I'm not the fighting type, but those are fighting words Evan Turner.
No seriously, I don't blame the 76ers for wanting a showdown against the Bulls because they're still reeling and haven't really done well against the Heat in the regular season.
Even then, I would be surprised if the 76ers steals a game from the Bulls.
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Extrapolating here but I would speculate that all playoff teams feel the same way about the Bulls. I don't think there's anything particular intimidating about the Bulls, and most teams probably think if they play solidly on both sides of the ball then they can probably beat the Bulls. I think Granger was more explicit last year when he said something like if you stop Rose then you stop the Bulls. He's right, unlocking a winning formula against the Bulls is an open secret. I don't think there's any hypothetical playoff match-up that, when both teams are maximizing their talent, the Bulls would clearly and definitely dominate.
That being said, I agree with you on the Bulls winning the series. I'm not sure what happened to the 76ers, I once thought they took that proverbial next step. I do think, however, that they can and will give the Bulls trouble, just like most defensive-minded teams can. The perfect opponents for the first two rounds would have been the Howard-less Magic and the Hawks, but I'll take Boston and Atlanta if it means avoiding Indiana.
Don't know what this all means since there are serious injury concerns and more, but we'll all find out come Saturday.
What's the difference between the Bulls, Pacers and Spurs?
Derrick Rose (healthy).
They all rebound, attempt to play defense (though San Antonio has waned in that department), hustle, are high in basketball IQ, have a slew of specialists with little overlap (see the New York Knicks) and have great coaches.
Essentially Paxson was gifted Rose and has put an acceptable, solid roster around him with maybe the game's best coaching mind.
But they're deeply flawed--as are the other two teams I mentioned.
I thought the same about the 76ers but once the league figured out they had like three point forwards, no true go-to scorer, they took away whatever obvious strengths they had.
Right now, I'd least want to face the Thunder, Heat and then the Bulls. I also think the Heat could sweep the Knicks, considering they're not really engineered for the playoffs and LeBron will be guarding Carmelo. In the history of the game, the only player I'd prefer to guard Carmelo is Scottie Pippen.
I hope that series goes far though.
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