Deng, The Bulls Are Good

Our guy at Stop Mike Lupica (one of our favorites at BBF) recently wondered if we’ve forgot about the Bulls with all the NFL Draft stuff we’ve been trying to churn out lately. Of course we haven’t forgotten about the Bulls. The only reason we haven’t written about them yet is because we missed both of games of the series, something that’s completely unforgivable.

We were at Michigan State visiting some friends during Game 1 and missed most of Game 2 because of the four hour biology lab we have on Tuesday nights. As fun as bio labs are (especially those that go from 6pm to 10pm), we were still able to get out a little early to catch the fourth quarter of the Bulls 107-89 Game 2 beat down of the Miami Heat.

While most people didn’t expect the Bulls to take the first two games, the way the Bulls are shooting the ball right now, no one is the East is going to be able to touch them. For better or for worse, the Bulls have a team full of jump shooters and when the shots are going in they are extremely hard to beat. Gordon, Deng, and Notch have all been on fire in the first two games, and it’s encouraging that the Bulls were able to beat the Heat with Kirk Hinrich being a non factor in Game 1. Hinrich is one of the steadiest guys on the team- there’s no way he’ll duplicate that performance again throughout the playoffs- and the Bulls were still able to beat the reigning world champs without him.

The player of the series so far has been Luol Deng, who followed up a monster 33 point Game 1 with a 26 point effort in Game 2.It’s a little surprising to us that people, especially local guys, are so shocked by what he’s doing right now. Deng just didn’t start getting good out of nowhere Saturday afternoon, he played the same way he has all season. He’s showing that he’s one of the most versatile scorers in the NBA; a pure small forward who can knock down a 19 foot jumper and take his defender off the dribble and finish around the rim. The fact that Dwayne Wade called him “one of the best finishers in the NBA” is a testament to how much Deng improved his game this offseason, and shows that he can become an elite player in the league. By the way, he’s only 22.

While we love all the attention he’s getting, anyone who calls Luol Deng a superstar after two good playoff games is crazy. We like him as much as anyone, but isn’t it a little too early to throw him on that pedestal? The thing keeping Deng from that status is his aggressiveness, but it’s also the reason he’s been so dominant through the first two games of this series. If the score is tied with five seconds left in Game 3, it’ll be fascinating to see who gets to take that last shot. That player has been Ben Gordon for the Bulls throughout the season, and Gordo has been very good so far against the Heat as well. But the question is has Luol Deng done enough already in this series where he has officially become the Bulls go-to player? These are the type of questions that will be answered throughout the remainder of the Bulls’ playoff run.

We’d be remiss if didn’t point out the impact Ben Wallace is having too. We aren’t huge fans of Wallace, but this is the reason the Bulls spent $60 million on him. He’s played Shaq solo a lot during the first two games, holding the Diesel to 19 points in Game 1 and 17 in Game 2. That, along with Thabo and Hinrich’s D on Wade, has been just as important as knocking down some jump shots. The good thing about defense is that it doesn’t go into a slump, so even if the 3’s aren’t going in one day, the defense will still create offensive opportunities.

The way the Bulls are playing, both offensively and defensively, we have no reason to change our original prediction of a six game series victory for Chicago. We’d be surprised if Miami didn’t steal Game 3, but Bulls just seem like there is nothing that can stop them from reaching the second round. Everyone overreacted to the loss against New Jersey, but truth be told, that may have been the best thing that ever happened to them. They were written off after that loss, and maybe they needed that to boost their intensity for the playoffs. Either way, there’s no way we’re missing Friday night’s Game 3 or Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. The way the Bulls are playing right now, the entire league should be watching.