Bulls v. Hawks

Last season the Atlanta Hawks were the third seed in the Eastern Conference so this seems like the logical place for me to start my team comparisons. I am predicting the Bulls as a third or fourth seed so here we go.

Mike Bibby or Jeff Teague v. Rose-This is a huge advantage for the Bulls. Neither Teague nor Bibby can guard Rose and at this point in Bibby's career you really don't even have to guard him. Teague looks promising moving forward, but this year this matchup isn't even close.

Joe Johnson v. Brewer-Needless to say Johnson is a better player, but the gap isn't as big as people think. Brewer is a lockdown defender who is big enough and strong enough to contain Johnson. Brewer is constantly running the floor and will put a lot of pressure on Johnson to get back defensively. Johnson also requires a lot minutes to get his stats, which also plays right into the Bulls with their deep bench. Yes Johnson wins this battle, but my point is the gap isn't nearly as big as the gap between Rose and Bibby or Teague.

Marvin Williams v. Deng-I give the edge to Deng. Williams is a solid player who is good on the break and has a decent mid range game, but Deng is a much better rebounder and defender. Offensively I think these two players are similar, neither can create their own shot, both are good jump shooters and both can finish at the basket. So this comes down to defense and rebounding and Deng wins both of those.

Josh Smith v. Boozer-I know Smith is a great shot blocker and dunker, but Boozer is a much better all around player. Smith is a time bomb waiting to happen. He kept it together until the playoffs when he started jacking threes all over the place. Boozer is a consistent rebounder, jump shooter, finisher, and plays within himself. Josh Smith is non of these things.

Al Horford v. Noah-I admit Horford is a better player, but he is not a better center. Horford has been playing out of position since day one and Noah is one of the top 5 or 6 centers in the league. I will call this a wash purely because of position. If Horford was matched up against Boozer he'd lose that battle for sure and if Noah was matched up against any other center on the Hawks he would crush him. So a wash it is.

Bench-This is pretty much a toss up, a lot of it will depend on how Jamal Crawford is playing on any particular day. If Crawford is playing well this unit is tough, if he's jacking up shots left and right then I will take the Bulls every time. The Hawks reserves rely on Crawford way to much and if he is off this unit will be terrible, whereas the Bulls should be consistently solid every night. The Hawks also don't have nearly the depth of the Bulls, as most nights the Bulls will go nine deep, but they have the ability to go 11 deep if needed. The Hawks really only go 8 deep and that depends on how rookie Jordan Crawford plays.

Larry Drew v. Thibs-Both are rookie coaches, but I'll take Thibs and his resume over Drew.

So what does all this tell us, on paper the Bulls are better than the Hawks and I expect them to finish several games ahead of them in the standings. I think the Hawks will be the team in the East to drop out of the top four with the Bulls moving in.