They can win by 1, they can win by 30, it counts the same. And for a team on the road against the defending champions? I think Orlando will still take it.

• J.J. Redick was in a position over the past two years to give up on his career. He could get lazy. He could get complacent, bitter, and cranky. But instead, he just worked. And worked. And worked. And tonight? 12 points, 3 of 5 shooting. But that’s not waht counts. Don’t think this was just a bad night by Allen. J.J. Redick played terrific defense on one of the best shooters in the game.
• The Celtics offense for Ray Allen is pretty much driven by one concept. Run the old cagey son of a gun off fifteen screens, often ending with Davis grabbing and moving, and let him shoot wide open. Redick was slippery and simply never stopped running. He didn’t get annoyed with screens and give up like some of the Bulls did. He just worked his way there and bugged Allen. You can’t stop Allen, but you can annoy him and force him to drive. Which is especially helpful if you have Big Beastly Jesus down low.
• Rondo just played terribly. Bad turnovers. Bad decisions. Bad shot selection. I’m pretty sure he listened to the Bad Boys soundtrack on the way to the arena and planned a vacation to the Badlands. The unfathomable ridiculousness of the ‘let it dribble until Alston dives on it’ play should be an indicator that the Celtics comeback was more the product of bizarre circumstances than “veteran savvy.”
• The popular story will be the inability of the Magic to maintain their composure. I’ve watched a bunch of Magic games and seen them blow a few leads. This was a cruise control situation, not a choke job. The Celtics came back on the Lakers in the Finals last year as a result of concentration, defense, and playmaking. the Celtics came back in this game because Orlando was thinking about victory martinis at Cheesecake Factory.  They quit pushing themselves, quit using their superior athleticism, talent, and skill, and just trusted their hot streak. And you know? It was STILL enough.
• Get ready for Dwight Howard to have 3 fouls by 8:00 2nd quarter in Game 2.
• Everyone constantly screams about the Magic not getting Howard the ball more. The Celtics pulled the same approach on Howard the Blazers used on Yao in the two games they held him in check.  Front, double, and flash a perimeter player to the passing lane. If you have the option of throwing over three guys with a man waiting behind him, or throwing it to a wide open guard at the top of the key with an open shot AND the lane?  You pass to the open man. We’ll have to see if the Celtics try and play him more man up after Perkins’ limited success.
• In Portland-Houston, I knew Portland had no one they could put on Ming. The Celtics have NO ONE they can put on Lewis. They need to somehow meld Gen Davis and Eddie House.
• Glen Davis continues to play brilliantly. I’ve finally accepted that he just really is that good of a spot up shooter mid-range. Props to the kid for working on developing a niche.
• Even better might be his ability to absorb a block and still put the ball in. That takes a ton of strength and he’s done it against Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, and Dwight Howard in the last week.
• If Ray Allen hits a shooting slump, who can the Celtics turn to for a must-need bucket? Pierce is still struggling.
• He did look much healthier tonight and like he finally got some sleep.
• Rafer Alston needs to practice that runner religiously. Because he’s going to have opportunities at it. And if he can hit it, it’s going to give Howard lob opportunities.
• Turkoglu is going to tattoo his name on this series with big shots. Turkish MVP has got Alligator blood.
• If Stan Van Gundy would stop picking a good player to bury arbitrarily (regular season: Redick, postseason: Gortat), he would have a pretty killer 8 man rotation.
• If Doc Rivers could coach by doing more than just saying “Play hard!” he might recognize running Marbury and House was killer tonight. Unlikely.
• If Pietrus shows up in this series? Eddie House is nullified and the Celtics backcourt advantage is mitigated a bit.
• Well, they lost Game 1 to Chicago in Boston and won. What happens inf they lose Game 2?

