While Fred Hoiberg remains in the big shadows of Tom Thibodeau, he still earns the respect around the league to be given the number one seed in the East over Lebron James and the Cavaliers by Grantland.
“Cleveland is the East’s best team by a mile, but it is banged up across the roster and smart enough to take it easy during the regular season…Regardless: Fred Hoiberg’s (likely) move to start Nikola Mirotic is a sign that Chicago should be a more dynamic offensive team. And these guys can execute Thibodeau’s old scheme in their sleep. (Yes, I’m ignoring that their defense has stunk in the preseason. Can’t hear you!)…Rose may never be Rose again, but there’s still an effective drive-and-kick force here, especially if Hoiberg loosens the spacing. I like this team.” Zach Lowe
Zach Lowe makes a good point. While the Cavaliers are clearly the more talented team, they’re also riddled with injuries as Kyrie Irving won’t be returning for a few months. If the Bulls are able to follow their schemes early, it’ll give them a good head-start over the Cavaliers in the conference seeding. If the Bulls want to beat the Cavaliers, they need everything to go their way; that includes home-court advantage in the playoffs.
