NBA TV Preview

For three seasons, Bulls General Manager John Paxson has conducted a clinic on how to build a basketball team. Can his hot streak continue?

Hired in April 2003 on the heels of the Bulls fifth straight losing season to begin the post-Jordan era, Paxson had barely unpacked his office when Jay Williams crashed his bike, dampening Chicago’s already grim fortunes. Undeterred, Paxson rolled up the sleeves and went to work:

* He didn’t miss in the draft, selecting Kirk Hinrich (2003), Ben Gordon (2004), Chris Duhon (2004) and trading for Luol Deng (2004).

* He gambled, electing not to lock up Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry to high priced deals, instead sending both to New York in separate trades for expiring contracts, young players and draft picks.

* He hit a grand slam with the free agent signing of Andres Nocioni (2004).

The result has been two straight seasons at .500 or better, achieved with hard-working, fundamentally-sound young players from winning programs.

This summer, with money to spend, Paxson aimed to build the Bulls into a team that could legitimately challenge Detroit and Miami for supremacy in the East.

The Bulls made their big splash in free agency with Ben Wallace, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. At 32, the former Piston is still one of the game's best rebounders (11.3 rpg in 2005-06) and shot blockers (2.2 bpg), but is an offensive liability. Would the Bulls, already among the NBA’s best defensive teams, have been better off upgrading the offense?

For a team looking to win now, Wallace is certainly an upgrade over Tyson Chandler, who was subsequently sent to New Orleans in a deal that netted two more playoff-tested thirty-somethings, forward P.J. Brown and guard Howard Eisley.

The onus will once again be on Chicago’s perimeter players to deliver clutch baskets, because not a single interior player on Chicago’s roster can be considered a bona fide scoring threat. Gordon, Hinrich, Nocioni and Duhon all shot 36 percent or better from downtown last year, so this could be a team that lives and dies by the jump shot when it isn’t scoring in transition.

The most impressive part of the Bulls’ offseason was Paxson’s ability to keep one eye on the Bulls immediate needs, yet also walk away from the Draft with two lottery picks: Tyrus Thomas, a freakish 6-9 athlete from LSU, and 6-7 Swiss-born guard Thabo Seflolosha could crack the rotation. Neither, alas, is a volume scorer.

The Bulls appear poised to approach the 50-win mark, based on the continued improvement of their young core and the presence of a game-changing defensive stopper. The real test will come in the postseason, when everyone plays defense. Can they score enough points to keep up?

-- Bill Evans

2006-07 Bulls Ticket Plans

Wallace

Part of Ben Wallace’s appeal in Detroit was his emergence as a superstar from humble NBA beginnings. An undrafted free agent, Wallace toiled for three years in Washington before earning his first starting role with Orlando in 1999-2000.

He joined the Pistons as a consolation prize when Grant Hill forced a sign-and-trade to Orlando and quickly became the people’s-choice by playing blue-collar basketball, becoming an indispensable weapon for Detroit.

Six seasons, one NBA Championship and four Defensive Player of the Year awards later, Wallace left his comfort zone to cash in. Playing with an eight-figure annual salary adds expectations and leaves him a lot more vulnerable to criticism, especially when that career 41.8 free-throw percentage rears it’s ugly head at the end of a close game.

Though he’s still relatively young, 32, Wallace’s scoring and rebounding numbers did start to decline last year. There’s no doubt he’ll be a game-changing player on an already outstanding defensive team, but if he starts to slow down or if Chicago struggles offensively he’ll feel pressure that he’s never felt before.

-- Bill Evans

X&O STRENGTH

Skiles

The reason he has so much with a young club is that he demands a lot and is very demanding in practice...He draws the most out of his players for what they have to offer...Of all the clubs Miami played in their quest for the championship, the Bulls probably gave them the biggest scare. They are a very close team...They showed last year that they can play inside and out because they’re tough. Although they’re young, they’re tough.

X&O WEAKNESS
The addition of Ben Wallace will be a style change for Scott and a challenge for him to continue the offensive threat of creating scoring opportunities for Hinrich, Gordon, Deng and Nocioni and blend in now, one of the more dominant rebounders in the game...He will have have to blend a scoop of patience in with his demands for his still young team.

HEAD COACH PHILOSOPHY
Skiles’ instincts are incredible as a young coach

-- John Gabriel (courtesy of the National Basketball Coaches Association)

They were the No. 1 defensive team in the league, as far as field goal percentage goes. What are they going to be 1A now? They're still going to be that good defensively.
Defensively, they'll hold teams down and be in games because of their defense.
Where are they going to get all their scoring? It's going to have to be from the perimeter, with Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni and Kirk Hinrich.
They are not going to scare teams down low; They don't have a lot of scoring down low.
I'm anxious to see how Tyrus Thomas falls in line. He could be very, very physical or he could go down the same road as a Stromile Swift: A Louisiana kid that's very athletic and every once in a while you see spurts but just nothing real consistent.

-- Eastern Conference Scout

Ben Gordon: He qualifies at both guard positions, will score in bunches and drain plenty of threes.

P.J. Brown: Don't expect much out of P.J. as Ben Wallace will do a lot of the dirty work under the glass.

More fantasy news

The three names that you need to know on the Bulls will be Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. Those three deserve high draft choices and should give owners solid production, but don’t draft them expecting huge numbers. Despite that, Chicago has a deep rotation (see Nocioni, Deng, Thomas) that offers a lot of good options for both shallow and deep leagues.
-- Taylor Eldridge
Bulls Fantasy Preview

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