Will Perdue: Bulls must send a message
Q: What's the most important thing for the Bulls in this series against Milwaukee?
A: Send a message. Both the Bulls and the Bucks know the Bulls have a better team - and the Bucks realize they have a small window of opportunity here.
They feel like if they can play physical, try to bang with Pau (Gasol), take him out of the game a little bit. I'm not saying the Bulls need to do anything stupid, but I think they need to send a message to the Bucks that, "Hey, we mean business. We're here to dispatch you guys in four games. We're not taking you lightly."
They're going to determine that by how we play in the first 12 minutes of Game 1, both offensively and defensively. That's the most important thing, first and foremost, because they have a tendency, it's almost like they let the other team throw some blows, see what they're going to do. They dance around in the middle of the ring.
Q: So no more of the lackadaisical Bulls we've seen all season?
A: They not only need to send a message to the Bucks, I think they also need to send a message to the Cavs, with how they play in this first-round series. That's how important it is. From Day One, it's been, "OK, Cavs-Bulls Eastern Conference finals. Write it down."
Well, the Cavs and Bulls are going to meet in the second round, not the conference finals. I think right now the Cavs look pretty good. I think you can send them a strong message by just dispatching Milwaukee in four games.
Q: With the other side, what do the Bucks need to do?
A: They need to try to get in the paint, penetrate. The initial line of defense for Chicago this season has struggled at times to keep guys in front of them. Guys have been able to drive into the lane, get points in the paint, get points at the basket.
Earlier in the year, the rotation was there. Pau was getting blocks, Jo (Noah) was getting blocks. But in the latter half of the season, I thought the help was late.
For Milwaukee to have any success, they need to attack the basket. That collapses the defense and then it gives them the ability to knock down some shots on the perimeter.
Q: Do you think the Bulls have enough to make a long run in these playoffs?
A: If they're healthy, I think the chances are pretty good. That's a big if, though. They went from looking pretty good to Jo's having problems with his knee, Taj (Gibson) is having problems with his shoulder. Derrick (Rose) elects to sit out the second half of the Atlanta game.
So now you're just like, "Wow, are they in a position where they can come out and play physical? Can they be aggressive? Are they in a position where they have to start worrying about minutes?"
Derrick came out after the game Wednesday and said no excuses, it's time to get the job done. All right, so let's see what happens in Game 1.
Q: What's your prediction for the series?
A: The Bulls are going to win this series. It's just a matter of how easy or how difficult they want to make it on themselves. The Bucks are a young team, they're not going to go away. They're going to slug it out, play hard and have fun. They're already winners. They went from 15 to 41 wins. Making the playoffs for them is a victory. Now any game they win against the Bulls is another surprise.
• Will Perdue is an analyst for Comcast Sportsnet's Bulls pregame and postgame shows. A four-time champion (3 Bulls titles, 1 Spurs), he played 13 seasons in the NBA. Follow him on Twitter@Will_Perdue32.