ATLANTA – Hawks coach Larry Drew agreed with the suggestion that, for however long his team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against Chicago lasts, the pressure will stay on the Bulls.
Not that there was much profit in arguing otherwise for Drew or his team. But let’s face it, they have pushed the Bulls nearly to the brink, winning the opener in Chicago, then evening the best-of-seven series at 2-2 when things looked bleakest.
Now they have the home court for Game 6 Thursday. If they’re successful, the Hawks will have put the East’s No. 1 seed into a tense, don’t-mess-up predicament before a lusty but nervous United Center crowd on Sunday.
“I really do [feel the pressure is on Chicago],” Drew said after the morning shootaround at Philips Arena. “First of all, going into the series, nobody thought we would even be in Game 6. I give credit to my players, they have really stepped up to the challenge. I think they have positioned themselves very well – the games even that we lost, we were in position to win a couple of them in the fourth quarter. We’ve been very competitive. And now that we’re [down] 3-2 … we have nothing to lose.”
Drew said that good side-to-side ball movement will be essential to unseat Chicago’s halfcourt defense, which means he’ll want to minimize the Hawks’ tendency to lapse into isolation and 1-on-1 offensive play.
Then there’s dealing with MVP guard Derrick Rose, both when he has the ball in his hands (Rose is averaging 32.0 ppg in the series) and when he gives it up to double-teams. Bulls forward Luol Deng was more aggressive in Game 5 in attacking, with 11 points in the first quarter and 23 in the game, second on either club only to Rose’s 33.
Someone asked Hawks forward Josh Smith about the old view that it is hard to close out a playoff series.
“It’s also hard to not get closed out, too,” Smith said, realistically. “It’s not over yet. We still believe in ourselves. We’ve still got confidence that we can extend the series. We understand what’s at stake. We know that this could be the ending of our season and we don’t want that to happen.”
From the Bulls’ side, Rose made it sound as if Game 6 was the clincher, win or lose. Whether it’s focus or pressure driving that outlook, we might know late Thursday.
“This is the biggest game of our lives right here,” Rose said. “That’s the way we have to go into it, like this is our championship game. … It’s important to us. We’ll all try hard to go out here and seal the deal.”
It will be a close game tonight but DA BULLS will win. Hawks are more desperate and will come out as fast as they can but DA BULLS will whether the storm and find the way to win. A few days off will be nice for them to get ready for a good series against the heat. DROSE is the man and all he needs is a little help from the roll players. BULLS finish off the Hawks tonight.
i agree with u that the bulls will win…however do u think they r gud enough to beat the heat? I HOPE SO!
Well, what makes us tough is that we do play great team defense and we do have a better bench. It does help that DA BULLS swept the series during the season. We are tough to beat at home. It will be great series and I do like our chances. BULLS have played better as a team through out the year and Heat have had their ups and down all year. So far we have played probably the two best athletic teams in the post season. BULLS WIN but first need to take care of hawks.
Yeah the Bulls beat the Heat three times in the regular season…. key words in that sentence is REGULAR SEASON. The PLAYOFFS are a totally different beast and the Bulls are learning the hard way. I could have sworn the C’s beat the Heat 3 out of 4 games in the REGULAR SEASON tell me how that worked out for them in the PLAYOFFS.
yeah u can cancel regular season out cause it dont matter heat were still trying to work things out and as the playoffs gone on i can tell they gonna be dam tough to beat ive seen as the games get tough the heat go up another level that never happened during reg season and they went on to lose most of those games.I still think the bulls can beat the heat bosh is the key they keep him quiet and do a reasonable job on there bench and hopefull Deng can get 20 pts 5 reb per game and Bogans,Brewer goodluck guarding dwayne hopefully they can use korver more wen wade goes to the bench
The Hawks will DEFINITELY WIN!!!!! Tonight absolutely!!!! Chicago Suck
If the bulls suck, the Hawks must be absolute crap. They are down 2-3 after all.
