Who do you want in first round, Bulls fans?

I would burst a blood vessel! But its probably a strong likelihood since Skiles is coaching. Only his dismissal would make going out in the first round something good.

That being said, I would take anyone but Detroit and New Jersey. I think we can handle the rest, including Miami.

Roman responds: I meant likely first-round foes. Detroit is not.

Does anyone really care. It doesn`t matter until the Bulls get back to being in a position to compete for a title. Afterall, you have to beat them all to get a ring. I hope that they lose in the first round so it forces them to make a move to make the needed changes; ie: bring in a low-post scorer and a 2-guard who is big enough to defend the likes of Wade, Hamilton, Genobeli etc. A first round win will only continue to lead Paxon to believe that the current core can get them to the finals which just isn`t financially possible if you also want to fill the 2 glaring gaps in the core.

I don’t care who they play first. I hope it is Miami; that would get the biggest hurdle behind them early. It’s already been a great season and I wish them the best of luck in the playoffs.

Well I care who they play first. I want to see them get to the Finals, at least to the conf. finals.

Toronto'd be the best pick for the Bulls (yeah, they've had a great year for them, but come on--it's the Raptors).

Other than that--I think the east is wide-open this year.

Miami is the best choice for me. That series would do wonders to their game if they win it. The Bulls have had good success against the better teams in the league especially miami and detroit. If the bulls get past the 1st round they they should should get to the finals. I know a lot of people would laugh at that notion but with noci coming back and thomas coming into his own along with a more aggressive wallace, this team is peaking at the right time.Watch out all here comes DA BULLS!!

After watching the Bulls hand the Pistons thier worst home loss of the season tonight without the services of Ben Wallace and Ben Gordon spending most of the game on the bench in foul trouble I believe they will end up as the second seed. That will most likely match them up with New Jersey. Although the Bulls lost to New Jersey twice this season and blew 18 point leads in both those games they have come a long way since then. They play the Nets Friday and again the last game of the regular season which is probably going to be a preview of the opening series in the play-offs. Look for the Bulls to take the Nets in 5 games then take Miami in 6 to make it to the finals. If that happens they have beaten the Pistons 3 out of 4 this season and could possibly win the Eastern finals. But regardless of who wins the East I think Dallas is too hungry to be denied this year.

Orlando. That's a young team with only a few players that have any playoff experience. Good 1st round opponent for the Artists Formerly Known as the Baby Bulls.

Thanks for the correction Roman! I think Fuff said it the best, but I happen to care and so I am hoping for Miami. I am one of those great Chicago fans who has a responsibility to put pressure on management to provide us with the best - since we are the BEST fans! This is a world class city with great stadiums and die-hard fans. Give us your hearts Bulls! Fuff pointed out two of our weaknesses in the post and at 2 guard. I think the Bulls by committee (Gordon, Kirk, Duhon, Thabo) answer the 2 guard dificiency, and post is not as big a problem in the playoffs because we do have some veterans on the block, and the improvement of Deng and Tyrus. But a glaring weakness of the Bulls never addressed is the point guard position. We lack a true point and suffer from it greatly with inept ballhandling and untimely turnovers. And scoring droughts that last so long tumbleweeds are blowing across the screen. Teams have learned to attack Ben Gordon in the 4th and pressure the guards with taller athletes. Its not a lack of poise that rattles the Bulls or their inability to execute a play, they need a true playmaker. As witnessed in these last few games - Mr. Thomas can leap like a reindeer! Imagine him playing with someone like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd or Chris Paul. Playoffs need to send Chicago a cold message - and the fans need to send Pax one: Plan and Play to win it all or get embarrassed. Chicago will be ready to win when we can look at our schedule and say "we can win them all", like Dallas, Phoenix, Miami and Detroit feels. We used to feel that way in this town. The fact that we are picking teams to avoid reveals that we are not ready to do anything but entertain. Well at least we have the coach to match the team - Oscar the Grouch.

