Bulls Lose Game Five of Eastern Conference Finals to Miami

Last night's 83-80 loss to the Miami Heat was probably the worst Bulls loss I have ever witnessed and it was definitely the worst Bulls loss I have ever seen in the playoffs. It was a very disappointing loss and a very disappointing way to end this really good season. The Bulls were up 77-65 with under four minutes to go and somehow they couldn't hold on to the lead. I really thought the Bulls were going to win. They were winning pretty much the whole game. It's so frustrating to see the Bulls play well for three and a half quarters and lose just because Miami played really good for three minutes. It doesn't seem fair. This will be a historic loss. It reminds me a lot of game six of the 2003 National League Championship Series when the Chicago Cubs blew a 3-0 lead against the Florida Marlins after being five outs away from going to the World Series.


I should be happy with this Bulls season but right now I'm not. I didn't think they would win 62 games or make it to the Eastern Conference Finals but that was BEFORE the season started. Once the playoffs started, I was expecting the Bulls to get to the NBA Finals. I would have been happy if Miami proved that they were clearly the better team but they didn't. They played better in games two and three but the Bulls deserved to win games four and five. All Miami proved was that they could handle late-game pressure better than the Bulls. If the Bulls don't have fourth quarter collapses two games in a row, then they are right now one win after from the NBA Finals. So right now this season doesn't feel like a success because it feels like the Bulls could have accomplished more. I hate losing but I hate losing even more when I feel my team should have won. I really wish there could have been a game six in Miami because I really think the Bulls could have won that game and forced a game seven in Chicago. If Miami won game six (or game seven) by ten points, I would feel a little better about how the season ended.

In the past, I may have been really happy with a season like this but not anymore. I don't want to look at this season as a good learning experience for the Bulls. I agree that the Bulls are still a young team and got a lot farther than people expected but it's disappointing to see them fail when they were so close to a NBA Championship. People assume the Bulls will get this far next year but will they? I thought for sure the Cubs would get to the World Series in 2004 after reaching the NLCS in 2003. Since 2003, they haven't won another playoff game. I thought that the 2007 Chicago Bears would win the Super Bowl after the 2006 Bears lost in Super Bowl XLI. The 2007 Bears failed to make the playoffs and have made the playoffs only once since then. Nothing is guaranteed in sports. Next year, the Bulls may not win 60 games again. They may fall to the #3 seed in the East and they may not even make it past the second round.


Maybe the Bulls can do what the Chicago Blackhawks did. The Blackhawks fell just short of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2009 and then they won the Stanley Cup in 2010. I wish the Bulls can do what the Blackhawks did. I hope the Bulls come back even hungrier than they were this year. But I'm not sure if I believe that will happen. I really think this could be the closest the Bulls will get to the NBA Finals for the next five years.


Hopefully I'm wrong but I think five years from now, I will look back at this game and this series and get upset because the Bulls had a chance to win it all and they couldn't do it. Fans can't assume the Bulls will get another chance to reach the NBA Finals in the near future. I would not be surprised at all if it takes at least six years for the Bulls to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls were lucky that none of their starters suffered a season-ending injury. The other teams in the East will get better. Hopefully the Bulls get better too and can stay healthy for a second season in a row. The Bulls need to add one more good player. If they don't do that this off-season, then I'm not sure how the Bulls can get to the NBA Finals. Teams have discovered that the Bulls are for real. They won't be taken lightly next year. If the Bulls come back with the exact same team they had this year, I'm not sure they can get farther in the playoffs. They need to add one or two more players who can take the Bulls to the next level. They will have more experience going into next year no matter what but that is not enough.


At this point, I don't really care who wins the Heat-Mav's match-up in the NBA Finals. Whoever wins, it will mean nothing to me. It won't change the fact that the Bulls aren't gonna win the NBA Championship this year. If I had to pick one team to win, it would be Dallas. I don't really care much about Dallas, but I don't want Miami to win. Or maybe Miami should win. Not to show that the Bulls could have won the title if they faced Dallas because I already knew that but if Miami wins, then they got their championship and may be less motivated to win another one next season. If Miami loses, they will come back even hungrier than the Bulls. LeBron James really wants to win his first championship and to lose now after getting this close would really motivate him for next year. But I think I really do want Miami to lose. If losing motivates Miami more for next year then so be it. Next year, I would rather see the Bulls beat a motivated Miami team than a Miami team that has already won a championship. I hate the Heat and I hate LeBron. There was a time I wanted to LeBron to come to Chicago but instead he took his talents to South Beach. If he can stay there for the rest of his career if he wants. We got Derrick Rose and he's our Superstar.

