Keys to beating the Chicago Bulls 2010-10211

5) Stop Derrick Rose from penetrating to the basket. Make his teammates become scorers. Make Rose give up the basketball before he can drive to the hoop.

4) Block out Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah from grabbing those loose balls and rebounds. Don't let Noah and Boozer outhustle you.

3) Play your basketball game. Don't let the Bulls run their half-court sets and basketball plays. If the game falls in the Bulls' tempo, you must not let go of the game. Call time-out.

2) The Bulls rely on pinpoint passing and ball movement. Make the Bulls offense stagnant. Make Rose give up the ball to an open teammate and let the open teammate decide what to do with the basketball. Don't let Rose get the ball back.

1) Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau likes to rely on his bench to help out the starters in late quarters. Your bench must be able to produce as well as the Chicago bench. Be prepared to produce hustle, points, rebounds, and defensive intensity against the likes of C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson, Kyle Korver, Omer Asik, and Kurt Thomas.

A Team No One Wants to See

The Denver Nuggets are rejuvenated. They no longer have Carmelo Anthony. They no longer have to pass the ball to him to score and watch him operate as it is one-on-five. Now? They have standoffs like Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Al Harrington, and Danilo Gallinari who now can score in bunches and allow opponents to score at much lower points than the Nuggets do. Ty Lawson is Denver's starting point guard and he does a good job of manning a Nuggets team that no longer relies on Anthony's long-standing jump shots. With big men like Nene and Kenyon Martin still around, the Nuggets are hard to beat around, when you're competing for rebounds, blocks, and defense. Watch out, this Nuggets team proved it no longer needs Anthony to win games. Denver is a dangerous playoff team to play against and I think teams like the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavericks should watch out.

How Good Are These Lakers?

I've never seen a tougher, more physically tested Lakers team than the one I saw play against the Dallas Mavericks on March 31, 2011. Steve Blake taking offense for Jason Terry shoving him to the floor for a hard foul, for one. I think these Lakers are prepared to take for what they see later on in the playoffs. No easy baskets. Everything playoff-tested basketball teams offer to give to you on their way to the NBA championship round are all hard to get baskets. You earn them at the free throw line. No way. The physicality of this basketball game between the Mavs and Lakers did not rattle the Lakers. Kobe Bryant is more than prepared to take what is his: his sixth NBA championship ring. There's no stopping his way to the NBA Finals.