The entire conference sux except for Detroit and the Bulls can handle them. NJ...with the epitomy of the NBA "play when I want" Vince Carter? Watch the Bulls pound them by 15 in the next game.
Miami is the wild card depending on how Wade looks. Wallace cannot guard Shaq, or any other big center for that matter.

with only 5 very winnable games left in the regular season the Bulls should hold onto the 2nd seed in the east. barring a total melt down by the Nets they will be the Bulls first round opponent. the Bulls will take the series in 5 games. second round is shaping up to the Bulls & Heat. The Bulls won the season series 3-1 splitting the games in Miami both being blow outs. By the way Mark W. no one can actually guard Shaq he's a human freight train, the best any team can do is deny the entry pass to him and Wallace does as good a job of that as anyone. The Bulls take the series in 6 games. The Bulls also took the season series 3-1 against the Pistons, the one loss in Auburn Hills by 2 points after leading by 16 and then blew them out 2 nights ago handing the pistons thier worst home loss of the season. During that game I believe Joey Crawford allowed "Rip" Hamilton to follow behind Tyrus Thomas jawing at him too long after giving them both technicals fouls and waited for Thomas to finally re-act before ejecting them both from the game.Tyrus was clearly trying to walk away from Hamilton for several seconds before turning back to confront him and receiving the 2nd tech. I think Crawford was afraid if he ejected Hamilton before Thomas re-acted it would have caused a riot with the fans. A Bulls-Pistons Conference Finals will be as volitile as any past Bulls-Pistons play-off series. Bulls in 6 games.

Things are pretty much shaping up for us to be the #2 seed. Unfortunately this is a double edged sword. I like the thought of home court advantage but New Jersey and possibly Orlando have matched up well against us this year regardless of location. And if Wade gets healthy fast with fresh legs to boot they will be the "Beast of the East". So I'm nixing home court for our match-up best case scenario. Bulls finish in fifth and play Toronto who is leap-frogged by surging Miami. With the exception of a poorly played leg weary last game we have Torontos' number. Easily this is the choice for first round opponent. Then we can beat up on Detroit who has age and a tough series against a strong young and versatile Orlando team wearing them down. Then Miami. Then Dallas. Then-----I wake up. Whew! Just in time for breakfast.

Tim you are the Bulls analyst extraordinaire! I love your assessment of guarding Shaq! The only other thing that helps is running him until his knees feel it. The league has to deal with Detroit at some point. They just keep getting into fights. Crawford did the right thing. He was looking at the big picture - preventing a riot, because the Bulls had that game in the bag. Yes indeed, the Bulls and Pistons just rekindled an old feud. (Que dramatic music) Marv Albert's voice: "With the addition of native son Chris Webber can the aging Pistons turn back the clock and become champions again? Does Ben Wallace and the surging young Bulls have enough fire power to deny the Pistons and return to the finals and step out of the shadows of a dynasty forgone? Will Flip Saunders or Scott Skiles join the elite class of coaches or be left to handle the scrutiny and questions? These and many other questions will be answered! Bulls & Pistons 2007 Eastern Confernce Finals!!" (dramatic music crescendos)

I personally don't see the Bulls passing by the Pistons at all. As great as the Bulls can be, there are too many "flaws" in this team. Their inabilities to make plays, lack of post, and mass TOs make them a liability. Ben Wallace proved to be a non-factor in the playoffs last year for Detroit with his inability to score, make plays, and shoot free throws. With this NBA day and age, the need to score is at it's utmost importance. Please share with me what will happen when the rock doesn't fall into the ocean anymore? Is Ben wallace gonna step up and start scoring?

When the Bulls lose this year, Paxson will need to make a decision to bring in either a better pG, or a more dominate Post presence player. Sorry Chicago, but East Champs will belong to Deeeeeeeetroit Baaaaaaasketbaaaallllllll. Ya'll need one more year people.

kuesta

This is an easy choice... the wizards! No Arenas, no Butler... he we come 2nd round! Nets? Bad match up with their big 3, although the emergence of Tyrus could be an x factor. Miami? no thanks, especially if Wade is back. Toronto? 2nd choice, behind the wizards. Kinda like the Bulls, a young team, but they have Bosh which could be difficult.