I hope LeBron never wins a championship and I hope Rose leads the Bulls to a championship at least one time just to show LeBron that he made a big mistake. I hate LeBron and the Heat and I hope nothing but the worse for them. Bulls-Heat could be an epic rivalry for many many years and I want the Bulls to win a championship before the Heat do.


Hopefully the Bulls can get back to the Eastern Conference Finals next year and finish the job. Right now I am officially looking at this season as a step in the right direction but a missed opportunity the Bulls may never get again in the near future.

Derrick Rose is the NBA MVP

Congrats to Derrick Rose! Youngest MVP in history! Thanks for making me proud to be a Bulls fan.

Does anyone still have doubts about the Bears?

I wonder if there is anyone out there who think there is something the Chicago Bears cannot do.

When preseason started, people were predicting a 5-11 season which was insane because the Bears were 7-9 last year. Adding Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers, Chris Harris, and Chester Taylor equals two less wins? I'd like to see how people came up with that prediction.

After a 4-3 start, people then started saying, "Their 2nd half schedule is a lot harder. They will beat the Bills and maybe the Lions. They will be lucky to win two games after the bye week." Since the bye week, the Bears are 7-1.

Then there were the people who said, "The Packers are still gonna win the division. That week 17 game is going to determine the division and Green Bay will win that game. The Bears are gonna have a hard time getting in as a wild card because the Giants own the tiebreaker over the Bears. If the Bears finish 10-6, I see them missing the playoffs." The Bears are now NFC North champs and would have won the division with a 10-6 record. The match-up with Green Bay this Sunday is pretty much meaningless for the Bears.

Then there was the doubts about the final four games. People said, "Those last four games are brutal. There's a really good chance they lose all four of those games. The Eagles are probably going to get that first round bye." Well so far the Bears have won two out of the first three games and they already clinched the first round bye.

So far this season everything that people doubted about the Bears were proven incorrect. Anything left? I really believe the Bears have a great chance to make it to the Super Bowl and why should anyone doubt that they will win the Super Bowl? The way this season is going, I wouldn't be surprised if Tom Brady broke his arm falling out of his hotel bed the day of the Super Bowl.

Bulls can beat the Cavs......assuming they don't get beat by the refs

I think the Chicago Bulls match-up with the Cleveland Cavs very nicely. Let's re-visit the four regular season games:

Game #1: Bulls win 86-85

This was an impressive win for the Bulls. It was on the road and both Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James were in the lineup for the Cavs. Yes the Bulls still had John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas but neither had a great game. Salmons scored 14 points but his +/- score was -2 (meaning that the Bulls allowed two more points than they scored when Salmons was on the court). As for Thomas, he scored only six points and had just one rebound and one block in 12 minutes. Also, LeBron had a pretty good game scoring 25 points with seven rebounds and six assists. If the Bulls could be the Cavs on the road with LeBron having a good game, why can't they do it again in the playoffs?

Game #2: Cavs win 101-87

The Cavs won this one but the Cavs were at home so it was an expected win for the Cavs. LeBron scored 23 points with 11 assists. The good thing about this game was that the Bulls trailed by only one point at halftime. The bad thing was that the Cavs outscored the Bulls 29-15 in the 3rd quarter. If the Bulls are going to have a chance in this series, they can't allow the Cavs to have a big quarter especially in the second half. It resulted in a Bulls loss in this game and it will probably result in a loss if it happens in the playoffs. A big concern is can the Bulls score enough. The Bulls scored 86 in game one but were able to somehow hold Cleveland to 85 points. The defense couldn't do it for a second time and Cleveland scored over 100. The Cavs have other scorers besides LeBron so it's important that the Bulls try to keep to Cavs under 100 points if they can.


Game #3: Cavs win 92-87


Even though they lost, this game was also impressive by the Bulls. Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah all did not play and yet the Bulls lost by only seven points. LeBron had another good game. This time he scored 29 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists. The Bulls were actually winning 78-76 with 6:11 left in the game. It doesn't matter that LeBron was on the bench for most of the fourth quarter....the Bulls were missing three of their best players! The Bulls are at full strength now and I think they might have won this game if no one was injured.

