 |
|
« October 2006 | Main | December 2006 »
Bulls coach Scott Skiles has had a busy week dealing with distractions including the Ben Wallace headband flap. At his post-practice press conference on Thursday, Skiles talked about working through the Bulls problems on the court, including finding a rotation and establishing roles.
Bulls Still Trying to Work New Players into Line-Up
It's no secret that the Bulls defense isn't where they needed it to be so far this season, but it's also about one simple issue. As we've talked about all year, there are a lot of new faces on the floor and there is still learning in some key areas that goes on each day.
I think Johnny Kerr hit it right on the head when he mentioned that the Bulls defense is still learning how to play with Ben Wallace. Now Ben may not be the player he was four years ago when he was the lockdown NBA Defensive Player of the Year, but he is still very good and very capable on the defensive end. I agree with Johnny that when you have a strong player like Ben down on the blocks, it dictates what you can do with regarding to defending on the perimeter. The key with Ben is that he has such a good sense for coming over and helping out if an opponent gets penetration off the dribble. He can rotate over and make a play on the ball, but the Bulls are still trying to feel their way through those situations.
The team is also getting a feel for the way they rotate as a whole, once one defender goes to help. Early foul trouble on Kirk Hinrich also has an impact. Kirk is a tough defender on the perimeter and almost every night, he has to take on the opponent's most explosive perimeter player. Sometimes, Kirk will pick up a couple of fouls early and have to come out of the game and that hurts the Bulls defensively.
Finally, when you struggle offensively as the Bulls have at times with their flow and balance, it can affect your defense. When you are out of position at the offensive end, it can be harder to get back to the proper spot on defense.
The Bulls gave up over 100 points five times in seven games on their recent road trip. That's not like them and I think we'll see much better defense on the horizon.
Wayne
At the Berto Center on Tuesday, Ben Wallace had his take on the entire headband incident and discussed his feelings on the season so far.
Ben Wallace was not at practice on Monday, but Scott Skiles and John Paxson were. Both met with the media following the workout and sought to defuse any possible tension brewing after the weekend.
Chicago Tribune beat writer KC Johnson sat down with Wayne Larrivee before Saturday night's game to discuss the Bulls slow start and the surprising benching of Ben Wallace last night in Philadelphia.
Bulls Beat Writer KC Johnson Talks About Season - 11/25
Bulls coach Scott Skiles did not want to leave this November road trip empty-handed. Before Saturday's game, he discussed the team's slow starts and talked about areas of improvement.
Scott Skiles On Bulls Slow Starts - 11/25
Bulls guard Ben Gordon has always loved the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, starring there as both a high school player and while at UConn. Wayne Larrivee caught up with Ben before Saturday night's game and their interview featured some surprise advice from the other bench.
Bulls coach Scott Skiles has a talented roster to open the new season, but is faced with trying to work in all the new faces to establish his rotation. Skiles is also monitoring the progress of his prized rookies and talked about their progress before Sunday's game in Los Angeles.
Skott Skiles on the Bulls rookies
New Bulls center Ben Wallace has had a full plate in his first season with the team from learning his new teammates to being under the microscope during the team's slow start. Tom Dore caught up with Big Ben before Sunday night's game in LA to discuss the transition
Bulls play-by-play man Tom Dore talks with Ben Wallace
I think it's interesting that Ben Gordon has delivered so much more off the bench than as a starter. One of the reasons is that they look for him when he comes in off the bench. It's like a heavyweight boxer...you come out and just look around for the first couple of rounds and before you know it, there's 4 or 5 minutes off the clock. When Ben comes off the bench, it's a role he's more comfortable with and the other night he came in and hit his first shot right away and he was off and running.
As for this early season road trip, it's SO important for the guys to get their rest and eat right. We're in 3 different time zones before Thanksgiving and we're getting into cities at weird hours and it takes its toll on young players. Now, we've got a day or two between games so hopefully they can get some rest, and get used to sleeping in hotels...things that rookies are not used to from their college days.