• This is my favorite Bulls team since the last championship.  Obviously, it’s a lot easier to like this team than the Eddie Robinson/Jerome Williams/Dalibor Bagaric disasters of the early 200s (no matter what affinity I had for Jamal Crawford and Ron Artest), but this team is a lot more fun than the Hinrich/Deng/Gordon teams that were pretty good from 2004 to 2007.  Part of it is the Brad Miller factor, a lot of it is Derrick Rose, but the biggest thing is that over the last half of the season you could tell that these guys were killing themselves to win what they could.  That’s fun as a fan, and it’s a little encouraging. 
• Of course, I expect this team to take some sort of stupid step back next season.  It’s cynical, but 07-08 kinda ruined things for optimists.
• One more thing specifically about the Bulls: it had been percolating for a while, but Brad Miller is officially my third favorite Bull ever.  I image he’ll be supplanted by Rose in time, but for now he’s just a shade behind Jordan and Pippen.  I make a lot of excuses for him, but this series he was awesome.  Not always on the court (save game 6), but he, and Hinrich, gave the Bulls the toughness to stick with the Celtics.  Plus he got deserved retaliation on Rondo in game 7. 
• From a fanhood perspective, I think this series really revealed Boston as bullies.  You could see part of it last year against Atlanta, but when a lesser regarded team actually stands up to the Celtics, they resort to garbage. 
• Perkins and Davis both were great, but most of that is because they got away with so much inside. 
• This series also showed how many unlikable characters play for the Celtics.  Here’s my ranking of their players from likable to detestable:
  • Ray Allen
  • Leon Powe
  • Mikki Moore
  • Brian Scalabrine
  • Gabe Pruitt
  • Bill Walker
  • Stephon Marbury
  • Tony Allen
  • Paul Pierce
  • Baby Davis
  • Kendrick Perkins
  • Rajon Rondo
  • Kevin Garnett
• It isn’t bad that the Celtics are becoming the villains of the NBA.  With the Spurs being eliminated/dying, we need that.  It’s good to see that most of these guys have embraced that.  In fact, I think that’s one of the reasons so many people loved this series.  Seeing a young team trying to beat the vaunted Celtics (who happen to be juicebags) gives the series an added heft that wasn’t present in something like the Hawks/Heat.
• Of the 35 periods of basketball played in this series (28 quarters, 7 overtimes), the Bulls won 13, the Celtics won 17, and 5 were tied.
• At the end of game 7, when Hinrich tipped the inbounds pass and it landed in Gordon’s hand, that shot is the kind that falls in games 1-6.  The Bulls just ran out of bullets/luck. 
• Maybe they come back next year as a contender in the East, but this is a team that has huge, huge flaws.  Coaching being the biggest.  Give the Bulls  an average coach, and maybe they win this series.  Or even just a coach that plays Tyrus Thomas.
• The only team left that has the qualities I liked so much in these Bulls are the Nuggets, so I’ll be rooting for them.  Doomed, of course, but they’re fun.
• I don’t know if it’s better, per se, but I’m fine with the Bulls losing this series.  If they go on and get smoked by the Magic, maybe it tarnishes this series a bit.  As it stands, it was awesome.

This thing has turned out pretty interesting.  With round one in the books, Kurt Helin from Forum Blue and Gold is in the lead, with Natalie from Need4Sheed in close pursuit. Here’s a look see at the standings heading into Round two.

I had very little time to put together playoff previews. Thanks, NBA, for a two day layoff before the playoffs start. I understand the regular season is a million years long, but you couldn’t wait two more days? In particular, I wasn’t able to put together any sort of prognistication results, outside of the Smackdown, which we’ll be updating later today.

I doublt anyone will notice, but just so we’re clear. The predictions at FanHouse I made will not match those made in the Smackdown. The FanHouse ones are made on feeling and consideration of the matchup. And often without deep evaluation. For example, predicting Boston to kill Chicago. Very few called how much trouble the Bulls would give the Celtics, but I was completely blindsided. I liked Houston, because Portland had no one to take Ming.

Conversely, the Smackdown is an experiment on my part. I figured since it’s a big Geeks vs. Experts vs. Bloggers thing, I might as well try a formula, just to see if it would work. So I thought about all the cliches you talk about in the playoffs. Doing the little things. Playing defense. Rebounding. Making your free throws. So I came up with a ridiculously simple formula. I thought it would be interesting to see if a simple formula could compete with traditional common sense (“Orlando is not a playoff team!”) and complex analytics.

I decided on differentials, since that’s a pretty pragmatic number. They did this, better than their opponent did this. I took point differential plus rebounding differential plus free throw percent differential. I set parameters for the win. If the difference between the two totals was less than 1, the series would go seven. 1-4, and the series would go six, 5-9, a five game series, and 10 or more, and getcha brooms.

Now, there are all sorts of problems with this concept. This is evidenced by the selection of New Orleans over Denver in seven. Your regular season performance does not reflect how you will perform when Chauncey Billups is driving a knife into your heart over and over and over again. Similarly, the formula said Boston should kill Chicago, but that was before KG. Not to mention it didn’t factor in Orlando deciding to wait until the last few minutes of Game 4 to show up.