Game #4: Bulls win 109-108

LeBron James did not play for the Cavs. Bulls led by 12 in the third quarter but Cavs took a four point lead with less than five minutes left in the game. The Bulls retook the lead and held the Cavs scoreless in the last 1:31 of the game and won by one point. Rose scored 24 points. Noah scored 17 with 15 rebounds. The Bulls won this game but barely and LeBron was out the entire game. Not good. It's safe to say the Bulls would probably lose this game if LeBron was playing. Mo Williams had a great game scoring 35 points with six three-pointers. Antawn Jamison scored 23 points. It was a reminder that the Cavs have other players besides LeBron that the Bulls need to worry about.

The Bulls played tough with the Cavs during the four games. You can argue the Cavs would have won the series if LeBron played in the fourth game. I think the Bulls could have won the third game if Rose, Deng, and Noah were playing. The Bulls played the Cavs well during the regular season. The "experts" predicting a sweep are ignorant. This will not be a sweep. This will be an interesting #1 vs. #8 playoff series. This is really a #1 vs. a #5 because the Bulls are better than a #8 seed. If they did not get injuries to Noah, Rose, and Deng, the Bulls would not be facing the Cavs right now. If the Cavs treat the Bulls like a #8 seed, they will regret it. The Cavs need to stay focused. The worst thing they can do is worry about who they'll be facing in the second round. If they don't worry about the Bulls, there won't be a second round for them. I think this series could go at least six games. I really think LeBron is carrying the Cavs. If the Bulls can shutdown LeBron, the Bulls could do well. However, it is a concern that the Bulls nearly lost against Cleveland without LeBron and in the case of Cleveland, the loss of one player does make a huge difference. The Bulls are even capable of winning this series if Rose plays great, Noah plays great, and the Bulls shoot the ball very well.

My biggest fear may not be LeBron James at this point. I'm worried about the referees. I really think the refs are somewhat biased. James will get foul calls where there is no contact. Bulls players will get mugged under the basket and no fouls will be called. We might even see the Cleveland players flop on some plays resulting in the Bulls getting called for an offensive foul. I'm sure there will several moments in which the refs make questionable calls against the Bulls and in favor of the Cavs. My fear is that the Bulls will lose to the Cavs not because the Cavs played better but because the Cavs got the better calls by the refs. The player to watch is Derrick Rose. Last year Rose got no foul calls because he was a rookie. Now he's an all-star so he should get those calls now. However, there has been times during the regular season in which Rose got fouled and the refs didn't call it. Bulls TV announcer Stacy King has often said, "Rose is an all-star and no longer a rookie....he should be getting those calls now." Will the refs call it both ways? If they don't, it could play a huge role in the Cavs series victory.

I'm gonna say Cavs in six but I think the Bulls are definitely capable of making this series look like the Boston-Chicago series from last year only this year, the Bulls might actually finish the job.

Kelly Dwyer loves dissing the Bulls

Yahoo! Sport's Kelly Dwyer is a Bulls fan but you would never realize it from what he writes in his posts. First, he said that the mid-season projection that the Bulls would finish the season with a 37-45 record was "probably" right and that the projected 37 wins "might be a little optimistic." The Bulls suffered a ten game losing streak since then and yet currently have 39 wins with a chance to finish with 41 wins....four more than the projected total Dwyer said the Bulls would probably get.

After that, you'd think Dwyer would stop bashing the Bulls but recently he was at it again. Dwyer wrote two pieces: one on the Bulls' chances of making the playoffs and the second one on the Raptors' chances of making the playoffs. In the Bulls post, Dwyer has harsh words but for the most part he's right. Dwyer says, "Chicago is at its worst offensively. It doesn't have a low post presence, and the team's best offensive options rely on the worst shot in basketball to make their hay -- the contested long two-pointer." That sounds mostly accurate. However, Dwyer never says if the Bulls are going to make the playoffs or not. He just says that it is "too tough to gauge."

