Finally. The NBA postseason is upon us after 5 painful months of regular season basketball, and the last two weeks of meaningless games. Today marks the start of the longest postseason in sports today; continuing into the end of June.
The day's most intriguing game, and ultimately the most intriguing series will prove to be the Bulls vs. Heat. Miami comes in as the defending world champions, but its team has been intact for only a small part of the season. Shaq was out for a while with injuries, then Wade's shoulder caused him to miss 2 months. But both are back now and are ready to make another playoff run.
Let me tell you why Chicago will not win this series. Because it do not yet have a guy that can take over games. When the Bulls were winning championship after championship in the 90s, Michael Jordan was there to lead them. Who is the Michael Jordan now? Who is even close? The argument seems to be Ben Gordon, but that is not the case. How can you expect a 6'3 guy to take over a game late? If the other team's best defender is on him he is harmless at best. The Bulls have every other piece in place; Luol Deng plays a similar role to Scottie Pippen, and Ben Wallace seems very much like a Dennis Rodman. Kirk Heinrich or Gordon could play the role as Steve Kurr, but the most important piece is still missing. Now by virtue of the Eddie Curry trade last summer the Bulls are going to have the option of swapping picks with the New York Knicks. So maybe they use that this summer and make a trade for that "premier" player. But this is not their year, the Heat win in 6.
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