Bulls' playoff plan: Wait till Nets turn stupid

The beaten-up, struggling, Derrick-Rose-less Bulls get a first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, perhaps the dumbest team in the league.

The Bulls didn’t trick the Nets. What could they trick them with? Tom Thibodeau doesn’t do tricks. He just does spectacular coaching. Thibodeau demands defense and rebounding. The Bulls defended and rebounded against the Nets, and waited for the Nets to do dumb things. And the Nets did them.

Such as blowing a 16-point lead at home the last time the teams played. Such as allowing Nazr Mohammed to block Brook Lopez down the stretch. Such as choking against a Bulls team missing Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Marco Belinelli, Richard Hamilton and, of course, Rose.

The Nets might not be Sacramento Kings-like dumb, but when the Nets turn stupid, they usually stay stupid. When they get behind, they stay behind. At least, that’s the way it has been against the Bulls, and that’s all that matters now. The NBA playoffs are all about matchups, and if the Bobcats didn’t qualify, then this matchup looks like the Bulls had the first choice in the playoff fantasy draft.

A big part of my spin here is that I believe the Nets have the kind of talent that should be smarter. Too often, Deron Williams should’ve been the best player on the court and led the best team to victory, but too often I saw that concerned, frustrated look that bad decision-makers get when they’re overrated.