The Chicago Bulls might be the biggest wildcard in the 2013 NBA playoffs.
Despite playing the entire season without star guard Derrick Rose, the Bulls have managed to once again put together a quality season, earning a trip to the playoffs for the eighth time in their last nine seasons.
The Bulls have done this in impressive fashion, racking up wins against a number of teams ahead of them in the standings. They swept their season series with New York 4-0, beat Atlanta twice, Brooklyn three times and Miami twice — most famously to end their 27-game win streak.
What has been troubling for Chicago is their inability to put teams below them in the standings away. They have recently suffered losses to Detroit, Washington and Toronto after having also lost to both the Wizards and Raptors earlier on in the season.
This trend is not something that Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau sees as a big problem with his team. Being ready to play however is.
“You guys (the media) think you should just beat certain teams,” Thibodeau said after a disappointing 97-88 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday. “It doesn’t work that way in this league. You gotta be ready for everybody, everybody is capable of beating you. Sometimes you have travel involved, you are down players –you still gotta be ready. You gotta get it done, its that simple. The 13, 14th, 15th man on an NBA roster is a great player. You can never lose sight of that. Readiness to play is huge, huge. “
Thibodeau is well known around the league for being particularly demanding of his team and as a result, is also known for his ability to get them ready to compete on a nightly basis.
This season has tested his ability to do so, especially given the onslaught of injuries Chicago has had to deal with.
In addition to the Rose injury, other key rotation players and starters have also missed significant time as Joakim Noah (16 games) Taj Gibson (16), Loul Deng (8), Kirk Hinrich (23) and Richard Hamilton (32) all spent time on the trainer’s table.
Much like the man that coaches them, the Bulls are not willing to make excuses for themselves.
“It is what is. Every team deals with it (injuries) to some extent,” Hinrich said. “We have been hit pretty good with it. But we feel like we have got guys who have stepped up this year and can step up, we just haven’t done it consistently enough.”
Eventually, injuries and that lack of consistency could catch up with the Bulls. These problems will be amplified when the playoffs roll around this weekend.
Chicago will face either Indiana or Brooklyn in the first round, depending on how the final couple of days of the season shake down. Brooklyn would be their more favorable matchup and even the Nets would provide a sizable challenge for the Bulls who are still integrating players back into their lineup.
Both Noah and Gibson returned to action against the Magic on Monday but will need to quickly work their way back into game shape as Chicago only has one game remaining Wednesday against Washington.
How well those players return to form will go a long way in deciding which version of the Bulls will show up in the playoffs.
If Noah and Gibson can come in and have a consistent impact, this team has the potential to play as they did against the teams in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference this season.
If they stumble, the Bulls could look more like they did against the Raptors last Friday night.
Another factor to consider is Rose’s potential return — a move that adds another degree of unpredictability to a team that is already facing many question marks.
Much like their regular season, the postseason will be an uphill battle for the Bulls, though, it is a battle that they are equipped to handle.