwaukee but you take I-94East to get there. The Bulls had owned the Bucks until recently, when Milwaukee ended a nine-game home losing skid to Chicago. Not sure what happened with Derrick Rose's knee in the regular-season finale, but I look forward to Khris "Money" Middleton to have some moments: Bulls in six.

    Youngmisuk: Ugly. The I-94 battle between the division neighbors may see more deflections than dunks. During their season series, neither team reached 100 points in any game. Jason Kidd deserves some coach of the year recognition for taking a 15-win team to the playoffs, but coach Tom Thibodeau's Bulls are too seasoned for the young Bucks. Chicago in six.
     
  3. rosenthall

    rosenthall Well-Known Member

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    I'm predicting Bulls in six.

    I don't think the Bulls are going to completely shake-off their regular season form and there will be quite a few games that go down to the wire, even if they shouldn't. And there are still injury issues with Jo, Derrick, and Taj.

    The Bucks also had the second most efficient defense in the league this year, so there's no reason to think they won't be able to make the games close, especially if we fart around like we're so prone to do.

    What's interesting to me is that their most played lineup of MCW-Middleton-Antetokounmpo-Ilyasova-Pachula has a net rating of 9.9. Our most played lineup of Rose-Butler-Dunleavy-Noah-Gasol has a net rating of 3.7, and they play very different styles.

    If the Bucks are able to dictate tempo it could force the Bulls to make a variety of adjustments to their lineup, specifically keeping Jo and Pau separate and pairing them with Taj/Niko.
     
  4. kukoc4ever

    kukoc4ever Let's win a ring! Staff Member Moderator

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    I don't think this is a cakewalk. Younger, athletic teams give the Bulls trouble at times. The Magic for instance. Combine that with Noah's bum knee, Taj's banged up shoulder and a probably rusty Rose, along with very little team continuity / chemistry, it might have the makings of an upset.

    Then I remember what Gasol did to these guys and that vets usually beat youngsters and that we have the better coach.

    I'll say Bulls in 6 but there are many health wildcards still in play.

    Are we expecting Rose to "flip the switch" in this series or is he going to wait until round 2 or 3 (or perhaps he can't really "flip the switch" into elite player mode)?

    Rose vs MCW will be the matchup I'll be most interested to watch in game 1.
     
  5. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    Agreed. I think too many pundits are writing this off as an easy series because the Bulls have been a known commodity over the last five plus years. This roster isn't that team they've all come to know; it's been much worse, and we don't have any reason to expect them to flip a switch (although it's a possibility). I think it's probably going to be the Bulls in a hard-fought six or seven, with an upset being a distinct possibility.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2015
  6. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    10-4 our last 14 games. Ended the season 4 straight wins. We beat the Hawks in a game that was pretty much playoff intensity. We held the Hawks to 85.

    That was without Noah and limited minutes for Taj and Rose.

    I'm expecting they won't be sitting or missing games in the playoffs. We should be that much better.

    Won 50 games in spite of:
    1. Noah missed 15 games (Starter)
    2. Hinrich missed 16 games (ok, that may have helped us)
    3. Butler missed 17 games (Starter)
    4. Dunleavy missed 19 games (Starter)
    5. Taj missed 20 games (6th man of the year runner up)
    6. Rose missed 31 games (Starter)
    7. Our prize rookie underwent surgery and basically had a red shirt season

    And most importantly...

    8. When the guys did play, there were minutes restrictions on them.
    9. Management didn't break the piggy bank to bring on anyone to help with all those guys out. We had a roster spot open. Last year we we signed DJ Augustin.

    4 starters plus 1st guy off the bench missed at least 15 games. We even finished top 10 in PPG allowed while our Off Rtg improved from 30th to 11th.

    I'll take it.

    As long as we can stay healthy for the playoffs, we are going to be a dangerous foe.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2015
  7. truebluefan

    truebluefan Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Bulls in 6 sounds right.
     
  8. transplant

    transplant Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    The Bucks remind me of the early Skiles Bulls. They're talented, but not uber-talented. They're young and unspoiled enough to do what their head coach asks of them. They'll be troublesome. Bulls in six.
     
  9. rosenthall

    rosenthall Well-Known Member

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    Well it sounds like we're all sort of in agreement here. The Bulls ought to win, but given what we know about this team, there's no reason to think it'll be as easy as it looks from the outside.

    I get the impression the expertariat are penciling in the series because of the differences in record. I think they're giving the Bulls too much credit.

    I predict the most critical issue is which team can assert its style of play, since they go about winning games in very different ways. Or rather, the Bucks actually have a style of play, and it remains to be seen whether or not they can use that to overcome their deficit in talent. I think they'll have fleeting success, but not enough to actually beat us in a 7 game series.

    My secret matchup guy for the series is Tony Snell. He's really the only wing we have that matches size, length and athleticism that the Bucks use to create turnovers. He allows us to play tit-for-tat without creating corresponding weakness.

    It's also going to be a weird series for Aaron Brooks. He'll have no one to guard and it'll be hard to create lineups around him that won't have gaping chest wounds to cover up for. Like DJ Augustin last year against the Wizards. Denny will hate me for saying this, but it'd be real handy to have a healthy Kirk Hinrich right now. He'd be a good fill-in for 10-15 minutes a game.

    I'd be interested to know what you guys think: what's the biggest matchup problem the Bulls will have this series, and what actions will they have to take to overcome it?
     
  10. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    The roster, yes. The coaching -- I actually think Jason Kidd is going to be tougher in the playoffs. The Bucks have been playing solid concept-based offensive ball all season. That's going to be tough to stop in the playoffs when the defenses toughen up and the plays-orientated offenses seem to crumble.
     
  11. transplant

    transplant Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    If the Bucks had a high-functioning "concept-based" offense, I'd be inclined to concede that point, but they haven't been very good on that side of the ball.
     

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