Thompson: After Beating Heat, Bulls Need Road Wins
By Brad Thompson--
The Bulls had a statement win on Thursday. After a bad loss at Toronto on Wednesday, Chicago redeemed themselves a night later against Miami. It was a playoff-like atmosphere at the United Center and the Bulls came up big down the stretch.
A win of this magnitude means several things. It proved they can beat the Heat with or without LeBron; he didn't play in their first matchup. It demonstrated to the league that no matter who comes to the United Center, they'll be leaving with a tally in the loss column. It showed the maturation of this team – a night after a bad loss, the Bulls were able to bounce back with a strong team effort.
All these signs are great, and indicate that the Bulls are a legitimate contender to come out of the Eastern Conference. What's the easiest way to get there? By securing home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Bulls need to take the next step in becoming a dominant team – win on the road.
Chicago holds down home court better than anyone, with a 26-4 record, but a mediocre 13-13 on the road is concerning. Playoff seeding will, no doubt, come down to just a couple games. Losses at New Jersey, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Golden State and Toronto could haunt the Bulls and, ultimately, be the difference between a home playoff series and a road one. Obviously they can't do anything about those losses now except make sure they don't happen again.
On Saturday the Bulls start a five game road trip. The first two against Milwaukee and Washington respectively, both should be wins. The last three will be challenging, but nothing a team of this caliber can't handle – Atlanta, Orlando and finally in Miami.
Rose & Company's performance on the road during the rest of the season will determine their playoff seed. To make a deep playoff run and win a championship, they'll have to win tough games on the road. Improving their regular season road record will give them confidence to win on the road in the playoffs.
Two things that happened last night lead me to believe that the Bulls' will start picking up more road wins.
First, it was awesome to see Rose not force up a shot with the game tied, instead making the right play and passing it to a wide open teammate, Luol Deng. It was even better to see Deng splash a three ball from the corner. This tells me Rose believes in his teammates. This trust will help the next time Rose is in that type of situation.
Second, Deng's post game comments about his huge triple, "I just knew (Rose) was going to make the right play," Deng said. "D-Wade was so concerned with helping LeBron." Why was Wade so concerned with helping LeBron? James was on the All-Defensive First Team last season and has a huge size advantage over Rose, yet Wade knew LeBron was going to need help. It tells me that no matter who is between Rose and the basketball, he's good enough to get to the rim. Not only do Bulls fans know it, but opponents do as well.
Rose's stellar play and a team believing in one another has the Bulls pressing for top seed in the East and it's why the Bulls will start putting up wins on the road.
Do you agree with Brad? Post your comments below.
Brad M. Thompson, a former college football player and coach, made his return to the Midwest in 2009 after fighting wildfires out West. He earned his master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and covers the Big Ten Conference and Chicago sports. Follow him on Twitter at @Brad_M_Thompson. Find more of Brad's blogs here.
