Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat Series Preview: Chicago's Hometown Hero Faces The League of Supervillains

WOW! What an NBA season it has been so far, and even though some people celebrated as if it were all over already, there are still the Conference and World Championships to be decided.

Lebron celebrates his first NBA cham... wait, that was only the Second Round. But what's with the kneeling and the hugging? Oh, so that was THEIR "championship". DRose and the Bulls still want more.

In many ways, this NBA season "began" over a year ago on May 9th, a day commemorated in Cleveland now as Quitness Day. It was the day that Lebron James quit on his team and city against the Boston Celtics in the playoffs and began a summer of free-agency speculation that resulted in him joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat, rebranding himself as the NBA's ultimate supervillain.

Much has also happened over that time for the Chicago Bulls and their home-grown superstar, Derrick Rose. The franchise missed out on everyone's top free-agents (Wade, James, and Bosh), but signed free-agents Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and acquired still other players who have made solid contributions. The Bulls' signed former Celtics' assistant head coach, Tom Thibodeau, to lead the team as head coach. After a mediocre 9 - 8 record to start the season, the Bulls went on to win 53 of the other 65 games to finish with an NBA leading record of 62 - 20.

Rose led the Bulls to a regular season sweep of the Miami Heat, including dropping 27 points in a win that made players in the Heat locker room cry.

Derrick Rose also had a great 12 months. While his team worked with Coach Thibs to prepare for the season, Rose was the starting point guard for USA Basketball, winning a Gold Medal at the FIBA World Championships.

Once he got back, he began working on his game with an eye towards how far this team will go. He added a more effective jumpshot, as well as, a consistent three-point shot. With all the work he put in, he then asked the question, "Why? Why can't I be MVP?"

Well, that question was answered about a week ago. After the Chicago Bulls finished with the best record in the NBA this season (tying the best record for a rookie head coach), Tom Thibodeau was awarded as the Coach of the Year, and Derrick Rose, for his role in leading the team and carrying the team in the clutch and through injuries, was awarded the NBA's Most Valuable Player.

Now, the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat, will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. Chicago makes its first appearance in the Conference Finals since 1998, when Chicago went on to complete their second three-peat on the shoulders of Michael Jordan.

Despite being the number one seed and winning all three regular season meetings with the Miami Heat, the Bulls are the underdogs. It is perhaps a more comfortable place for this team that only really found a bandwagon after beating the Heat for a regular season sweep and making them cry in the locker room following the game.

Here is how we break down the match-ups in the 2011 NBA PLAYOFFS, EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS SERIES between THE CHICAGO BULLS vs. THE MIAMI HEAT

CHICAGO BULLS (62-20)	MIAMI HEAT (58-24)
STARTERS (Playoff Stats)	STARTERS (Playoff Stats)
PG     ROSE PPG:   28.8 (#1 in NBA) RPG:   4.5 APG:   8.2 (#3 in NBA) Derrick Rose received the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, and two days later, he dropped a career-high 44 points on the Atlanta Hawks. He is the leading scorer in the postseason, and he has averaged 29 ppg against the Heat this season. Advantage: Chicago	PG     BIBBY PPG:   3.4 RPG:   2.0 APG:   1.0 Miami has no one at Point Guard that can match up with Derrick Rose. Whether it is Bibby or Chalmers who will get most of the minutes, the Heat will need to give lots of help to stop Rose and hope that he can not find the open man.
SG     BOGANS PPG:   5.4 RPG:   1.4 APG:   0.7 The Bulls' shooting guard by committee was able to hold Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford below their season and postseason averages. If they can do the same against a player like Wade with any consistency, this would be a much shorter series.	SG     WADE PPG:   26.2 (#5 in NBA RPG:   7.6 APG:   5.0 Wade carried the Heat in the Boston series. However, his forays to the basket came without punishment against a Kendrick Perkins-free Celtics team. How well will the Chicago defense hold up to his attacks? Advantage: Miami
SF     DENG PPG:   16.7 RPG:   6.5 APG:   3.0 Deng may be the biggest x-factor in this series. He will be asked to defend Lebron James, as well as, be the second leading scorer. Deng has shown he can step up in the Bulls' regular season sweep of the Heat.	SF     JAMES PPG:   26.1 RPG:   9.4 APG:   4.9 Lebron James put in some buckets once Wade got him a 3-1 games lead in the Boston series, so he's still not a clutch player. However, he has no other flaws to his basketball game. Advantage: Miami
PF     BOOZER PPG:   11.8 RPG:   9.5 APG:   1.8 Boozer found his form in Game 6. Prior to that, Boozer struggled against the athletic Hawks, however he is a superior rebounder to Bosh. To the extent that he can out-muscle and bully Bosh throughout this series, the easier a time the Bulls will have writing their ticket to the NBA Finals. TIE	PF     BOSH PPG:   16.3 RPG:   9.6 APG:   1.1 Chris Bosh had some very big plays that helped to win pivotal games in the Boston series. However, he will be the Heat's only real frontline player. Can Bosh get it done when he is going against all the length and size that the Bulls can throw at him? TIE
C     NOAH PPG:   9.9 RPG:   10.4 APG:   2.1 Noah's impact can never been fully known from just the box score. So his statistics alway belie his greater impact for a Bulls' defense that feeds off of his energy. He is the #3 shotblocker in the playoffs, and he will be waiting for any soft shots at the basket. Advantage: Chicago	C     ILGAUSKAS PPG:   3.6 RPG:   3.6 APG:   0.3 The Heat have not been able to solidify the center position with any consistent contributor. They rotate four players but obtain more of their rebounding from Wade and Lebron staying in to rebound. This is an exploitable weakness for a Bulls' team with length and rebounding up front.
BENCH While Kyle Korver was providing clutch shooting in the first round, the Bulls' big men off the bench, Asik and Gibson, gave the team what they needed to close out Atlanta. Their domination of Miami's thin reserves may make all the difference in this close series. Advantage: Chicago	BENCH The Miami Heat were able to sign several big name players to bolster their bench, but none have really provided any consistent production. Mike Miller, Eddie House, and others have been disappointments.
OVERALL Advantage: Chicago	OVERALL
CHICAGO BULLS Team Stats:	MIAMI HEAT Team Stats:
Points Per Game:     98.6 (20th in NBA)	Points Per Game:     102.1 (8th in NBA)
Rebounds Per Game:     44.2 (2nd in NBA)	Rebounds Per Game:     42.1 (9th in NBA)
Assists Per Game:     22.3 (9th in NBA)	Assists Per Game:     20.0 (26th in NBA)
Points Allowed Per Game:     91.3 (2nd in NBA)	Points Allowed Per Game:     94.6 (6th in NBA)

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