But it also caught a few surprises. It helped me pick Dallas. It selected Houston, and I missed the number of games by .81. The real kicker? The system actually selected LA in five, but I misread it and assumed it was LA in four. The system actually select a valute just over 7, which put if squarely in five game territory. I’m going to live with that one, but it’s a shame I didn’t read closer.

Which brings us to Round Two, and here’s where the system makes or breaks itself. I’m tied for fifth with five other particpants going into Round Two. The selections are rough. Cleveland takes Atlanta in four, no surprise. Boston takes Orlando in five. I have a problem with that, but then you’ve got the KG, Chicago-series, and my love for the Magic, so my perception is flawed. By these measures, Boston’s pretty clearly the better team under these perameters, even without looking at the numbers.

Then things get wacky in the West.

The system calls for a Dallas win in six. Okay, not very popular, but the same pick I made for FanHouse. I like the Dallas offense versus the Denver D, and don’t see Denver having enough guns down the stretch to combat the one through seven punch of the Mavs. A Denver win wouldn’t shock me, but this selection by the system seemed right.

Here’s the super-insane one. I swear, I didn’t influence this, and I reran it four times to be sure. I picked LA in six over at FanHouse, mostly because I think LA’s lack of effort is good for one win, and Houston’s crowd good for another. I was a little uncertain, but I didn’t want to bite too hard on LA.  Surely, though, the system would select LA in four to five games.

Rockets in six.

…

WHAT?!

No no no. Silly Excel. You are confused! Let’s try this again.

“Rockets in six, Matt.”

“Computer, you’re going to get me laughed at. Please select Lakers in some number of games.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Matt.”

“Computer, pick LA. That’s an order!”

“It’s for your own good, Matt. The Rockets shoot their free throws 5.6% better than their opponent. They outrebound their opponent more than LA outrebounds theirs. And LA doesn’t outscore their opponent enough.”

“Computer, Houston won’t be getting enough calls in this series to get to the line enough to outshoot the Lakers in free throws by 5.6%. And that’s totally okay. No complaints about the refs. But that shouldn’t count.”

“I’m just a computer, Matt. I can’t even talk. You’re just imagining this conversation because I’ve broken your cerebrum by selecting a team run by Aaron Brooks over one ran by Kobe Bryant. It’s over, Matt. Your selection is Rockets in six.”

So I’m probably going to whif on that. But I’ll stick with it for the fun of the experiment. It’s gotten me to top five so far, let’s see how far I can go.

************************

Second Round looks great, doesn’t it?

Orlando-Boston is causing my synapses to say “F’ it Dude, let’s go bowling.” I mean, as much as Celtics fans want to deny it, this team went seven games and a million overtimes against a physical team and needed Eddie House to have his first great game in two months to get by. At home. Now they face a much better team with a much better inside presence who may have gotten their shooting slump out of their system. They have more scorers, play better defense, and can counter every member of the Boston frontcourt. The backcourt is another matter altogether.  Rondo kills Rafer, and if Howard comes to help he’ll get in foul trouble. They can bring the man-help with Lewis, but Glen Davis has proved he can reliably hit the 15 footer. Meanwhile, without Courtney Lee, Ray Allen is going to go off. I feel the need to repeat that for emphasis.

Ray. Allen. Is Going. TO. GO OFF.

I would love to see Orlando go with Alston-Hedo-Lewis-Gortat-Howard.  That’s the only way they’re going to be able to rebound effectively in this series. Perkins and Davis will kill them on the glass unless Rashard Lewis decides to man up and get low. Turkoglu will still get torched by Ray Allen in the Celtics offensive set (or in layman’s terms, “running one guy off of 15 screens, including one that is essentially grabbing a guy and holding on to him”), but you can live with that more than you can live with Allen scoring and then getting multiple chances with rebounds.

Denver is going to win or lose with J.R. Smith vs. Jason Terry. That’s what it will come down to. Pick ‘em.

Cleveland is much better than Atlanta. They defend better. They score more efficiently. They have the best player in the series. And they’re great at home. Atlanta will probably pull one to two out, but anything more than that would be shocking. Of course, we said the same thing about them last year versus Boston.