Regardless, I like how the bulls are playing currently and hope they can carry it into the playoffs. If they can, then they can hang with anyone, especially in the eastern conference.

Roman responds: Well the question was asked before Arenas tore up his knee, but yes, that does make it an easy choice.

I would love to play Wahington in the first round.Without Agent Zero or Caron Butler the wiz suck. Plain and simple. It would be like having a buy in the first round. All of the teams in the East want to play Washington at this point. I think the Gators might be able to beat them at this point.
It's not impossoble either. The Nets are only 2 games back of the Wizards. They also have 2 games left against Washington. Washington will be lucky to win two more games the rest of the season so all the Nets have to do is go 6-2 or 5-3 the rest of the way and the Bulls get a bye in the first round.
But in actuality, the Bulls will beat whoever they play in the first round. If they could beat up a healthy Piston's team at the Palace without either Ben, Nocioni and with Ty-Tom not at 100 percent, they can beat anybody.
Finally, I don't agree that the Bulls need to Fire Skiles or shake things up to win the finals. The fact of the matter is that the past two years, the Bulls have overachieved. They have won with will and good coaching. I doubt Pat Riley would have motivated this bunch to overachieve the way Skiles has done. We have a core of really goood players, why mess with that. I don't see anyone in the East who will be good for years to come either. Detroit is old, Miami is old, the Cleveland LeBrons are a bad team, and Washington has problems. Toronto will be good, but come on, they're the raptors. GO BULLS!!!

I agree with the blogger above. NJ is really bad - their best player, Vince Carter, gave up in Toronto. I wouldn't want him on the Bulls if he was handed to us.
Then again, there are about 4 good teams in the NBA. Too many bad high school players and 1 year wonders from college who have the attitude, and too many possees. This league has got progressively worse since the mid 90s.

DePaul...then maybe we can advance beyond the 1st round.

It doesn't matter to me who they play. If they plan on winning the NBA title, they have to beat who ever takes the court against them. A true champion will play anybody. I think the Bull are 1 or 2 players away from the title. You have to agree, they're a lot further along then they were with Curry/Chandler/Tim Floyd/Bill Cartwright.

I still think thr Bulls 1st round opponent will be the Nets. After watching the Wizards give the Cav's all they could handle last night without Arenas and Butler and losing by only 5 points I don't think the Nets can beat them in the 2 games they have left head to head. On paper the Cav's should have blown them out but couldn't. The Bulls ran out to an early double digit lead on the Nets and never looked back and never lost focus the way they did in the first 2 meetings and they came out in the fourth quarter and finally showed a killer instinct and put the Nets away only allowing them 12 points in the final quarter and 6 of those in the last 3 minutes when the outcome had long been decided. Now with Miami only 1 game behind Toronto for the 3rd seed it is possible that the Bulls second round opponent will be either the Cav's or Toronto and Miami and the Pistons in the second round. Should that happen look for the Bulls to take either the Cav's or Raptors in 6 and Miami taking the Pistons in 7 giving the Bulls home court advantage for the eastern finals and taking Miami in 6 with Hinrich doing his usual good job defending against Wade. It's now crunch time and (in the voice of Stormin Norman) the Bulls will give us "48 minutes of intensity" from here on out.

J.W. is right! That is EXACTLY what I mean. You are supposed to be able to say I don't care who we get in whatever round because we are going to win. That is how the winners feel, and how the old Bulls Championship teams felt. But we all collectively don't feel like the Bulls will beat anyone they face. We are hoping they get lucky, and that is NCAA tournament talk! We are the Bulls not Bucknell!

Don't get me wrong, the only thing I don't like about Skiles is his demeanor and approach towards the players. Everyone involved with the NBA should be the happiest people in America! I like that he has a system, is a defense first coach and holds players accountable. He is the second coming of Jerry Sloan, and I hope we are not stuck with him and second place futility.

Do me a favor. Explain to the world that the Chicago Bulls team was successful with Michael Jordan because the triangle offense is centered around a good power forward OR center.

