In a 3 vs. 6 series, Bulls should be able to compete

The Bulls haven't been swept in a seven-game playoff series since Larry Bird's Boston Celtics did it in the conference semis in 1981.

Generally, a 3 vs. 6 playoff series does not have such lopsided expectations, especially with just a five game difference in won-lost record. The Bulls were 10-point underdogs in Game 1 at Milwaukee as of Saturday afternoon, while New Orleans - with 28 fewer wins than top seed Phoenix - is a 10.5-point dog.

The point is, this is a tough matchup for the Bulls, but they should be able to stay reasonably competitive against the defending champs. How do they accomplish that? Time for a pre-series strategy session:

Learn the plan

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a tough cover, needless to say. When he gets going full speed toward the basket, there's not much to do besides foul or get out of the way.

So body position defense will be vitally important for the Bulls. They need to wall off Antetokounmpo, provide help when needed, then quickly glide back into position. The Bulls are not very good at scramble mode defense without Lonzo Ball, so getting caught in those situations will be trouble.

The Bucks varied their offense against the Bulls this season. At times, they'll go heavy with high pick-and-roll, but will also use more of a motion offense with shots coming from all areas of the court.

In the first couple games against the Bulls, they used Antetokounmpo in pick-and-roll. In the last two games, with center Brook Lopez back from back surgery, he was usually the one setting the screens. Coach Billy Donovan has said the Bulls never play a drop coverage on screens, but Nikola Vucevic and Tristan Thompson did plenty of retreating. If either gets caught one-on-one against Giannis, it's all over.

The solution to all this is the old Tom Thibodeau adages, "Stay connected on defense" and "Five men on a string." That means all five players moving together and executing the same strategy. Miami is really good at this, the Bulls not so much.

Hit some threes

The most reliable tradition in the NBA is Milwaukee giving up 3-pointers. They allowed the most opponent 3s not just this season, but four years in a row, a trend that coincides with coach Mike Budenholzer's arrival.

The Bucks' defensive game plan is to crowd the paint, then run out and try to get a hand up on 3-point shooters. They always stay under control and almost never jump past a 3-point shooter like the Bulls do so often.

It felt like the Bulls missed plenty of open looks against the Bucks this season. So I went back and looked at all the Bulls' 3-point attempts and tried to record how well they shot on open looks. It's subjective, because the Bucks usually get some sort of hand up.

But I came up with 16 of 53 on relatively open looks from 3. That's 30.2%, which is not very good when unguarded. The Bulls went 2-for-16 on open looks in the Jan. 21 game at Milwaukee when they lost by 4.

The best way to avoid a big Bucks run is to knock down the available shots more than once in a while.

Attention to details

This has been a common theme during the second half of the season. The Bulls tend to make too many mental errors and it's been costly.

At the end of a close game on Mar. 4 at the United Center, Milwaukee got some key offensive rebounds in the closing minutes. Overall against the Bulls, the Bucks grabbed 26.2% of their own missed shots, according to nba.com, and averaged 6 more second-chance points. Every Bulls player needs to help rebound.

It's more than that. The details include avoiding careless turnovers and careless fouls, being in the right spot defensively and getting back in transition, staying poised when things aren't going well.

The Bulls can't let a lack of foul calls discourage them, but if they can find a way to get to the free-throw line, it would help. The Bulls outscored the Bucks at the foul line in the first meeting of the season, thanks mostly to DeMar DeRozan attempting 18 free throws. In the other three games, the Bulls were outscored by a combined 31 points at the foul line.

The Bucks figure to bring their A-game, but the Bulls can hope getting that week to regroup will pay dividends.

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