[Vivid5292Participant]

"I can definitely see points in the game when it’s not going to be fun for fans to watch if you love exciting basketball because it’s going to be offensive struggles sometimes," – LeBron James

Well…I guess someone was wrong with that statement. At least on the Bulls’ behalf. The Heat only seemed to be struggling. That "1 on 1" ball wasn’t looking too good today. They finally met a defense that ain’t afraid of them.

Anyways, I know its only game 1 but congrats to the Bulls. They definitely set the tone for the rest of the series. They were aggresive on the boards, gritty on defense, & ran their offense smoothly without having Rose take a high number of shots. Everyone was consistent. They played Wade & James well. Just get Bosh under control & they should be good.

What were your thoughts on the game?

 

[Scottoant93Participant]

Wade was worn out this game he was in charge of guarding rose and then getting back and trying to creat something on offense, he was cleary tired, they need to address that for game 2. Lebron had an off night, and the bulls kept him in check. I think its alright if the bulls let bosh score, I dont think he is as much a threat as wade and lebron. Congrats to the bulls for game one,

[DanEboyParticipant]

I want BothTeamsPlayedHard to comment here and try and defend him still standing by his opinion that the Bulls should have traded Deng/Noah/Taj for Melo.

The Bulls would be home already watching the playoffs on TV if they made that trade.

And the Bulls DO have the best bench in the NBA. This is not an overreaction to this game….they have been doing this since the All Star break.

 

[JoeWolf1]

 A best of 7 series is going to seriously wear down Miami.  Chicago has too much depth and if Wade was winded in the 2nd half of game 1 against Chicago while getting virtually no points off the bench aside from Chalmers it’s going to be a long series.  

I’m not short changing Miami at all, they will win games and this won’t be a short 4 or 5 game series, because Lebron and Wade are talented and a guy like James Jones is bound to go off a few times, but the bench is huge and even Miami’s stars are going to be wore OUT after 4 or 5 games like this.

Chicago in 6.

[marcusfizer21Participant]

 I was a doubting Gar Forman with the 26th pick in Taj Gibson… Wow! he ate Dwyane Wade and made that putback slam like he’s elastic… 7’4 wingspan is a rare commodity… Thank you and I’m sorry Taj…lol

Bench will be the biggest key in this series… There is no doubt in my mind that the Bulls bench WILL outplay the Heat bench… If they continue to do this, Bulls will win…

[FritzParticipant]

I will probably take some heat for this, but I believe Taj Gibson is just a better overall player than Carlos Boozer. Not than old Boozer, but the current Bulls Boozer. The difference in defense is tremendous. Taj Gibson is such a good defender and I feel is just one of the most underated players in the league right now. His offense is definately not to the level of Boozer’s but the energy and hustle he brings along with his defense I believe he currently has been more valuable to the Bulls than Boozer. And did anyone see his dunks tonight? Those were both deserving of the number one play of the night. Wade wasn’t the same tonight after getting dunked on by Gibson.

As a Bulls fan, I actually think this team would be better off starting Gibson and have Boozer help the 2nd teams offense get going. Until Boozer gets back to him old self I think Gibson brings more to the court than Boozer. I just think  the Bulls curent defense right now is spectacular, swap Boozer and put Gibson in the starting lineup and I think this lineup has the chance to be historically good on the defensive end. I just think Gibson right now if hes not better he is as good as half the starting PF’s in the league. I would like to see him get more minutes and OMER is just a brick wall in the paint on defense. He has improved so much from the begining of the year where he would just foul everyplay now he has learned to play defense without fouling.

[omphalosParticipant]

I disagree about Boozer being benched for Gibson, the bench can score fine without Boozer, it’s the starting lineup which needs the most help to take the scoring load off Rose when he’s doubled.

People shouldn’t overreact here, Bulls are a strong home team, we know, but Miami is certainly capable of adjusting and stealing one on the road. Game 1 is important, but I still see this one going 7 games with the home team winning each time until then. I think Miami makes it out, just because Wade and Lebron will adjust as the series wears on and look for the 3 ball more, which they didn’t so much in this game.

As an aside, did anyone else find it hilarious when I think it was Reggie Miller said something along the lines of Bosh being an ineffectual 1st option on any other team"?

 

[EuroBallParticipant]

I was impress by the dunk ons and the 21 points beat down. other than that I expect the Bulls to win Game one. Miami players need to man up and stop playing 21st century basketball. Also, its only game one, if the bulls win game 2 like they did game 1, Miami need to look over some more film over that three days off. 

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 Taj is out playing Boozer in the playoffs, but it would be impossible to bench Boozer or mess with the lineups at this point in the season. Not with your supposed number two player. Also, even if Boozer isn’t great at D, they need his scoring. Rose is already asked to score too much on many nights. If you cut 10 minutes off of Boozer’s play time in favor of Taj, then Rose would have to do even more. I don’t think the defensive improvements would be enough. 

But the fact that we are even having this discussion just shows you how deep the Bulls bench is. 

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