In the Raptors post, he pretty much reveals he thinks the Raptors will make it. Dwyer points out all the problems that the Raptors have been having and then writes, "But they're up against the Bulls, who might be at full strength, but it's the saddest 'full strength' you've ever seen." Dwyer is just getting started. He later writes, "It shouldn't be a surprise if the Bulls actually drop all four of their games between now and the end of the season, the talent just isn't there, and there is sound justification for all four of Chicago's opponents (New Jersey, Toronto, Boston, Charlotte) to want to win whilst going with the full rotation." And he doesn't stop there. He mentions that the Raptors will be at home versus the Bulls and "even with Bosh out and the Raptors handing Chicago open shots, will the Bulls score enough to keep it close? I'd pencil this one in for Toronto." Dwyer wraps his post up writing, "Toronto has the easier schedule, and even without their best player, their strengths still seem to fly higher than Chicago's strengths. Whatever Chicago's strengths are."

Dwyer wrote his latest post this morning after his Bulls beat the Raptors 104-88 despite Dwyer's prediction that the Raptors would win. The Bulls are finally going to get praise from Dwyer now right? Well....sort of. Dwyer writes, "Let's give credit where credit is due. Chicago took this." That's a nice comment to make about the Bulls other than the fact Dwyer built it up as if he didn't want to admit his favorite team played well last night. Prior to the comment about the Bulls taking it, Dwyer wrote, "I was ready to go off on the Raptors, I really was. For having no heart. For failing to show up for the biggest game of the season, played in the wheelhouse (a home Sunday contest in the daylight hours) that has served them so well all season. For losing to a pretty bad Bulls team. By a lot." Sounds like he wanted to make it sound more like the Raptors lost and less like the Bulls won. However, Dwyer then wrote, "But a day later, I'm not sure that's the right take. Sure, the Raptors slept through this, but what were we expecting from these guys? Is this in any way out of character for the Raps? Haven't we seen this all season? Why are we supposed to get haughty when the Raptors went all Raptor on us?" So far so good. Dwyer is actually ripping the Raptors and actually said a nice thing about the Bulls. Dwyer wrote more nice things about the Bulls...so much that posting them all would take up too much space. Stuff about how the Bulls played with great energy on the road, how they were quicker than the Raptors, and how their defense really stepped up. And just when you think Dwyer has finally stopped hating on the Bulls, he writes, "Chicago is Chicago, so Toronto's not out of this yet."

I'm afraid to see what Dwyer will write next about the Bulls. He seems to rip them whenever he gets the chance and whenever they do something good, he gives them compliments that sound backhanded. I know because of his role as an NBA blogger he doesn't want to sound biased towards the Bulls but he has ripped the Bulls so much that it makes it seem like he is biased AGAINST the Bulls. I'm going to say this right now even though I'm afraid I might be wrong....the Bulls are going to make the playoffs. There I said it. I think they got it. I'm not saying that because I'm a biased Bulls fan....I'm saying it because the Bulls are the better team right now. Right now people are wondering if the Bulls can beat the Celtics and the Bobcats. But, can the Raptors win two games in a row? I believe the Raptors will lose at least one of their remaining two games and the Bulls will win at least one of their remaining two games. If that happens, the Bulls are in the playoffs. The Bulls could clinch as early as tomorrow night. I could be wrong but I want to give Dwyer the chance to rip me. I've been ripping on his predictions but I'm not giving him a chance to rip any of my predictions. So I'm officially predicting the Bulls will make the playoffs despite the fact their chances are seem to be barely better than 50-50 right now in my opinion. And what if the Bulls do make the playoffs? What will Dwyer say then? Surely he'll point out the fact the Raptors were missing Chris Bosh and ignore the fact the Bulls lost ten games in a row without Joakim Noah. He'll say that all the Bulls really won was the opportunity to get swept by Cleveland in the first round. The Bulls' season may continue but the Dwyer hating will not stop. If the Bulls do make the playoffs, I hope they do well enough against Cleveland to finally shut him up and make him admit the Bulls are not as bad as he says they are.

Bulls playoff chances/Could the Bulls get Chris Bosh?

I regret to say I watched most of the 4th quarter and both overtimes of the Bulls-Nets game last night. I feel like I wasted one hour of my weekend for nothing. The Bulls should have won their game against the Nets (Nets won 127-116 in double overtime) even though it was the Nets who blew a double-digit 4th quarter lead. I can write a lot about what went wrong but I'll make it brief: missed free throws by the Bulls prevented them from winning in regulation and the refs screwed the Bulls in the first overtime. As for the second overtime, the Raptors dominated but there shouldn't have been a second overtime. The game should have ended in the first overtime. Derrick Rose got fouled causing him to lose the ball with 25 seconds left in the first overtime with the Bulls up two. He hits two free throws to put the Bulls up by four and the Bulls hold on for the win right? Wrong. There were no free throws because the idiot refs ruled that Rose lost the ball on his own and they gave the ball to the Nets after the ball went out of bounds. What the replays showed was a Nets player pulling on Rose's left arm and then the ball immediately coming out of Rose's hands. The Nets then tie the game with two free throws and the games goes to double overtime after Rose misses a potential game winning shot.

