Bulls vs Celtics, Lets get down to the nitty gritty.... Options

[truthandbasketba...]

Ok so its done and we can talk about "what if" all night but the truth is we have to face Boston.

So lets look at the two teams in depth.

2008-09 Bulls Roster

9 Luol Deng - F 6-9 220
7 Ben Gordon G 6-3 200
34 Aaron Gray C 7-0 270
12 Kirk Hinrich - G 6-3 190
11 Lindsey Hunter G 6-2 195
31 Jerome James C 7-1 285 (out for season)
54 Linton Johnson III F 6-8 205
52 Brad Miller C 7-0 261
21 DeMarcus Nelson G 6-4 200
13 Joakim Noah C-F 6-11 232
5 Anthony Roberson G 6-2 180
1 Derrick Rose G 6-3 190
15 John Salmons F-G 6-6 207
2 Tim Thomas F 6-10 240
24 Tyrus Thomas F 6-9 215

2008-09 Celtics Roster

20 Ray Allen G 6-5 205
42 Tony Allen G 6-4 213
11 Glen Davis F 6-9 289
5 Kevin Garnett F 6-11 253
4 J.R. Giddens G 6-5 215
50 Eddie House G 6-1 175
8 Stephon Marbury G 6-2 205
7 Mikki Moore F-C 7-0 225
43 Kendrick Perkins C 6-10 280
34 Paul Pierce - F 6-7 235
0 Leon Powe F 6-8 240
13 Gabe Pruitt G 6-4 170
9 Rajon Rondo G 6-1 171
44 Brian Scalabrine C-F 6-9 235
12 Bill Walker G-F 6-6 220

Each NBA playoff team is allowed 15 players maximum on their playoff rosters with a minimum of 13 players. That would mean that technically both teams could field all their players if they wanted to. With this is mind lets look at their depth charts -

Chicago Bulls

C - Miller/Noah/Gray
PF - Tyrus/Tim Thomas
SF - Salmons/Deng/Linton Johnson
SG - Gordon/Roberson/Nelson
PG - Rose/Hinrich/Hunter

Boston Celtics

C - Perkins/Moore
PF - Garnett/Davis/Powe/Scalabrine
SF - Pierce/Walker
SG - Ray Allen/Tony Allen/Giddens/Pruitt
PG - Rondo/Marbury/House

This provides us with some great matchups including Tyrus and KG, Allen and Gordon, Salmons and Pierce, Marbury and Hinrich, Mikki Moore and Noah, and even potentially Big Baby Davis and Tyrus in the showdown of two former LSU team mates.
I think our hardest job will be to contain Pierce as he lit us up for 37 points the last time we played them. He has proven he is the leader of that team even with two steller teammates in Allen and Garnett. He leads the team in PPG with 20.5. Also on a side note Ray Allen is shooting 95% from the charity stripe this year so we have to work hard to keep him off the free throw line. Garnett appears to be day to day and is expected to play in the first playoff game but whether or not hes actually 100% remains to be seen.

After the matchups were set here's what the Celtics are saying about us .....

"Whether we went to Chicago or Philly, we knew it was going to be a tough first-round opponent," Allen said. "We have our work cut out for us."

"They're a tough young team," said Rajon Rondo. "They had a great trade, bringing in Brad Miller. He's helped them tremendously as far as all aspects of the game. John Salmons is playing extremely well as well. And Derrick Rose runs the show. I'm sure he has a lot of pressure on him as a rookie, a lot of expectations, and he's lived up to them."

Said House, after shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range and erasing Ainge's franchise 3-point percentage with a mark of .444, "Chicago is going to have to come in here. We feel extremely confident about who we have to play. We'll prepare tomorrow, prepare Friday, and lace 'em up Saturday."

Here's what our guys are saying about Boston .....

Ben Gordon said the Bulls wanted to finish with as high a seed as possible.

''It would be a slap in the face to say which team we'd rather play,'' he said. ''Both [Boston and Orlando] are really good. At this point, we just have to come prepared to play.''

Hinrich said ..."They're the defending champs. There's not much else to say. When they're at home, it's going to be a huge challenge. They're a great team. We're going to have to play near perfect. Nobody is expecting us to win. We have to stick together as a team."

"Boston has the Big Three and give the other guys credit as well," Hinrich said. "We're definitely going to have to be ready. The intensity is going to be at a level we haven't seen all year. We have to do a better job defensively."

"We should be confident even though we didn't play well," Joakim Noah said. "We have to stay positive."

Here's the schedule for the series -

2008-09 NBA Playoffs - Eastern Conference First Round
Bulls vs. Boston Celtics (All times CDT)

Game 1 Bulls at Celtics, 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Game 2 Bulls at Celtics, 6 p.m. Monday
Game 3 Celtics at Bulls, 7 p.m. Thursday Apr. 23
Game 4 Celtics at Bulls, Noon. Sunday, Apr. 26
Game 5 Bulls at Celtics, TBA, if necessary. Tuesday Apr. 28
Game 6 Celtics at Bulls, TBA, if necessary. Wednesday Apr. 29
Game 7 Bulls at Celtics, TBA, if necessary. Saturday May 2

[Sanitarium]

GARNETT COULD MISS THE ENTIRE POSTSEASON

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/11636504

[RME JICO]

GARNETT COULD MISS THE ENTIRE POSTSEASON

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/11636504

That's huge. We beat them without Garnett last month.