Red
To no one's surprise, the Bulls have tinkered with their starting lineup. I think essentially the moves they have made in shuffling the lineup a bit have several goals. As Scott Skiles has said, one of them is to get Ben Gordon back on track. Ben has had two really big games and four other games where he has really struggled. Tuesday night, Ben played a pretty good ballgame in Dallas coming off the bench. They are just trying to get him on track because it appears he has been, for the most part, out of rhythm this season. In the games we've had on WGN, it looks like the offense itself has been out of rhythm. Now that could be the rotations or the many different players who are getting significant minutes right now as Scott tries to figure out the best rotation. I know that Scott would like to tighten that rotation a bit so that the roles are more defined. All of this has probably led to the inconsistency we've seen so far on the offense.
Furthermore what has been a chronic malady for this team so far is the fact that they have been getting off to slow starts in their games. This is another thing Scott wants to change. He needs to get a little more punch early in the ballgame - that's not the reason Gordon isn't starting. He wants to get Ben on track by bringing him off the bench and take some of the pressure off him that way by playing against somebody's second unit player instead of the starter. They inserted Andres Nocioni into the starting lineup in place of PJ Brown to get a little more energy into the starting unit and allow the bench to feature Gordon's scoring and PJ's defense to see how that type of rotation might work.
This is not unexpected. This is something we thought would happen with the new faces on the roster. As I've mentioned before it's a work in progress in November and into December. We knew it would take some time before they would find their rhythm offensively, both as individuals when we talk about Ben Gordon, and as a team when you are talking about the Bulls offense.
Wayne
Well, more south since the Bulls annual November road trip starts with the Texas triangle this year, but you get the point. The seven-game trip is a rite of passage for the team each season and before they departed, Scott Skiles and Kirk Hinrich talked about the upcoming trip.
Scott Skiles & Kirk Hinrich On Bulls Upcoming Road Trip - 11/13
Bulls General Manager John Paxson sat down earlier in the week with Dan Roan for our Bullseye pregame show and one of the topics discussed was Scott Skiles and the perception that he is a demanding coach.
Nobody has been more frustrated with the Bulls sluggish starts this season than coach Scott Skiles. In his Saturday night pregame press conference, Skiles addressed the energy shortage and what he plans to do about it.
Bulls rookie guard Thabo Sefolosha is off to a strong start in the team's first five games. Before Saturday night's game, he talked with Dan Roan about the adjustment in coming over from Europe and his initial thoughts about life in the NBA.
There's been a lot of talk this week about the Bulls lacking energy while getting off to slow starts and there is something to that. They have been a slow-starting team for the last couple of years since Scott Skiles has been here, both for individual games and the beginning of the season in general. Once we get in the groove, this team will play very well.
Right now, I think it's a matter of getting out on the road, getting away from everything, and work on being and playing together. This early season trip is always good for unifying the team and can go a long way toward eliminating this problem.
Red
Bulls General Manager John Paxson sat down with Dan Roan for a lengthy interview. For more with Pax, make sure to watch the "Bullseye" pregame show Saturday night at 7pm on WGN-TV, right before we air the Pacers-Bulls contest.
Are things coming together the way you thought they would?
I've felt all along that it would a work in progress, just because we've got so many new guys. I think we've seen flashes of what we can be and we've seen some weaknesses of ours. What I have seen is that when we bring energy and a defensive intensity to the game, we have a pretty good basketball team. When we don't, we can struggle. I can take these games as hard as anybody when we lose, but I've got to keep in perspective that there's 82 games. You want to win every game, but I'd like to see us come together as the season goes along and then, hopefully, we're sitting there in March and April playing our best basketball. That's really the idea.
You guys are balanced and don't have that big scorer or go-to guy. The only other really successful team out there that is like that is the Pistons. Do you look at Detroit as a role model for your team?