I dont think the bulls suck…however they are flawed just as much the Heat…
Heat are playing so well of late because of the big 2…they have just been unstoppable in isolations
and they are making tough shots…but that wont do u good when chicago can contest with a little more
athleticism compared to Boston…Miami is pretty much a 3 man team with the Big 2 scoring most of the points…and bosh chip in whenever possible…their bench is crap…and if they go on to win it…i doubt they can repeat…
they need to tweak that roster…however they have 2 of the best 5 players to go down the stretch…
where bulls only have 1…rose is basically it…and he has shown all his flaws throughout the playoffs…
all games have been tough because his lack of ability to find open players…
i think both team arent as solid compared to dallas…
the only way for them to win games depends entirely on their FT attempts…
Can’t the Heat Haters give up already; the Heat can match every player on the Bull’s roster and then some. Does Noah have more heart than Haslem, and after a good dose of Haslem how about Howard. Can Korver compare to Ray Allen, Allen is so good he drew Wade as his exclusive defender; someone wants to tell Rio that he cannot defend Korver? But lets say Wade is worn out from guarding Rose is there anyone on the Bulls team that can defend the KING? Sorry but Pierce wears a Celtics uniform. Da Bulls will need all the help they can get form Team Refs, because as a duo Wade and Lebron are better than Jordan and Pippen and Rose is no Michael Jordan. Bosh is also a much improved defender ask the aging Garnett, but what I’d really like to see is No-Defence Boozer stop Bosh.
Last time I checked, Haslem was still injured. You’re expecting haslem to come back from a 9 month injury and outplay noah on defense? Thibs has constantly said that deng is the best defender on the team, and hes by far a better defender than pierce is. Bosh is a flopper that is extremely consistent, and noah can easily handle him if they put noah on him. That leaves wade vs rose. I’d take my chances with D-Rose. Chicago in 6.
Yeah, we do. That’s why we are up in the serious. Hope you just have enough fans in your stadium to keep up with the BULLS fans that will be there.
I like the Hawks but want Chicago to play Miami. Should make for a good show but I’m confident Miami can continue to prove the critics wrong and win that series..
I believe the heat will win the east and prob will play Dallas in the end. Miami will have home court if that happens. Dallas is a more complete team and should win it all, but dont count he heat out. Remember Dallas had a parade lined up and ready and the heat rained on it made them look pretty stupid. I’m sure they wont do that again. I’m a heat fan ,but still think they are missing a few pieces ,but when they find those missing pieces it will be hard to beat them. Bulls will also be a great team ,but I think boozer is over rated.
Go heat
Miami will sweep the bulls , and miami has better role players . Miami’s big 3 averages like 70 points a game . derrick rose would have to score like 50 points a game just to make it a close game , boston was a all around better team then the bulls , better shooters , more experience , deeper roster , and better defense . i dont think Bulls can pull it off , and they struggled against the Pacers and they’re now struggling against the Hawks ..
If and when the bulls beat the hawks I predict MIA over CHI in 5. Sorry Bulls fans too much Lebron and Wade.
Champkobe; don’t know what series you were watching but Haslem played Gm4 of the EC semi-finals between the Celts and Heat. Also, I specifically left out Joel Anthony who DWade referred to as their MVP and who Noah will also have to contend with this series. Did I miss something or did the Cavs eliminate the Bulls from the playoffs last year, must have been all that Deng defense on LBJ.
Deng cant guard LBJ,just like last year.
yeah bulls are really good , but not good enough to handle james and wade.
Don’t get why everyone says that when a team is one win away from closing out an opponent that the ‘pressure’ is on them to finish.. Yeah, if the Bulls don’t win this game then they have a chance of being eliminated in the next game, but the real pressure is still on the hawks right now, because they have to win twice to advance, they only have to lose once to be eliminated.
The pressure will be on the Bulls if they lose tonight and have to fight to survive in a game 7, but until then the pressure is on the hawks to survive and even make it that far.
