Feb 2 @ Los Angeles (Clippers) Feb 5 @ Golden State Feb 7 @ Portland Feb 9 @ Utah Feb 12 @ New Orleans The string of cupcakedness has finally come to an end, and the schedule is tough once again. Next up is a string of five games against some of the West's tougher teams. The Clippers have won eight in a row at home and New Orleans is playing as good ball as anyone, sans the Spurs. The good news, if there is any, is that the first game doesn't come until Wednesday, giving the team a chance to rest, and there are no back-to-back games on the trip. There is also an outside, outside chance that Noah is back for the New Orleans game -- he's been lobbying Thibodeau to allow him to travel with the team. My prediction: Feb 2 @ Los Angeles (Clippers) W Feb 5 @ Golden State L Feb 7 @ Portland W Feb 9 @ Utah W Feb 12 @ New Orleans W
My prediction: 3-2 Feb 2 @ Los Angeles (Clippers) W Feb 5 @ Golden State L Feb 7 @ Portland W Feb 9 @ Utah W Feb 12 @ New Orleans L But it can go 2-3 also. Not really sure. Bulls have played much better at home so far.
I hate doing predictions and usually abstain...undoubtedly because I'm always wrong. Oh well...I'm thinkin' 3-2, but to ensure that I'm not declared wrong before game 4, I'm not doing it game-by-game. I do like the fact that they get a nice rest heading into the trip and there aren't any B2Bs.
The above are my predictions. Nothing shocking. They'll beat the worse teams, and lose to the ones that expose the Bulls' weakness. For the Clips, it's the interior strength of Griffin. For the Hornets, its the creative passing and excellent shooting of Paul. I'm going conservative, because it is the road, after all.
I'll be at the Clips game . Mid Court about 6 rows back . Pimpin . Of course we're going to beast that game ! Got to keep teen wolf from getting the ball though .. otherwise its over
I think we win all 5. If we lose any, it's because we didn't show up to play, or some sort of injury issue.
Okay. You've inspired me and I'm revising my estimate. I also say the Bulls win all five games. In the last prediction thread we had, I went way above what I thought was possible, Noah got injured, and the Bulls still came away going one off my estimate, finishing 23-5. This is a road trip but it doesn't have the horrific traveling schedule that leads to an inevitable loss. We don't have any games on consecutive nights, and the Warriors game is as close as there is to a trap game. The Utah game would be a trap, except there is two days between it and the New Orleans game, and all of the ex-Jazz players on the Bulls will certainly give it a little more oomph. Portland and Utah have all kinds of injury issues, and the LAC and Hornets games will be show down games.
Boob-No-More made this post in the Blazers forum. Utah would normally be a game that should be tough for us, especially on the road.
Hey you picked it as a victory? It looks like Darrin Williams will be out for the Jazz so I'm not giving them much chance. Hornets will be tough but I think the Bulls match up well with them.
Yeah, I picked it as a victory. The Bulls don't ever seem to match up well, to me, but they are getting it done anyway. In spite of Bogans and Thomas making up 2/5 of the lineup. Check out this stat, though: New Orleans is 19-5 at home, 12-13 on the road. Chicago is 23-4 at home, 10-10 on the road. Dr. Jekel meet Mr. Hyde.
Break even on the road is not bad. Obviously, the best teams do better than that. Agreed that it's time to start bringing up the road record, if the Bulls are truly contenders, as Transplant is intimating. Then again, I wonder about Derrick's health. He's been carrying a heavy burden, and he's been relying on pain-killers to keep him going. Go Bulls!
I think that part of the road record is attributable to just how crappy the teams' schedule has been. Van Gundy mentioned in the Celtics-Suns game this weekend that the Bulls had 22 back-to-backs in their schedule. I don't know how many is regular, but that sounds like way too many. He mentioned it in the context of why the Celtics were getting beat, after arriving in town at 4 in the morning. If you look back at the road games the Bulls have played, there are a number of these horrible arrivals, most notably against Boston and San Antonio. You're not going to win at Boston or at San Antonio if you have travel the night before.
Here's a shocker, I'm with Denny. If Rose is able to eat and the injury isn't actually his back, the bulls go 5-0 barring other injuries.
Feb 2 @ Los Angeles (Clippers) W Feb 5 @ Golden State W Feb 7 @ Portland W Feb 9 @ Utah W Feb 12 @ New Orleans W All five are winnable. Even the Hornets at N.O. because it is not on the end of a back-to-back! Clippers is a revenge game. And none of these games are back-to-back! Ok I played. Rose is eating.
January. Jan 5 @ NJN L 94-96 Jan 7 @ PHI L 99-105 Jan 12 @ CHA L 91-96 Jan 14 @ IND W 99-86 Jan 17 @ MEM W 96-84 Three of our four losses on the road to teams you expect we beat.
Ok, well the 5-0 calls are shot. I think SST's original prediction is still good. Bullsger, too! Transplant wisely didn't predict any games, just over all 3-2. I also predicted 3-2, but have got the first two games wrong , then :-(.
WTF. 3-2 or 2-3 is a reasonable guess, considering the team is .500 on the road. The Bulls beat teams you think they'll lose against and then lose to teams you think are gimmes on the schedule. Go figure.
Maybe it just means they aren't elite, yet? D'oh! it does seem that the Bulls have a weak spot, and that is against good three point shooting teams. I wonder if Joakim helps us with that, or not? KT is certainly not someone who can jump out to the 3pt line and then jump back to defend the paint.