[GreatScott82]

That's huge. We beat them without Garnett last month.

we beat them at home. .

even w/o Garnett, Boston is an extremely tough team to beat in there place.

I like our chances to win more than 1 game now, but i still don't know if we have enough to beat them....

[SoxFan1]

Deng is out too, and we are only going to use an 8 man rotation at best, so this is all pretty moot. With KG out, our chances improve greatly, but we really need to buckle down defensively.

[truthandbasketba...]

That's huge. We beat them without Garnett last month.

Damn right, I was there watching it at the UC. Pierce and Rondo gave us the most trouble. Allen's jumper was off which was really strange considering hes got one of the sweetest j's in the league, Mikki Moore fouled out and Doc Rivers got ejected. We can do this!!!!

[Sanitarium]

Here's to BG and Salmons shooting the roof off TD Banknorth.

[RME JICO]

Deng is out too, and we are only going to use an 8 man rotation at best, so this is all pretty moot. With KG out, our chances improve greatly, but we really need to buckle down defensively.

Yeah, but there is no way you can compare KG to Deng. Also, the Bulls picked up Salmons and Miller, so the loss of Deng has been felt much less.

If we can somehow gameplan to take away Pierce (I know, easier said than done), we have a great shot at stealing a win in Boston. If we can steal one, it is anybody's series. With KG playing, we are probably swept. Now we at least have a chance to win 3 and maybe even the series. You know that Boston was expecting KG back, so that is also a demoralizing event when that expectation is not met. All the players will have even more pressure to produce in the playoffs. The first game is going to be epic. If we were to win that one, they would be really pressing the rest of the series.

We have a lot of things going for us which is a great position to be in compared to where we were a couple of months ago.

A pretty good read about the Celts with and without KG: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...=PERDiem-090416

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

I'm more worried about Rondo more than anyone else. He's the facilitator in that offense. His apg numbers have improved greatly over the course of the year and Rose isn't a good defender by any means. If he starts putting up 18 ppg 6 rpg 8 apg for the series, we are going to have alot of trouble. I'd rather stop him and let Pierce become a volume shooter. Pick and Roll defense MUST step up! Ray Ray is going to do his thing but we can't afford to leave him wide open around the perimeter like we seem to always do to the teams best shooter..

[truthandbasketba...]

On a lighter note I heard a funny story about KG's injury tonight. I have a friend from the East coast who has a close friend from Boston. My friend was talking to the Boston guy and the Boston guy is all torn up about KG being hurt... He tells my friend "Did you hear the news???? Doc Rivers says KG's out for the playoffs...."
My buddy replies "You know hes not a real doctor right???" lol

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

Predictions for the Series:

Celtics win in 6.

Rondo- 14.8 ppg 4.6 rpg 8.4 apg
Allen- 16 ppg 3 rpg 3 apg
Pierce- 19.2 ppg 6 rpg 2 apg
Perkins- 10.2 ppg 11.2 rpg 1 apg 2 bpg

Bulls:

Rose- 16.2 ppg 4.8 rpg 6 apg
Gordon- 19 ppg 3 rpg 3 apg
Salmons- 12 ppg 4 rpg 3 apg
Tyrus- 13.6 ppg 8.2 rpg 1 apg 2 bpg
Noah- 7 ppg 8 rpg 2 apg 1 bpg

[DutheDoduhon21]

On a lighter note I heard a funny story about KG's injury tonight. I have a friend from the East coast who has a close friend from Boston. My friend was talking to the Boston guy and the Boston guy is all torn up about KG being hurt... He tells my friend "Did you hear the news???? Doc Rivers says KG's out for the playoffs...."
My buddy replies "You know hes not a real doctor right???" lol

haha thats funny

[chilord]

Homecourt stolen thanks to the ROY and a gritty team effort on the road. Come on, Bulls. Get greedy and take two in Beantown.

GO BULLS!

[truthandbasketba...]

Players/Coaches Reactions To Game 1

Celtics

“I hope this is a wake-up call,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 23 points. “I hope we realize that the Bulls, they’re not just a team that’s happy to be in the playoffs. So hopefully the guys will wake up and realize this is reality. We’ve better come to play.”

''Rose was absolutely fantastic,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

''He's one of the toughest point guards to stay in front of,'' Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo said. ''He's definitely quick, and he also used his strength to elevate over myself and our bigs -- and he finished at the rim extremely well.''

''It's tough, you know, talking about the start of the playoffs and the first play ... you look up and we give up a dunk,'' Pierce said. ''It was like, 'Come on, fellas, let's pick it up a little bit. You don't give up a dunk on the very first play.''


Bulls

"I was just out there feeling the game," Rose said Saturday at TD Banknorth Garden. "I didn't know I had that many points until Lindsey Hunter told me to keep going at them. That's what I was doing. I prepared for a tough game and did all right."

"There's nothing he can't do," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "He's unbelievable. I knew he was going to step up. He's that type of player. He was in attack mode the whole game."

"He has a quiet confidence about him, and he's only going to get better," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "He is athletically as good as you'll find at the position — the quickness, strength. When he has 11 assists, the flow of our team is so much better."

Added John Salmons: "Seeing what he's doing is amazing to me. He's so poised as a young player. He put the team on his back. The champions made a run in that third quarter, and he came down calm, collected and hit shot after shot, kept us in the game. We fed off him."