HEAT WILL WIN AGAINST THE BULLS BECAUSE:
1. Have a terrific road record
2. Have arguably the 2 greatest players to ever play the game of basketball.
3. One of the most consistent players, in Chris Bosh who can do it all, on the block, perimeter, rebounding.
4. They have their best defender and MVP in Joel Anthony.
5. A good bench that when the heat need a big shot they deliver AKA. James Jones, Juwan Howard, Mario Chalmers, even UD who brings inspiration even when he’s not on the court, Mike Miller who has been struggling because of bad thumbs but will look to get back on track.
6. The most Athletic, Versatile, and physical defense I have ever seen, with 2 of the best defenders in the History of the Game, Led by D-WADE shot blocking Guard.
7. A TON of Confidence after beaten the Eastern Conference champs.
8. Pat Riley who has seen it all.
9.Desperation, and hunger to get that ring.
10. They have seen it all in the regular season, which helps them in these bad situations as many of you witnessed against Boston.
MIAMI will win in either 5. or 6 games.
HEAT WILL WIN AGAINST THE BULLS BECAUSE:
1. Have a terrific road record
2. Have arguably the 2 greatest players to ever play the game of basketball.
3. One of the most consistent players, in Chris Bosh who can do it all, on the block, perimeter, rebounding.
4. They have their best defender and MVP in Joel Anthony.
5. A good bench that when the heat need a big shot they deliver AKA. James Jones, Juwan Howard, Mario Chalmers, even UD who brings inspiration even when he’s not on the court, Mike Miller who has been struggling because of bad thumbs but will look to get back on track.
6. The most Athletic, Versatile, and physical defense I have ever seen, with 2 of the best defenders in the History of the Game, Led by D-WADE shot blocking Guard.
7. A TON of Confidence after beaten the Eastern Conference champs.
8. Pat Riley who has seen it all.
9.Desperation, and hunger to get that ring.
10. They have seen it all in the regular season, which helps them in these bad situations as many of you witnessed against Boston.
MIAMI will win in either 5. or 6 games.
Fair points but we must remember that the Bulls have homecourt advantage and their home record was suberb. We also have to remember that while the Bulls don’t have the star power of the Heat their bench is among the best in the league and they’ve all bought into the Thibodeau defense system which includes them being terrific defenders on the break. Perhaps not as technically proficient as Boston but they have more athleticism and younger legs. They also have the Coach of the Year and the league MVP on their team along with a high energy Noah who seems to be salivating at the opportunity to face off against Miami (Who wouldn’t? They’re terrific competitors.). So long as Boozer stays healthy, Rose stays active, Deng does his thing, and the rest of the team contributes, with all due respect, I don’t see how this series can possibly go 4-1 Miami. I even doubt a 4-2 conclusion. This is gonna be decided in game 7 IMHO. Barring a meltdown, these two teams are both way too good to go down in less than that.
LOL! The BULL**** are gonna get swept! Typical Chicago fan underestimating the Heat again! Noah’s not gonna be salviating he’s gonna be drooling as he watches the Heat fly right by him to the basket LOL! The Heat have already beaten the LOSTon style defense and they’re gonna do it again only this time against a team that can’t throw a beach ball into the ocean LOL! You don’t have the MVP you have the fake MVP! Miami’s got the real MVP! I’ll agree that you have the coach of the year though because anyone that can take a team with no talent like the BULL**** and make it this far deserves to be coach of the year.
Heat won’t be winning anything. Bulls in 7 with homecourt. To the guys that compared last years cavs vs last years bulls keep dreaming. They’re completely different teams. Bulls are a better team than Boston so be prepared for an “upset”.
Bulls vs Mavs in the finals. Everyone has doubted the bulls however they’re still winning. That’s what everyone seems to forget. Plus heat have noooo bench. Bulls have Gibson, Korver, Brewer, Asik, Watson. All young players. Heats bench is worse than bostons. Dampier, Howard, Haslem, hahaha
the heat will win the championship..thats for sure..its gonna be heat vs dallas part 2..yeah..
I wanna remember this post in a couple weeks lol
Haha. Time makes fools of us all!
Chicago Bulls will destroy the Miami Heat guaranteed.
SORRY THERE WAS NO PRESSURE>>>>>>GO BULLS BEAT THE HEAT AGAIN AND MAKE IT 7-0 OVERALL THIS SEASON