Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are playing at very high levels in this series but the Bulls are in deep trouble if the other players on the team don’t start helping out more. Rose is averaging 43.0 minutes, 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game as he is taking charge on offense against the Cavs. As good as he is though he needs someone else to start making some outside shots. Noah took the fight to the Cavs’ big men last night even though he is right now the most hated man in Cleveland. He has averaged 38.5 minutes, 17.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocked shots per game so far in this series. Noah needs more help inside because he can’t control the wave of big men on the Cavs by himself.

The Bulls played a good game offensively last night but you can’t win when your opponent shoots 56.3% from the floor, period. The Cavaliers outscored the Bulls 35-25 in the 4th quarter and that is why the Bulls lost as they played a great game for 3 quarters. Joakim Noah backed up his talk last night with 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shots. Derrick Rose was solid again in this game with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Luol Deng pitched in with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists last night but he didn’t play any D at all as LeBron James dropped 40 points on the Bulls last night. Flip Murray only shot 5 of 14 off the bench last night but he finished up with 14 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists in 29 minutes. The Bulls are now down 2-0 in this series as it shifts to Chicago later this week.

The Bulls played horrible in the first half but they put up a fight with the Cavs getting within 7 points at one point in the 4th quarter before fading late. Derrick Rose was a one man show offensively for the Bulls with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists but he also turned the ball over seven times. Luol Deng pitched in with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals in this game. Joakim Noah was booed every time he touched the ball and he looked overmatched whenever Shaq was on the court for the Cavs. He finished up with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots. The Bulls were outrebounded 50-38 and they had 12 of their shots blocked in this game. When you consider those last two facts give the Bulls credit for only losing by 13 points. The Bulls are now 0-1 in this series.

The Bulls played their butts off to get to the playoffs but now they must face the big dog in the Eastern Conference. Joakim Noah has tried to get into LeBron James’ head but it has just appeared to tick him off. Here’s a breakdown of the matchups in this series:

POINT GUARD: Derrick Rose proved that his Rookie of the Year Award was no fluke as he was outstanding all year long. He played in 78 games (all starts) for the Bulls this season and he averaged 36.8 minutes, 20.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. With him being a mis-match offensively with Mo Williams I fully anticipate the Cavs to use Anthony Parker to defend him in this series. Rose will need to be a little more selfish that usual in this series as points will be hard to come by against a Cavs’ team that prides itself on defense. Still, look for Rose to have a good series.

The Cavaliers counter with Mo Williams. Williams played in 69 games (68 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 34.2 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Williams is not a pure point guard as he likes to shoot the ball. The Bulls cannot afford to leave Williams open or they will pay in this series.

EDGE: BULLS

SHOOTING GUARD: Kirk Hinrich has been really playing solid basketball lately but he had a poor year overall for the Bulls. He played in 74 games (53 starts) for the Bulls last season in which he averaged 33.5 minutes, 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Hinrich is a shooting guard/point guard mix type of player so he is a pretty good passer who will look to set up other players.

Anthony Parker will be starting at shooting guard for the Cavaliers. He is a defense first player but he can hurt the opposition if they leave him wide open for a three. Parker played in 81 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Parker will likely be guarding Derrick Rose defensively in this series.

EDGE: BULLS

CENTER: Joakim Noah really stepped up down the stretch when the Bulls really need him to. He played in 64 games (54 starts) for the Bulls this season and he averaged 30.1 minutes, 10.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Noah is like the Energy Bunny as he just keeps playing all out when he is on the basketball court. The Cavs will come at him in waves at center as Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson all could be on hit at one point or another.

Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t played in quite a while but his focus this year was to win a “Ring for the King”. With that in mind I look him to own the paint in this series when he is on the basketball court (about 20 minutes per game). He has played in 53 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 23.4 minutes, 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. O’Neal will rise to the challenge as he always steps up with the bright lights of the playoffs on.

EDGE: CAVALIERS

POWER FORWARD: Taj Gibson had a great rookie season. He played in 82 games (70 starts) for the Bulls this year and he averaged 26.9 minutes, 9.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Gibson will have to use his athletic ability to try to outplay Antwan Jamison but I don’t think he will.

Antwan Jamison was brought in specifically for the playoffs. He has played in 25 games (23 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 32.4 minutes, 15.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Jamison knows all of the tricks and I’m sure he’ll use them in this series. His elbow is a big reason the Bulls are in the playoffs as it broke Chris Bosh’s face up.