I've always respected how they played, but our personnel decisions have always been made with the idea that as information comes up, we make the best possible decision at that time. I'd love to have a guy that every night you can pencil in 25 points a game - we don't have that. What we do have and what need every night is consistency and scoring every night from our four guys: Kirk, Ben, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni. They can't be 6 points one game and 30 the next. There's got to be some consistency with them. I realize as well as anybody that we don't have that one go-to scorer, but that doesn't mean you can't win. I know that a lot of people look at it and say you can't win a championship this way, but I still look at it as a process. I like our team, I like our guys, and I like the fact that defensively we should be a good team. We should be able to rebound more and run the floor because of our ability to rebound and defend. We need consistency from those four on the offensive end. We also need PJ Brown to give us something like he did in the Milwaukee game - 8-10 points and 7-8 rebounds a game, which he can do. We also need our bench guys to come in and provide something. I understand the limitations as well as anybody, but given the decisions our staff has had to make along the way personnel-wise, we like the decisions we've made. We're not going to make the mistake, not right now, of trying to bring in a scorer that's going to disrupt some of the other things we do well. That's kind of where we're at as a team.
It's too early in the season for breakout games, but it was great to see Thabo Sefolosha get 26 minutes on the floor during the Bulls win Monday night.
Sefolosha not only has a long wingspan, but he can play multiple positions. As far as defensive assignments go, he may see time against a guy like LeBron James from time to time, but due to the size and strength of guys like LeBron, Luol Deng will usually draw those assignments, with Thabo matching up against the big guards.
The thing the Bulls brass loved about him over other "long" guards in the draft is that he can play both the point guard spot and the two-guard. What they are finding out is that he is very good with the ball in terms of slashing off the wing into the land. His ball skills seem to be a bit better than some of the other big guards available last year and you can see why John Paxson was attracted to him.
I see him as a guy who can become a Scottie Pippen-type of player - in terms of learning the passing lanes, using his length to disrupt things when he is on the defensive end of the floor.
Wayne
The Bulls shook off Friday night's heartbreaker and took out their frustrations on the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. Ben Gordon led the way with 37 points and at practice on Tuesday, coach Scott Skiles and Gordon talked about the Bulls big win.
Gordon Leads Bulls to Impressive Win
The Bulls returned home to the United Center for Opening Night On Friday and although Ringling Brothers doesn't take over the building for a few weeks, it was a true three-ring circus. There was a wide variety of things to do and so we took a few pics of the happenings before the game.
Former Bull Ron Artest returned to the United Center Friday night with the Sacramento Kings. The NBA's most unpredictable player talked with Dan Roan before the game about his new team and his endeavor into the music business.
Ron Artest Returns To The United Center - 11/3
Bud Light's Real Men Of Genius (Pete Stacker and Dave Bickler) paid a visit to our Bullseye show Friday night. They didn't come empty-handed - take a look at their homage to Red and Wayne!
Bud Light Real Men Of Genius Visit BullsEye Set - 11/3
Bulls guard Ben Gordon isn't quite ready for full veteran status, but he's seen a lot in his two-plus years in the league. He took a few minutes before Friday night's game to talk with Dan Roan about the Bulls season opener, playing for the long haul, gave us a brief review of the new basketball, and offered up his reaction to the tighter officiating shown so far this year.
Ben Gordon On The New Season, New Ball, and New Calls - 11/3
One of the things about the NBA is that each night brings a whole new set of circumstances and we've seen that in the first two games.
Against Miami, it showed that the Heat is really an older team. Shaq is not in shape yet and you've got some age showing on Antoine Walker and Gary Payton.
Then you turn around the next night and you play a team with a strong young center in Dwight Howard who plays like he's been in the league for ten years. Orlando showed they are a young team on the rise.
The Bulls took care of the older team; against the younger team they couldn't match the energy. Tonight with the Kings, we'll see what boost they get from being at home.
Red
It's great to feel the buzz that will be at tonight's opener. The first thing you notice about the Bulls this year is that they have some great pieces to play with. That's a big part of where the excitement surrounding this team comes in.
Ben Wallace is already a centerpiece and a leader on this team. I've watched this club in practice many times this year and it seems to be a team that can work well together and gets along together. The intangibles are definitely there for this team to have a great season.
The excitement we will see at the United Center tonight is what it's all about. I remember it fondly from the Jordan era and now, for the first time since then, we have a legitimate reason to be really excited about this basketball team.
Wayne
The euphoria surrounding the Bulls season-opening route of the Miami Heat lasted only 24 hours before a loss at Orlando brought everyone back to earth. Such is life in the NBA and at Thursday's practice, Scott Skiles and Ben Wallace made sure everyone knew it was time to look ahead.