By Sam Odeyemi
The Chicago bulls open up the second round of the 2011 NBA playoffs tonight vs the Atlanta Hawks. The last time these two met in the playoffs was in 1993. The Atlanta Hawks are the underdogs, but they are still a very formidable team with all-star, Joe Johnson, and high flier, Josh Smith.
The Hawks are very athletic and they will make you pay for turning the ball over. The Bulls have struggled against these Hawks during the regular season and they are going to have to play flawlessly to make this series go by as smooth as possible.
Derrick Rose will continue to put up MVP numbers, but the rest of the Bulls will have to step it up, especially Carlos Boozer. Boozer was not effective at all in the first round and the Bulls will need his low post scoring if they hope to advance to the Eastern conference semifinals. He averaged 10 ppg and 10 rpg in the first round and that’s not good enough. Boozer signed a five year 75 million dollar contract in the offseason and he was brought to Chicago to team with Derrick Rose to give the Bulls a one two punch, but its been more like a one and a half punch so far. Rose has to carry much of the scoring burden and that does not fare well for the Bulls if they want to win an NBA Championship, just ask Allen Iverson.
Series prediction: Bulls in six.