EDGE: CAVALIERS

SMALL FORWARD: The Bulls really like Luol Deng but he will have his hands full working against a well rested LeBron James. Deng played in 70 games (69 starts) for the Bulls this season and he averaged 37.9 minutes, 17.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He must make James work on defense or the Bulls are going to be in serious trouble in this series.

LeBron James is simply the best player on the planet and he is going to be highly motivated in this series to shut up Joakim Noah’s trap. James played in 76 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 39.0 minutes, 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He will score as many points in this series as he wants because the Bulls have no one who can stop him, period!

EDGE: HUGE FOR THE CAVALIERS

BENCH: The Bulls would be smart to keep the bench short using only Flip Murray, Brad Miller and Hakim Warrick in this series. Miller will be needed to most out of this bunch to deal with the incredible depth the Cavs have along the front line. Miller played in 82 games (37 starts) for the Bulls this year and he averaged 23.8 minutes, 8.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Hakim Warrick will also be likely needed a lot in this series. He played in 28 games (0 starts) for the Bulls after coming over from the Bucks in a trade and he averaged 19.0 minutes, 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Flip Murray will be needed for instant offense off the bench. He played in 29 games (1 start) after coming over from the Bobcats in the Tyrus Thomas trade and he averaged 23.4 minutes, 10.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Jannero Pargo, James Johnson and Acie Law won’t likely get much P.T. in this series.

The Cavaliers have the deepest bench in the NBA without a doubt as Sebastian Telfair and Leon Powe probably won’t be on the first round roster. It will be interesting to see how coach Mike Brown spreads out the minutes on the frontcourt with Shaq back. Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson and Zydrunas Ilgauskas would all be starters for a lot of teams in the NBA but they will be coming off the bench in this series. This is bad news for the Bulls. Hickson is the most ahtletic of this bunch for the Cavs. He played in 81 games (73 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 20.9 minutes, 8.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. But he could still be the odd man out. Anderson Varejao is the Cavs’ version of Joakim Noah as he goes all out, all of the time. Varejao played in 76 games (7 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 28.5 minutes, 8.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Zydrunas Ilgauskas gives the Cavs great length off the bench as he is a legit 7-footer. He played in 64 games (6 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 20.0 minutes, 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Delonte West will be the Cavs’ #3 guard in this series and he will likely get a lot of P.T. West played in 60 games (3 starts) for the Cavs in which he averaged 25.0 minutes, 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Daniel Gibson, Jamario Moon and Jawad Williams will likely round out the roster for the Cavs and they have all started games for them this season and are quality players.

EDGE: HUGE FOR CAVALIERS

COACH: Vinny Del Negro is under fire in Chicago, but give him credit for getting the Bulls into the playoffs this season. The Bulls finished this year 41-41 and they are 82-82 in Del Negro’s two years as a NBA head coach. He also almost pulled a upset in the first round last season taking the Celtics to seven games.

Mike Brown always seems to have the Cavs ready for early playoff series. He led the Cavs to the best record in the NBA (61-21, .744) this season earning them a shot to play the Bulls. In his five years in Cleveland the Cavs have a 272-138 record (66.3%) in the regular season and they are 36-24 (60%) in the post-season.

EDGE: CAVALERS

PREDICTION: The Cavaliers are focused to win a “Ring for the King” and I don’t see them overlooking the Bulls not even in one game. I like the Cavaliers to pummel the Bulls in 4 games.

The Chicago Bulls controlled their own destiny the past two games, and they didn’t have to worry about what the Toronto Raptors because they won when they absolutely had to with two big wins to close out the regular season.  Since the Raptors did win their season finale, the Bulls needed to beat the Charlotte Bobcats or they would be out of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Once again it was the young star Derrick Rose leading the way for the Bulls.  Rose gave the Bulls 27 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block in their 98-89 road win over the Bobcats last night to finish out the 2009-’10 season and clinching the final seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Rose has been leading the Bulls all season long, and he has been playing some of the best basketball of his young career heading into their matchup with LeBron James and the number one seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.  Although the Bulls are only the eight seed, the Bulls should be proud of making the playoffs with all of the injuries, coaching controversy, and new players that they have had to deal with.  The Bulls are a dangerous team again now that Rose has his full squad to play with, especially since Joakim Noah is healthy again.  Noah had a big game last night too, finishing with 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block.  Most people are expecting the Cavs to sweep the Bulls, but nobody expected the Bulls to take the Boston Celtics to seven games in last year’s exciting first round series.  Don’t be surprised if the Bulls steal a game or two against the Cavs.