I could say more but nothing I say can change the loss to a win so the only thing left is to look forward to Sunday's important game versus the Toronto Raptors who are tied with the Bulls for the eight and final playoff seed and hold the tiebreaker. Can the Bulls make the playoffs? First of all, I expect the Bulls to beat the Raptors. They have been mediocre without star forward Chris Bosh and the Bulls should be able to take advantage of that like they did against Cleveland who was missing LeBron James. The problem is that the next two games after that (home vs. Boston, at Charlotte) are pretty much must-win games. However, I think the Raptors may lose one of their remaining games after the Bulls game. They are on the road against Detroit and home against New York but I think both of those teams will look to play spoiler. Detroit picked up a win against Miami which leads me to think they have a pretty good shot at stealing a win against Toronto on Monday especially considering Toronto will be playing the second game of a back-to-back against Detroit. But the Bulls need to stop hoping for the Raptors to lose and worry about winning their own games. Had the Bulls won last night, I would be very confident that the Bulls would make the playoffs heading into the Toronto game. With the loss, I still think they can do it but it's going to be harder now and the game against the Raptors is definitely a must win game for them. At this point, I can't predict if the Bulls will make it or not. I want to say they will make the playoffs but I'm not sure. They need to beat Toronto tomorrow and if that happens, I would have to say the Bulls would be the favorite to make the playoffs at that point.

Now, I also want to talk about Chris Bosh possibly going to the Bulls. In my opinion, the Bulls MUST make it to the playoffs. Not just to give them more playoff experience or for the rest of the nation to get a good look at Derrick Rose and see that the Bulls are just one star player away from being really good, but also because if the Bulls make the playoffs, that means Chris Bosh and the Raptors will not. As you might know, Bosh is a free agent after this season. I don't see why he would want to stay in Toronto and if the Raptors miss the playoffs, I think it's a lock that he leaves. And I think the team he might join is the Bulls. Think about it......Bosh was carrying the Raptors and now he is seeing what kind of team the Raptors are with Bosh out of the lineup. If the Bulls can make the playoffs without a player like Bosh, imagine how far they can go WITH a player like Bosh. This doesn't mean I'm completely confident Bosh would go to the Bulls but I think Bosh knows he has a better chance at winning a championship with the Bulls than he does with the Raptors so I think the Bulls have a good chance at getting him. But the Bulls MUST beat out the Raptors for that final spot or else Bosh might think the Bulls AREN'T a better situation for him than the Raptors and he might start looking for other teams that might be better for him. Or worst case scenario....not only do the Raptors make the playoffs but they actually do well against the Cleveland Cavs in the first round. If the Raptors were to be competitive with the Cavs, then Bosh might think the Raptors are just one key player away from being a contender and he might stay in Toronto. The point is that the Bulls making the playoffs makes them more likely to get Bosh and missing the playoffs makes them less likely to get Bosh.

Dwyer prediction update

Not too long ago, Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports predicted the Bulls would finish the year at 37-45. Right now, the Bulls are 30-27 meaning they would have to go 7-18 or worse for Dwyer to be right. In his defense, he made his prediction right before the Bulls won five straight games on the road. So to make it fair, I said the Bulls would finish closer to 47 wins than 37 wins. So for me to be right, the Bulls need to finish with 43 wins or more. For Dwyer to be right, the Bulls need to finish with 41 wins or less. If the Bulls finish at 42-40, it's a tie between me and Dwyer.

So let's break it down:

I need the Bulls to go 13-12 or better.
Dwyer needs the Bulls to go 7-18 or worse.

Check back at the end of the season to see who is right.

UPDATE: Kelly Dwyer emailed me saying that the 37-45 record was a projection not a prediction. While that is correct, he did ask in the blog post, "Does that sound about right?" His response to his own question was, "Probably....The Bulls have quite a few road games left this year, so it's possible that the mathematic course toward 37 might be a little optimistic."