Hense Horace Grant and Denis Rodman....Without Michael Jordan the Bulls WON 50 GAMES and played the Eastern Conference Champion Knicks to the hilt -It took a terrible call on a three point shot to beat them-

Try that on a Birdless Celtic team and a Lakers team without Magic!

They tanked after those guys left!....The "I'm back" Bulls would have at least went back to the finals without Jordan.....Check the record.....or check the tape.

Lakers Fan - I agree! That Hugh Hollis call was as painful as any in Chicago history. The triangle is a time tested offense that works when executed by gifted, unselfish athletes. Its only as good as the players that execute it of course. In that offense, the post player only has to be smart enough to score when the defense extends and to pass when the defense sags. Mr. Jackson has won 9 ships with it. You can debate that it was Mike, Shaq and Kobe, but where were they BEFORE the triangle? The drive and kick offense the Bulls currently run works similar, but it focusses on shooters rather than post players. The triangle focuses on the highest percentage shot on the court...the post. Of course, like any offense...without a gifted playmaker/ball-handler, it will not work to precision. Scottie/Paxson, Harper/Fisher were the catalysts. And with Kobe and Mike demanding double teams, the triangle was always clicking. For us Basketball enthusiasts, this was like looking at the Sistine Chapel.

Jerry Sloan would have had at least 2 rings with Utah had it not been for the misfortune of having to play the best NBA team in history. That was his misfortune not his fault as a coach. And yes the triangle offense requires a good power forward or center but the triangle offense also requires movement without the ball and what the center and power-forward need to be good at is decision making and passing and reliable perimeter shooters. It is not a magic cure-all offense, if it was everyone would be running it. Even though the MJ lead Bulls ran the triangle to perfection, there were still times that MJ had to take over in the 4th quarter and break defenses down on his own. Guys like John Paxson and Steve Kerr made a living hitting wide open shots created by MJ diving to collapse the defense and kicking the ball back to them.
It has become a glaring fact that LA won it's 3 titles because of Shaq and not Kobe. Shaq (as much as it pains me to admit) is an excellent passer and decision maker and unlike Kobe is unselfish. Since Shaq's departure the Lakers have struggled just to make the play-offs, proving that you need the right combination of players to be succesful with the triangle offense. Dallas is shaping up right now to be the second or third best single season team in NBA history and possibly on the verge of becoming a dynasty if the teams core remains intact. If infact that happens Dallas could end up being Skiles misfortune as the Bulls were Sloan's.

I want to play the Bulls in the first round!!!!!!! EAZZY CHEEZY

Triangle offense? Are you kidding? Go back and watch the tapes in the close games and the triangle turned into "get the ball to Michael and everybody else get the f*$* out of the way" as Doug Collins once said. How did the triangle work in the last championship against the Jazz? What about the year before..it was Jordan isolation until they came off Kerr.
Also, people need to let it go that they Bulls would have won another title in '99 with Jordan. They were ALL on their last legs against the Jazz.

I love the triangle debate! The Triangle can only get you to the promised land, greatness must carry you over. Triangle is an offense designed to execute plays unselfishly. What great players like Mike, Shaq and Kobe does is find open players when double teamed. That offense is designed to s p r e a d the court so that disciplined sharp shooters are open when teams decide to cheat defensively. Teams recognize that its the 4th quarter and try to disrupt the pressure shooter with double and triple teams, and that person (Mike and Shaq) simply made them pay with their God given talent. Mike no longer had to rely solely on his talent the entire game. He could pick and choose when to come out of the triangle. Scottie ran it to PERFECTION. He was really the engine of the Bulls.

I love what anonymous wrote about Shaq and Kobe. That is the difference in their games. Shaq is unselfish and is thus...still winning ships.

A lot of you are on crack to say you would want the Bulls to play Jersey. With Richardson, J Kidd, and Vinsanity, they pose are serious threat. To comme back twice from 18 shows that they can turn it on when they want to.

Roman responds: They couldn't turn it on last Friday when they got drilled at the United Center.