Chicago Bulls Shouldn't Be Worried, but Should Be Discouraged with Pacers Series

There is no reason to worry about the Chicago Bulls right now. They're still extremely confident that that they'll win this series, as well they should be. The Pacers at most could take one game (maybe...MAYBE two....maybe). But it is discouraging to see the way the Bulls have played in these two games. The Bulls look disinterested, lackadaisical and bad. There are many things that could be pointed out, but it seems to me that it all boils down to the following:

1) Chicago's bench seems to have gone from one of the best in the NBA to bad. There are two things to notice here. One: The bench players aren't playing much, and when they do play they aren't playing well. Two: They also aren't playing as the Bench Mob, as Thibs seems to be done with the hockey subs.

The individual performances by the bench players absolutely need to improve. While the minutes for the starters should increase in the playoffs, the Bulls shouldn't have to alter the entire game plan and rotation. Still do the bench mob thing, keep the same rotations, but give the starters more burn and keep the bench mob out there for less time. This hasn't happened. I don't know if it's Thibs' design, or if it's because the bench players have performed so poorly outside of Korver and in Game 2, Watson. They need to get the starters more rest if they're going to go as far as they want.

2) Bogans and Deng forgot how to shoot. Bogans' three-point shot had come along towards the end of the year and Deng has been fantastic all season. But then the playoffs start. Bogans doesn't score until Game 2, and he only hits one shot. Deng only puts up four points in the first half of Game 2. Deng and Bogans are the starting SG and SF and the Bulls simply need them to be in regular season form. For Bogans, all that means is hit enough shots to keep the defense from ignoring him, and shut down the man he's guarding. For Deng, it means being the should-have-been-an-all-star he was all year. Both players NEED to return to form.

3) Defense. The Chicago Bulls were the best defensive team in the NBA this year. In these first two games, however, their defense looks atrocious. They haven't given up so many wide up shots all season, and it simply needs to change. The Bulls were the best three-point defense in the NBA, yet when the Pacers go on their runs, it's jumper, jumper, jumper.

This goes back to the bench. The Bench was a huge part of the defense. It's no secret that the Bulls starters at times this year have started, well, the way they've started in this series. The difference is when that happened, the bench mob would come in, lock down and grab the momentum. When the starters came back, they'd seem to be more comfortable and would outplay the opponent the rest of the game. The Bulls need to remember this and consider going back to it.

4) It's the Pacers, and the Bulls are barely winning! The Pacers are in the playoffs by default. They had a losing record in the regular season. The Bulls should be winning these games by 20, but instead they're scrapping at the end to pull out victories. I understand that Indiana has a very talented front line, excellent jump shooters, and that they've performed very well under Vogel after making that coaching change.

The Bulls are still much, much more talented and, as proven in the regular season, the better team. The Bulls are not playing as a 62-win team with home court advantage, they aren't playing like the best team in the NBA, and they sure as heck aren't playing like champions. There isn't reason to worry against the Pacers because the Bulls can play bad and win, but what about the Miami Heat and LeBron James? The Bulls simply cannot beat a team like that by playing the same way the Boston Celtics did to finish the regular season. The Heat thwamped the 76ers after their close Game 1, and the Bulls needed to do the same.

LeBron James can simply take over a game and might be the best player in the NBA when it comes to controlling a game's momentum. Dwayne Wade is the better closer but in terms of physical intimidation, it's all LeBron. In the regular season, the Bulls had the better supporting cast around Rose than the Heat had around James. In the playoffs so far, it seems Wade/Bosh/James trump what has turned into Rose/Boozer/bad.

The rest of the roster absolutely needs to pick it up, because if not, the Bulls could see something like the Magic saw in their Game 1 against Atlanta: The superstar player having a career night, and losing by double figures because nobody else can hit a shot (or bothers to move on offense or defense). And that nightmare could happen as early as the second round.

This isn't to say that the Bulls will lose in the second round. But there are some major, major fixes that need to happen fast, before they get a real playoff opponent. If not, the Bulls will be much more like the 2009-2010 Cavaliers than we'd like to think: Dominant team, by far the best regular season team, and second round out.

The Chicago Bulls proved to be one of the elite teams in the NBA. And they do have a 2-0 series lead while other championship hopefuls (Magic, Lakers, Spurs) are down 0-1. That being said, the biggest competition seems to be the Miami Heat. And to get by that juggernaut, the Bulls need to play like a team that won 62 games in dominant fashion. Not like a team that can hardly handle the Indiana Pacers.