LA is just so much more athletic than Houston. Odom versus Battier, or Artest? I like the young point by committee versus Farmar and Brown, but then you have a motivated Kobe, which is somehow more terrifying that normally motivated Kobe. Gasol is terrific, but he’s about to have a terrible series. Scola is big, burly, smart, and willing to get up and play a bigger guy. Ming will abuse Bynum. But you’ve got Ariza and the Laker bench. It’s going to take a flawless performance from Houston to push this thing to seven.

Let’s hear it, readers. Thoughts?

Nothing for either team, in whole, to be ashamed of. Great defense by the Celtics in the 2nd and late fourth, great resiliency by the Bulls throughout. But this team is a championship team for many reasons, and they were all on display tonight.  Bullets.

• Absolutely phenomenal defense in the 2nd quarter by the Celtics in the 2nd quarter. They forced everything inside, and knowing the refs wouldn’t call it in a game seven, they trapped on the drive and forced turnovers. Quick hands, and recovery and rotation on the perimeter. That’s how they won a championship.
• Kirk Hinrich played really well. Hit his fair share, ran the offense, didn’t force anything.
• If we this series next year? Derrick Rose has about twice his total output for the series. Rose wasn’t able to, nor given the opportunity to take over the game, and he was needed down the strech. That won’t be the case in years to come. This is a learning experience.
• Everything I’ve ever said about Ben Gordon? This game sums it up. Great shooter. Tremendous player, if the game was nothing but a one-on-one series of matchups. But he shot them out of this game. Salmons wasn’t much better, but Gordon had 33 points, which sounds great. In the first quarter, he was phenomenal. But that 33 was on 23 shots, and he was abysmal down the stretch. Instead of drawing up an offense and working for a high quality shot, which the Bulls have been good at hitting throughout the series, VDN just ran the same for Gordon to shoot a runner-to-pull-up three. Over. And over.
• There’s a black hole. There’s a despair-reaping black hole. Then there’s Ben Gordon. Is he aware passing is okay? That sometimes it’s a valuable part of a basketball team? No? Didn’t think so.
• Hey, it was awful nice for someone to come up with an artist’s rendition of Rajon Rondo so quickly after the game.

• Noah grabbed his jersey. He would have stopped him. But instead, the Thespian Point Guard flipped over in mid-air. Note that I’m not blaiming the call. I would have called a flagrant too, from the way Rondo looked like he’d been decapitated. Seriously, Sean Penn was moved to awe by Rondo’s performance.
• Rose still couldn’t guard Rondo.
• Eddie House was brilliant. Huge shots. Phenomenal timing. Great spacing. Clutch shots.
• He was also a gigantic (REDACTED). Just fill in your favorite word of choice. Hey, Eddie. You’ve been there before. Act like it. You don’t run your mouth at knocking off a seven seed at home in Game Seven.
• This was made even more clear by the professionalism of Allen, Pierce, and Perkins. Those guys came out, played hard, did their work, and move on to Orlando.
• Who’s had three days of rest and have better shooters and athletes than Chicago.
• Hmm.
• Thanks, Bulls. You gave us some magic for seven games. And you never quit.
• Let’s.
• Go.
• Magic.

Okay, first thing’s first. Everyone DVRing this. Pay attention.

NOTE: SET YOUR DVR END TIME FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE GAME.

You don’t want to end up like thousands of Americans last game who went to rewatch the awesomeness, only to discover their DVR stopped recording after the first overtime. This thing may be over in three hours. But let’s not leave that up to Tony Allen, okay?

The HP crew is uneasy today. Nervous. Rob’s living and dying with the Bulls. Graydon’s cautiously optimistic. Corn is lame and missing the game and you should all leave comments about how he should have to turn in his HP log-in. Paroxi-Wife is sleeping off brunch. Trey? Trey’s just along for the ride, but believes in a ten to 12 point victory either way.

I woke up this morning and the game was the first thing I thought of. On important game days, I often try and get a feeling about the game. They’re not always accurate, but my record’s not terrible. In 2004, I woke up the day of the first Chiefs playoff appearance in years as the 2 seed and immediately knew we’d lose. I just knew. The morning of Game Six in Boston for the finals, I knew.  I just had a feeling. So immediately this morning I sought out a gut instinct on this game. I expected to be certain of the Celtics blowout we’re all terrified of.

But it’s not there.

I’ve got nothing. No inkiling. No instinct. No intuition. The Celtics could blow them out, and it would make depressing sense. The Bulls could shock the universe and it would simply seem like destiny. I’m blind to the result. Everything that makes me lean one way or another vanishes in the shine of the last six games.

