To begin the Eastern Conference Finals, Chicago was a 92 overall; the Roanoke Railguns were 77. Perhaps the team got some rest after their sweep. There is not much talk of repeating such a feat in this round.
Game 1, at Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 93-54. So... the Bulls seemed dangerous on paper. And not only because they have one of
our doppelgangers, Panthro Wang. But the team was fired up to start well. Alexandr Vikayanov was most ablaze, with 20 points, 3 reb 3 assists. Our Panthro was not far behind, as usual. He had been upset since the Joe Johnson trade, which knocked him out of the lineup. But the anger had translated into strong play on the court.
Game 2, at Roanoke. Roanoke wins, 82-64. Joe Dumars's return signaled better things than anticipated. Another time for clobbering... even though the Bulls defense was supposedly set at 99 for today's game. Might be a sweep after all, was the thought in the locker room. But no one wanted to speak too soon...
Game 3, at Chicago. Roanoke wins, 86-57. The Railguns broke out to an 18-4 lead. Big mistake--the boys got lax, and soon the score was 20-15. Sloppy passes. But they were reminded of the mission at halftime. Dumars had 13 and 7, steady as usual. Stevens
put in 19 including four threes. Derrick Rose had us shook with some of his dribble stutter-steps but he got stuffed a few times and finished with 8 points...
Game 4, at Chicago. Roanoke clinches, 80-56. Oklahoma City was up 3-0 in the Western Finals, against the West's #8 seed New Orleans. Plan was to dead this series in a sweep so we could practice and rest... The Bulls were tough early. But Stevens had 18 at the half on 8-10 shooting and the Railguns were up 49-26. We had more in the first quarter (28) than Chicago's first half... Not much to see. Motivation and execution and another sweet win.
The Thunder swept the Pelicans over there. So on to the Finals. Our team had just about mastered the shooting stroke (except for the Rodmans and Hansbroughs of the world). Coach aims to keep the team in season for the last series of the season.
Game 2, at Roanoke. Roanoke wins, 82-64. Joe Dumars's return signaled better things than anticipated. Another time for clobbering... even though the Bulls defense was supposedly set at 99 for today's game. Might be a sweep after all, was the thought in the locker room. But no one wanted to speak too soon...
Game 3, at Chicago. Roanoke wins, 86-57. The Railguns broke out to an 18-4 lead. Big mistake--the boys got lax, and soon the score was 20-15. Sloppy passes. But they were reminded of the mission at halftime. Dumars had 13 and 7, steady as usual. Stevens
Game 4, at Chicago. Roanoke clinches, 80-56. Oklahoma City was up 3-0 in the Western Finals, against the West's #8 seed New Orleans. Plan was to dead this series in a sweep so we could practice and rest... The Bulls were tough early. But Stevens had 18 at the half on 8-10 shooting and the Railguns were up 49-26. We had more in the first quarter (28) than Chicago's first half... Not much to see. Motivation and execution and another sweet win.
The Thunder swept the Pelicans over there. So on to the Finals. Our team had just about mastered the shooting stroke (except for the Rodmans and Hansbroughs of the world). Coach aims to keep the team in season for the last series of the season.
