Thoughts on playing the bulls round 1?

[incoherent]

So many people here are overly confident.  The Bulls always play us tough, we've never been out of the first round.

None of us should be this confident regardless of who we play in the 1st round.

'we've never been out of the first round'? How did we win those 17 championships?

Yeah but I should have clarified I'm talking about this specific team of players over the last 2 1/2 years.

[Ogaju]

So many people here are overly confident.  The Bulls always play us tough, we've never been out of the first round.

None of us should be this confident regardless of who we play in the 1st round.

'we've never been out of the first round'? How did we win those 17 championships?

Yeah but I should have clarified I'm talking about this specific team of players over the last 2 1/2 years.

Careful, you may have too change your name to 'Coherent'.

[makaveli]

looking for a Wade - Rondo meltdown
nothing to be afraid of, HCA, we got this in 6

[Denis998]

Never thought we would be on the receiving end of playoff Rondo.

[CelticsElite]

The bulls didn't impress me the few times we played them. Playoff rondo should be a fun watch

[trickybilly]

[SuddenFame]

Bulls in five
*IT gets double-teamed the entire series, which, Marcus Smart interprets as a 'green light' to chuck-at-will
*Horford will do his usual disappearing act
*Marcus Smart will deliver 3-15 shooting each game (or worse)
*AB will pull up lame in game one and miss the remainder of the series
*Jae Crowder, in between timeouts, argues on twitter with C's fans about Gordon Hayward
*Brad Stevens has a stroke mid-game

[Surferdad]

A Rondo/Grant/Butler/Mirotic/Lopez line-up with Wade as 6th man could give us issues. Rondo when engaged can defend IT pretty well and Wade can still be dangerous, especially going against our green, offensively challenged bench units.

But if Hoiberg starts Rondo/Wade/Butler and then uses MCW as the primary guard reserve, they will be easy to defend. And they don't have enough defensive integrity to hold up against our offense without the satisfaction of scoring on the other end.

Good summary.  I can't see Wade not starting but I bet you see many lineups without Wade in them.

Nobody scares me on that Bulls squad, C's have answers for all of them but they MUST defend the 3-pt stripe.  Overall I like the C's chances mainly b/c the Bulls no longer have a great frontcourt with Taj Gibson gone.

[Big333223]

I think people may forget they actually offloaded Gibson and McDermott at the break. While those guys are not world beaters, they are solid players and better than what they got back. Gibson in particular was a challenge for us on the board. They also have played a bit better since Wade got hurt. If he is back it kind of mucks up their rotation with Rondo and Butler.

This. Gibson was a major problem for us, because he'd always kill Al on the boards. Lopez presents a matchup problem, too, but he's far from a "killer" to be concerned about. I think their abysmal shooting ultimately limits them greatly in a series.

I'm less worried about Butler than Wade, too, who is a big guard that we usually struggle to defend. I think we beat them in 5 or 6, but they're probably all close games.

I wanted to piggyback on the Gibson comments. He might not have been a star, but Taj gave that team a lot of its toughness. Without him, I worry much less.

Avery has Wade covered (and Wade can't keep up with Avery anymore) and I don't think Rondo has it in him to cover someone like IT. Once upon a time he did, but not for a few years. Butler will give us trouble but between Crowder and IT they'll be all set.

I want to see this team come out focused and take it in 5.

[Chris22]

Marcus Smart will come up big.
He is built for playoff basketball.

[hodgy03038]

I think it's a good matchup for the Celts. What I find strange is ESPN headline of the Bulls where it almost makes it seem like we are the challengers and the Bulls are the favorite. This is the bullet:

Bulls know they're in for a challenge vs. the Celtics

In for a challenge? No Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.! You are in for an ass-kicking!!]

[Surferdad]

I think it's a good matchup for the Celts. What I find strange is ESPN headline of the Bulls where it almost makes it seem like we are the challengers and the Bulls are the favorite. This is the bullet:

Bulls know they're in for a challenge vs. the Celtics

In for a challenge? No ****! You are in for an ass-kicking!!]

Because the Bulls are a media darling with "stars" on their roster.  They conveniently ignore that Wade and Rondo are washed up.

[chilidawg]

If Mirotic is starting for the Bulls it would make sense to start Jerebko over Amir.  Don't want to see Amir or Horford chasing on the perimeter.

[jbpats]

It is not surprising how confident everyone is on a Celtics board, but this match up scares me to death. The Bulls are going to be a tough out.

[Rhyso]

It is not surprising how confident everyone is on a Celtics board, but this match up scares me to death. The Bulls are going to be a tough out.

Same. Rondo will show up, no doubt in my mind. Butler has been great, and Wade coasted all season and he will be fresh. I think it comes down to the benches and if our 3-ball actually falls this time around.