Yes, Noah needs to keep his focus, and Rose needs to attack the basket. Yes, Gordon needs to not kill every possession like it insulted his mother and Tyrus needs to hit the mid-range J. Yes, Allen needs to attack the basket in whatever way he can and continue to murder the Bulls by forcing them off screens. Davis and Perkins need to maintain their size advantage and keep up with the illegal holding screens as long as the refs let it slide. Pierce needs to rise above the exhaustion and injury and be The Truth. And Rondo needs to keep his head. Because if he blinks, the refs will toss him. VDN needs to design inbound plays for players other than Gordon and Rivers needs to try coaching more than ‘BE AGGRESSIVE! THIS IS OUR GAME!”.

Whatever the outcome is, these two teams have brought the … well, amazing out of one another. And we should be grateful for this. Game Sevens are special. This Game Seven is something else entirely.

Let’s play Seven.

HT:Docksquad via GMTR.

(Is there a better way to describe the McGrady/Artest Rockets team this year? I think not.)

Well Tracy, now when they write your NBA tombstone, it cannot be said that you were the greatest choker in league history. You’ve finally made it out of the first round and I, for one, would like to be the first to congratulate you.

Without your passionate leadership, commitment to team goals and tremendous skills, the Rockets would never have been able to overcome this tiny bump in the road that has been prevalent since your arrival. This season, this series, vindicates those 12 long seasons of playoff misses, first round debacles and injuries. You value as a captain, a defensive juggernaut and a true communicator were the obvious reasons the Rockets were finally able to transcend this mental barrier and mambo their way into May.

Your courageous, turbulent decision to undergo necessary, career lenghtening surgery this Spring was the clarion call to a team at once thought rudderless, stationary and unmotivated. Without your magnificent offensive explosions and locker room communication, you used a Jedi mind trick to help this team come together, work smarter and achieve these lofty goals, of which you have never lost sight.

So today Tracy, as we look back on your long list of accomplishments, I am sure it will be widely pronounced around the league that you, and you alone, helped guide this team to the second round. And you should be proud. Here’s to you, brave T-Mac. Your destiny is complete!

Not any more T-Mac. Never, ever again.

Second Round Virgin Photo Credit: BBoke

Mike Chafly, from Queensbridge. If you never played against him back when he was 15 or 16, you got no idea. Take it from the source. I bet he tore up those prison leagues back in the day.

I mean, if this dude can make Brandon Roy look like a chump, he’s gotta be the greatest. Because, you know, Brandon Roy is the best player Ron Artest has ever played againt. Well, except Mike Chafly. Kobe, Lebron – you just don’t know. Respect the Snake Eggs.

Somehow, honestly, I think comments like this actually strike fear into Kobe’s small, icy heart, as opposed to a burning passion. Kobe really needs to start wondering, “WTF is gonna happen every night when I step on the floor with Ron?” I mean, this interview scares me and I don’t have to be within about 1,200 miles of Ron.

So Kobe, if you think you’re better than Brandon Roy, you better step up. Either than, of tuck some snake eggs in that jock. Those are kryptonite to Ron Ron.

(Thank you, Craig Sager. You bring us this manna from heaven).

1. If you are up by three with little time remaining, DO NOT FOUL.  This may cause the opposing team to make two free throws, cutting your lead to one.  Then if your team has to make free-throws, that’s a lot of pressure.  Seems pretty unneccessary.
2. When you have an open layup, miss it.  This puts the onus on the opposing team to get the rebound, while also still feeling sad that they were so tricked on the play.  Not only do they have to worry about getting the ball, but they’re also still pretty upset with themselves.
3. Leading by one, any game clinching free throws should be missed.  This prevents the opposing team from tying the game with a three-point field goal and yet another overtime.  Legs should be saved for the next game.

Mavs-Spurs pseudo upset aside, there have been two underdog tales in this year’s playoffs: the Bulls blow-for-blow slugfest with the Celtics, and the late Sixers’ battle against the Magic.  Superficially, the comparisons are obvious (They’re scrappy!  They’re young!  They employ shooting guards with over-inflated senses of self-worth!), but their narratives couldn’t be more different.

