With the Bulls loss to the Bucks on Tuesday night in Milwaukee, the Bulls fell to 0-16 vs the top 3 teams in each conference. We knew the Bulls struggled with the top dogs, but did you realize it was like that? Does this worry you?
Well, for starters, I’m not worried about the top 3, or for that matter, ANY team in the Western Conference. Let them battle it out on their side of the bracket; we’ll only have to face one of them IF we can get through the gauntlet on our side. Secondly, I’m not too worried about Miami, Philly, or Milwaukee… yet. IF, and that’s a big if considering our play lately, but if the Bulls can stay where they’re at, in the 5 seed, we’d play the 4th team in the conference, which as of today, is the Boston Celtics. I know they’ve been hot, and we have not been, but… for all those folks worrying about how we fare vs playoff teams, we’re 1-1 against them thus far this year.
It’s kind of hard to judge the Bulls, from a big picture perspective. There have been injuries for every NBA team, but the Bulls have to be one of the most impacted, no? No excuses… none of that matter comes playoff time, but… to beat the best, you need to BE your best; how many of these 16 games referenced have the Bulls been at full strength? At this point, what is the most concerning for me, with this Bulls team, is that they may not be at 100% come playoff time.
First off, Lonzo Ball may not be back. He hasn’t been responding well during his recovery, and is currently resting for a couple weeks to see if that helps; that doesn’t sound great. At this point, if we have Lonzo Ball, we’ll be lucky; let’s plan on heading into the playoffs without him. Secondly, Zach Lavine’s knee. How healthy is Zach? From everything we’ve been told, and everything he has said, he is not 100%; he will not be 100% until the offseason. So, no Lonzo and 75% (?) Zach… this is what I’m most concerned about. I’ve thought for a while now, if the Bulls were full strength, we could take on anybody. It wouldn’t be easy, but we would compete. The Bulls will not be at full strength for the playoffs. What does this mean?
Well, to take us back to just before the start of the season, making the playoffs would have been considered a successful year, no? However, after the Bulls stormed out, and lead the East for a while, our expectations changed; number seven was a possibility. As of today, I think we’re somewhere in between. Certainly making the playoffs is a must; not worried about that. Winning it all? I think we need a playoff series win at the very least, to not be disappointed, and then we go from there. Can the Bulls go deeper than that? I think so… I’d feel a lot more confident if we were 100%, but that will not be, so… have to roll with what we got, and regardless of the recent results, and the outcomes of our matchups against the top teams, I know this: we still have a pretty damn good team. Let’s get the playoffs locked in; maybe get that 4 seed and homecourt advantage for 1 round? Go Bulls!!!
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