(1) Cavaliers Vs. (8) Bulls

[Axel The Great]

I think LeBron James will be all over this series. Let's hope he doesn't taunt the Bulls and Noah doesn't cry again.

[Valor]

I think LeBron James will be all over this series. Let's hope he doesn't taunt the Bulls and Noah doesn't cry again.

so you think a classless act that would've gotten him floored and sent to the ICU back in the old days deserves merit?

[NovU]

If win/loss is the bottom line, they were 40-13 (0.755) with him, 21-8 (0.724) without him. I'm not the stats wizard that benji is but this seems to suggest it's not all doom and gloom with Shaq in the lineup, of the five most frequently used five man units the one that scores the most per possession while giving up the least amounts of points per possession includes Shaq, while also producing the best winning percentage out of those five. The lineup of LeBron, Shaq, Jamison, Williams and Parker hasn't had as much of a run but it hasn't fared too badly from the looks of things. This of course is subject to being proven wrong by benji's superior knowledge of these statistics and any additional numbers he may produce.

I see. I was curious not because it's about Shaq, but the guys from other sites were saying, the team is better with him coming off from the bench, which Shaq doesn't likely to allow. Good that he's still capable of making a contribution. Never really was much fan of him, but to be able to see one of the greatest was exciting and entertaining. Hope he gets one more ring before retiring and gets to say "how my ass taste, cobe" just one more time.

[Andrew]

I think LeBron James will be all over this series. Let's hope he doesn't taunt the Bulls and Noah doesn't cry again.

so you think a classless act that would've gotten him floored and sent to the ICU back in the old days deserves merit?

Exactly. I actually like LeBron but that did at least border on being unsportsmanlike and I can't blame Noah for being miffed. You wouldn't get away with something like that in Charles Oakley's heyday.

[iamamac]

Bulls started to fall after Ben Gordon left last season. Few new guys came at the beginning of the season, and the Bulls had Noah, Rose and Deng (sometimes Hinrich and Gibson chipped in). But with injuries and bunch of new guys coming in that I don't even know, the Bulls really declined. Now, the Bulls have to count on their leaders, and if one of them gets injured, they can kiss goodbye to the Conference Semifinals for sure. Even if all the leaders are present, it would take a lot of hard work for Bulls to defeat a mighty team like Cavaliers.

Now, the Cavaliers will also rely on their leaders. James, Shaq, Jamison and Williams will have to step up and lead the title-thirsty Cavs to Semifinals. Without the leaders, the Cavs will have a difficult time defeating Bulls. But it's not impossible. They have Varejao, West, Ilgauskas, Hickson and others. They are better than the newcomers of the Bulls. I hope Cavs win this championship - LBJ and Big Z deserve one. They made Cavs who they are today.

I think Cavs will win the series in five games (4-1). Cavs will dominate on their home court, but once they get to Chicago, it will be hard for them to grab a win. I think they will get some resistance, but not a whole lot. Go Cavaliers!!!

[Andrew]

They weren't doing too badly just after the trade deadline, until Rose, Noah and Deng all went down and they dropped ten straight. To their credit they got the job done the final two weeks of the season and equalled last year's record despite losing their top scorer in Ben Gordon, but I don't their chances of advancing are even worth mentioning. As I said before, taking one game in the United Center is about the best they can hope for and frankly I'll be happy if they can achieve that much given how overmatched they are in the series.

[Axel The Great]

I think LeBron James will be all over this series. Let's hope he doesn't taunt the Bulls and Noah doesn't cry again.

so you think a classless act that would've gotten him floored and sent to the ICU back in the old days deserves merit?

No, I wasn't giving it merit.

[SpaceFlare]

Voted Cavs in 4.

Rose will have a big series, and can still quite possibly lead the Bulls to at least one win, but I really don't see it happening.

[Axel The Great]

Well Rose just had a really good game, 28 points and 10 assists, but the only one giving him strong support was Noah.

[shadowgrin]

...don't forget Rose's 7 turnovers and 5 of his shots were blocked and needed 28 attempts to score 26 pts. Though he did have 7 rebounds to boot.

[Andrew]

Well Rose just had a really good game, 28 points and 10 assists, but the only one giving him strong support was Noah.

Not surprising, though Hinrich was having some good games towards the end.

About as good as one could expect, I doubt they'll even show signs of winning a lone game until the series shifts to Chicago.

