The Baby Bulls are all grown up
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by user DRE-LO
One could say that the Chicago Bulls came into these playoffs with a chip on their shoulder. With the acquisition of Ben Wallace, PJ Brown and two solid rookies in the draft, there would be no room for excuses for first-round elimination. So it was no surprise that the pressure was definitely on after the Bulls lost 109-96 to the NJ Nets in the final game of the regular season. That loss eliminated any chance of what would have been considered an easy pass to the second round courtesy of the depleted Washington Wizards. Instead, they got the short end of the stick. The Miami Heat. The defending World Champions.
Or so it seemed.
The Miami Heat ended up getting the worst possible match-up that they could have asked for. The Heat started Eddie Jones, James Posey and Jason Kapono at small forward. Neither of them had an answer for the standout performer of this series, Luol Deng. No Heat player had an answer for Ben Gordon coming off screen rolls. Any basketball fan had to be amazed even by the patience and consistency that Kirk Hinrich and Chris Duhon show at the point guard position. I'd think any team would love to have a hard-nosed player like Nocioni who can guard three positions, hit from anywhere on the floor and play hard-nosed defense. Add the veteran starting frontcourt and two budding rookies and you have the most dangerous team in these playoffs right now.
How can I go this far in the article without giving all the credit in the world to Scott Skiles? This team clearly fits the mold of their head coach. Their hustle and mental toughness clearly reminded me of how Skiles used to play in his days. Most importantly, this team plays the game the way it is supposed to be played.
Not that the Miami Heat weren't responsible for this shocking development themselves. It is quite hard to excuse thirty-two missed free throws in Game 3 and Game 4. It was almost drink-inducing watching them at the foul line these past two games. Wade was not 100% and had many turnovers due to him not being able to be aggressive due to his injuries. He had to settle for his jumpshot a lot of times as he wasn't able to go to the rim with reckless abandon. The first-round exit might end up being a plus for Wade as he'll have more time to treat his shoulder for next season. Adding further insult to injury was the worst free throw shooter statisically (41.7%) in Ben Wallace hitting 7-8 from the free throw line even when he was intentionally fouled.
Now that's drink inducing for a Heat fan.
The Bulls finally have the proverbial first-round monkey off their back. Now the entire Eastern Conference and even the NBA has been put on notice. The Bulls have knocked that baby label off them for good.
Detroit better watch their backs.
