Okay, so the Eastern Conference Finals are looking pretty grim for my Chicago Bulls. They’re down three games to one against a Miami Heat with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and a host of sequentially resusscitated role players ala Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. What next? Eric Dampier goes for 20?
I had been telling people around Christmas that this might be the year LeBron embraces his inner villain and gets mean enough to grab a ring. They were playing that sick D that led to the Lakers getting hammered on Christmas day.
Somewhere along the season, that level of defense started to brown-out against the other elite teams in the league at the worst possible time. But, as The Sports Grid noticed, the D is back with a vengeance:
Obviously the Heat are more than one guy on defense. They are more than two guys. They’re a whole team of guys with long arms who are committed to shutting down the other team, plus Mike Bibby. However, having LeBron James at their disposal certainly makes things easier.
Got a pretty good laugh out of that Mike Bibby dig.
So Da Young Bulls will probably exit stage left after a great season. Even as currently configured, they’re challenging the Heat. If D Rose drains one of those last minute shots, we’re talking a three game series with home court advantage. This could be the beginning of a great rivalry. I figure one more top notch (not elite) scorer for Chicago could make the difference. Then again, the Heat will have some cap flexibility next year and can upgrade too.