[Axel The Great]

Yeah, I've heard that the Chicago Bulls have some loyal fans, so that'll help them win at least one game at home. The Bulls actually held Cleveland scoreless for like 6-7 minutes in the 3rd quarter, and went on a 12-0 run, so maybe that's a sign of things to come.

[George7]

Rose was alone to tell the truth,only Noah was trying to do sth.
If you want to make this a series you have to try your hard.
(that's for Deng mostly)

[Andrew]

That's the problem. Deng's a talented player and he does have his moments when the Bulls need a basket, but when the chips are down he's still too tentative for my liking and tends to fade away.

[Axel The Great]

I noticed that about Deng, he came in and out yesterday against the Cavs.

[Andrew]

In the fourth quarter of the Celtics games a couple of weeks back, he rarely touched the ball. About all he did was commit a couple of fouls that fortunately didn't end up being costly.

[john26]

Noah's Remarks Sure to Rile Cavs Fans

His remarks about Cleveland on Sunday after the Bulls practiced at Quicken Loans Arena: "There's nothing going on. It's bad man. It's bad."

Spoken like a guy who is the son of Yannick Noah who works in Chicago and was about to spend an off-night in Cleveland, where apparently the beds at the Ritz are not sufficient.

Noah was asked if this might prompt more chants from fans related to how they view him. He said: "What? That Cleveland sucks?"

Lol this guy just never shuts up. first garnett then this. oh the hilarity

[atlwarrior]

To me the Bulls played well tonight in game 2. They were not letting Cleveland get into the paint like they wanted to and made the Cavs pull up for a lot of difficult jumpshots which they could live with but the Bulls have to continue hitting shots. They just need to con't what theyre doing on defense and not fall into a shooting slump like they did in the 4th quarter. I also really liked how they were playing Lebron. There were really no easy buckets for him the whole game bc the bulls made him pull up for a lot of contested jumpshots. Especially in the 4th qtr. They could live with that because hes not going to be hot like he was every night. As for Cleveland, sometimes luck is a charm. lol

[Erchamion]

Everybody knows that Cleveland sucks and KG is a dirty player so i don't understand the commotion about Noah.

[Andrew]

Everybody knows that Cleveland sucks and KG is a dirty player so i don't understand the commotion about Noah.

Well, people are naturally going to get defensive when he says things like that. Not being an elite player or someone widely liked for his sense of humour (such as a Charles Barkley type), he's going to be raked over the coals for being outspoken where others might be given a pass, being seen as someone who's earned the right to talk trash or too entertaining to dislike or criticise.

As for the game, it's a shame the Bulls let a great opportunity to earn an impressive win slip by (at least if you're a Bulls fan) but the Cavs are the superior team with a great closer/takeover player in LeBron and playing at home. A little disappointing that they couldn't make it look like a series even for a moment but I believe better teams than the Bulls could've easily fallen to the same fate on the road against the Cavs. Still hoping they can take one at home to avoid the sweep.

[George7]

that was a game the Bulls should win.A close one at the most of it but the Bulls made no other moves to pass in front with a bigger margin and finish it
+5 was a godd base to build sth but letting Moon open who was hot was a bad move

If they play like it though on the Chitown games,Bulls have a chance to win either one or both games

[rise]

Cleveland In 5

no question
cavs will win but i think the bulls will win one game

[kevin02]

The Cavs are going to win. I do think the bulls have a chance at stealing one though. And all this talk about Shaq making this team worse is stupid. Against certain teams we don't need him as much but the main reason we have him is for bigger teams like Orlando. Also when they play smaller teams he can take advantage like he is doing to Noah. (Noah did have a really good game Monday, I'm not denying that!)

I'm a huge cavs fan but i have no problem with Noah or his comments. I know Cleveland isn't an amazing city but I don't care, are basketball team is great!(I'm going to forget about the browns and indians for now...) Anyway I understand what Noah is trying to do. He wants the cavs to hate him. He knows their best chance is to get Lebron and the rest of the cavs in trouble.

I do think the cavs should get Hickson some minutes, just to get him more playoff experience.

[atlwarrior]

I hope from now on Chicago makes it tough for Cleveland like this.
We could use a tough series. Maybe now theyll play with more urgency. I hate to see other teams not take other teams seriously.

[Andrew]

Pretty good showing so far, though the game is far from over and they did give up a 30 point lead earlier this season, so there's little comfort until the final buzzer.