BAMAPHIN 22
FinHeaven Elite
The Bulls are guilty of inconsistent play as much as anyone in the league, especially when they're playing on the road. But one thing they do not lack is confidence. That showed in spades when Luol Deng spoke to reporters following Monday's practice. From the Chicago Tribune:
"We have 17 games left," Deng said Monday after practice. "We really think we can win all of them. The schedule is in our favor right now."
I'll never fault a guy for being openly confident. You need a swagger to advance deep into the playoffs, so it can only help a team when it's best player (no offense, Ben Gordon or Kirk Hinrich) thinks his team is favored no matter who the opponent is. But what's really interesting is that, big talking aside, Deng might actually be on to something. After taking care of the Celtics on Tuesday, the Bulls have 16 games to go. It's a luxury to play the stretch run without fatigue being a big factor, but of the Bulls' remaining games, only two will come without at least one night's rest preceding.
Their most difficult challenges will be the two remaining games (home and away) with the Pistons, but after blowing out Detroit earlier in the year and narrowly losing on the road last month (when the refs swallowed the whistle on Chris Webber's last-second push-off/put-back sequence), those two games could clearly go either way, no matter what the venue.