Bulls Stay Under the Radar

Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose

It was two series clinchers at opposite ends of the celebration spectrum. The Miami Heat handled the Boston Celtics faster than many thought possible to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals, a place they had been penciled into long ago when the Big Three came together. Their counterpart is the NBA-best Chicago Bulls. With 62 wins Chicago led the NBA in wins and has sewed up home court advantage all the way through the playoffs. The Bulls took down the Atlanta Hawks in six games and now the much anticipated matchup against the Heat will start Sunday night. It's a superstar driven series with two MVPs, a Finals MVP, multiple all-stars and the Coach of the Year on the sideline.

If you were able to watch the end of the series finales for both teams then you saw the Heat looking like little kids who just got the perfect gift from Santa Claus and you saw the Bulls who looked like this was just another day on the job. Isn't it funny how the Bulls, a team that no one projected as the best team in the East, acted as if this is what they expected and the Heat, a team that was pegged as one of the best teams ever before they even stepped on the court, acted almost surprised they were going to the Conference Finals. LeBron James screamed and yelled, Dwyane Wade took a victory lap and after the final buzzer sounded the two embraced for probably 20 seconds too long. Doc Rivers and several Celtic players stood around waiting to shake James' hand but they didn't get the chance. LeBron was knelt down on the floor almost in tears...apparently not the first time a Heat player has cried this year.

In Atlanta a night later the Bulls disposed of the Hawks with relative ease but there was no yelling, screaming or tears of joy. Even though this is a franchise that is far removed from their proudest years, suffered through awful losing seasons and was rejected by almost every big free agent this summer, Derrick Rose and the Bulls acted as if they had done this before. They were just moving on to the next game. That's the difference between the Bulls and the Heat: the Bulls stay under the radar while every little thing the Heat say or do is magnified by a million. The Heat do everything big. It's not enough to go to Miami in free agency, you have to go on television for an hour segment to announce it. Of course once all three players were there it wasn't enough to just all meet up, no way, they had to throw a big party for all of Miami--before they had ever played a game. The Bulls signed Carlos Boozer and it was big news in Chicago but wasn't the stop-the-presses kind of news that the Heat generated. Rose is the MVP yet he is not the most hyped player in this series.

Even though the Bulls are the number one seed I think it would be considered an upset if they defeat the Heat because, like it or not, the Heat are very good. They have three great players and role players that can rebound and knock down the outside shot. The Bulls need Carlos Boozer to show up for every game and for Luol Deng to be able to make his own shot. Rose has looked like Superman but this is going to be his toughest test yet. One thing is for sure, the Bulls will not be intimidated because they already defeated the Heat multiple times and the Bulls are a team built on toughness. The Heat celebrated after defeating the Celtics and that may make this season a success for them. For the Bulls, there is work to be done.