It’s no shocking revelation that everyone outside of Boston is rooting for the Bulls.  For one, they’re playing against the defending champs.  With the ring comes the target on your back, and with the target comes legions of fans pining for your demise.  Add in the Bulls’ unmistakable charm, and it’s easy to see how the town was painted red.  Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon have become the faces of the revolution; one a quiet, extremely gifted rookie that wasted no time staring into the spotlight, and the other a disgruntled, steel-willed, yet Napoleonic shooting guard who makes all the gutsy plays.  Not that John Salmons didn’t share (more than share, really) in the heroics last night, but for everything the Bulls have been able to accomplish in this series, Rose and Gordon have been the icons.

The games have been phenomenally competitive.  It’s beyond explanation.  But part of the reason why this series has captured the attention of hardcore NBAers and casual fans alike isn’t simply because it’s great entertainment and playoff basketball.  In a single series, Bulls-Celtics has refuted claims of NCAA supremacy by claiming college basketball’s greatest attributes as its own.  You want hustle?  Watch Paul Pierce and John Salmons gut it out for 55 minutes, or Joakim Noah for one play.  You want upsets?  Hell, these are the defending world champs against a team bad enough to pick first overall in last year’s draft.  Maybe you’re even a fan of the generally low-quality play in college ball?  These teams go back and forth for stretches without creating anything that could be considered a good offensive possession.  If you’re looking for that college atmosphere, both arenas have been rocking their foundations.  There are no egos to be found aside from the pride of winning basketball teams (yes, Bulls, that means you, too).

And now, you’ve got your one game, winner-take-all Game 7.

The Sixers weren’t able to capture any of Chicago’s magic.  Not only do they suddenly find themselves eliminated by Orlando minus Dwight, minus Courtney Lee, and minus about a half of basketball from Hedo Turkoglu, but the tale of their demise comes with little sorrow.  If the Bulls had lost at any point last night, today would be the funeral for the upset that could have been.  The Bulls are the lovable rebels without a cause, whereas the Sixers are the insurgency waging guerilla warfare on Dwight Howard’s smile.  That charm, that charisma that Chicago has?  Orlando has it in bundles.  People want to like this Magic team, and as such they want them to succeed.  The Sixers stand directly opposed to that.

After Game 1, both upsets seemed fanciful.  Chicago was suddenly a very real threat to Boston’s playoff run, and Philly repeated their “shock the world” Game 1 performance of a year ago.  But from that point on, the rigors of a multi-game series took the teams on opposite paths.  The Bulls used the extended exposure to showcase critical parts of their rotation, making the group that much more magnetic; it started with Rose and Gordon, but the baton has passed to Salmons and Miller, to Hinrich and Thomas, to Noah and even Vinny Del Negro.  I’ve never in my life considered myself a Ben Gordon fan, but his play has been too spectacular to ignore and his defiance impossible to forget.  As the game count increased so did the number of heroes, and the discussion of blown calls only fueled the support of the underdog.

Despite winning two games in spectacular fashion, the Sixers always seemed like fool’s gold.  Andre Iguodala has played well, but Thaddeus Young going absolutely bananas from three?  Huge buckets from Donyell Marshall?  You’ve gotta be kidding me.  They were breaking down a precious part of our basketball establishment with unholy shooting, pesky defense, and let’s say it – flat out luck.  Even good teams need luck to be successful, but this was a team that needed luck to be good.  The Sixers were the worst kind of underdog: the flukey misfits that stumbled into the right place at the right time, only to come crashing back to earth with the exposure of their mortality.  Looking at the team in a one-game vacuum, all seemed to be well.  But upon the further examination of five more games, it becomes abundantly that the Sixers weren’t as compelling, as likeable, or as interesting as the Bulls.  It’s a luxury that The Tournament can’t afford its viewers, but one that allows us to understand why even the Sixers’ wins were unsettling and why the Bulls are a true underdog story.

Without letting this devolve into too much of an NCAA-bashing post, I do want to drop one truth bomb.  The differences between these series point out why pro basketball will always be superior to college ball: the superlatives afforded to the best of NCAA competition (high energy, upsets, fundamentals, etc.) can easily be seen in solid NBA play under the right circumstances, but the advantages of pro basketball (superior product, more dynamic talent, extended narrative development) can never be co-opted by the sacred Tournament.  We don’t care about the Bulls because they’ve played a bunch of close games in a row.  We care about the Bulls because they’ve played a bunch of close games in a row against the same opponent, and that level of competition combined with the ‘character development’ of Chicago’s roster makes for a damn entertaining storyline.