What the hell happened to them? They stayed with the same cast except for getting Wallace and ridding themselves of Chandler. Do they miss Tyson Chandler this much?
When Wallace is in the game, the Bulls are basically playing 4 on 5. He was a perfect fit in Detroit because that team was really well balanced and efficient on offense. Wallace could focus all of his attention on rebounding and defense, which is the only thing at which he's good. Basically, the things he does well don't make up for all the things he doesn't do well. Plus, overall, their defense isn't that good. They're in the bottom half of the league in defensive FG%, point differential, and assist differential. Defense is a team effort, and one good defensive player doesn't make a good defensive team. The recent Bulls teams have been notorious for slow starts, though, so I think they'll come back. It IS the East, after all...
They were like the top team last year in opponent FG% and what we've seen this year so far is one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Very ironic considering they brought Wallace and his 4 time winning defensive presence to improve their defense.
they are still a dangerous team. the makeup of that team is one that depends on chemistry. right now they have none. they havbe a lot of tradable pieces. i wouldn't be surprised to see them make a 2 or 3-for-1 deal which brings is a real scoring option.
Their team chemistry is shot. Part of it (IMO) is the Skiles vs. Ben Gordon thing. Gordon has been good in 4 games and garbage in the others. He needs to be traded because it just isn't working out. I bet he sets the league on fire with a new team. The have no low post scoring presence and rely too much on outside shooting. Their defense has been hot and cold. At times their D looks fantastic but the dark cloud over their team has prevented them being consistent enough to win games and overcome their offense. Losing Tyson Chandler has nothing to do with it. That trade was good for him and the Bulls. Ben Wallace has been disappointing and isn't playing with the huge energy he's known for. Tyrus Thomas is doing about what I expected (not much). Here are my solutions: 1 Trade Ben Gordon. Should have happened last season. He and Skiles will never mesh. 2 Trade either Nocioni or Deng. They must commit to either player and let the other one go. Both players are wanting to break out and are in each other's way. 3 Have a heart to heart with Big Ben and find out what's going on. He's starting to seem like a chronic malcontent who doesn't buy into a coach's leadership. Would Minnesota accept Gordon + Deng or Nocioni + their lottery pick in 2007 for KG? It's still too early to give up on them. If the Bulls make the playoffs and bring the "A" game, they can still make the Finals. But it's clear they have some serious lockerroom that have to be resolved.
yup,exactly the same thing i thought,Trade for KG Big ben and KG will be a great combination,Forget about Greg
Good points by various posters here. The Wallace deal by the Bulls was a horrendous move. The guy's ability is one-dimensional, his deficiencies in other parts of the game in stark contrast become liability. Not much an upgrade from Tyson Chandler. Wallace's age will start to get him sooner or later, besides, you really can't teach an old dog new tricks. Chandler has more upside, demands less money, and should have been a keeper. The way Scott Skiles has been coaching, he doesn't have in him -- call it flair if you will -- what it takes to lead an average+ team to the upper echlon. OTOH, there appears to be a good deal of overlap of some "talent" on this Bulls team, so much so that it becomes management headache for the head coach.
Bulls spent a bunch of money but didnt address their need for a scorer that commands a double team. Wallace is just a better version of Chandler. I wonder if they make another move before the trade deaadline. They have a bunch of nice pieces to play with.
Those last two stats have little to do with defense. Entering the Philly game, they were 3rd overall in defensive efficiency, giving up 102.9 points per every hundred possessions. Last year, they gave up 104.4. Solid improvement. Their issue is consistency -- they consistently play like crap in one area every game. They shut down the Lakers, but can't score. They move the ball and score well against Cleveland, but can't defend. They slow the Kings to a crawl, something like 50 points after the first 30 minutes, but can't hit a jumper to save their life. They shoot 55 percent against Philly, but give up a horrible 123 points. All the while, Wallace is horrid, they have no team leader, Skiles is Doc Rivers-like with the rotations ... The team needs an a-hole. Skiles isn't going to work, and Wallace has more or less retired. These guys like playing the underdog so much, that it gets to them, and nobody has anything to say when they go down 12 points after the first eight minutes. After the Philly debacle, they're now 13th in defensive efficiency, giving up 105.2 points per hundred possessions. Pathetic. A ten-team drop in one night. EDIT: Oh, and NOOCH is now 7th in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage after finishing 22nd last year. Lessee, what change created that? Replacing Desmond Mason with Peja Stojakovic? Or could it be the 23-year old seven-footer Chicago gave up on?
west coastlitis. Ever since they went on the little west cost thanksgiving trip, they have been sick. I expect a lot of least teams to catch that disease.
Man, Chicago has given up on some a couple of young talents in recent history. They traded Brand for Curry or Chandler to go young, and now basically Chandler for Wallace for veteran leadership. I also think the long road trip (because the Circus is in town) has hurt them. It was surprising to see them get beaten down by Philly, but then I realized CWebb wasn't playing, so it made more sense. But really, the Bulls don't seam too bad in the sucky East. They're a decent 3-3 vs the East and 0-6 vs the West. So they just have to wait until their schedule balances out with more home games and more East games. That said, I wouldn't be surprised either if they made a big trade. I've never liked Skiles. I remember watching Oprah about 9 years ago when his wife was on and basically hinted at spousal abuse. She wouldn't go so far as to say it outright, but was tearing up badly...you could tell. Maybe I'm way off, but it seems like Skiles brings his disciplinarian coaching style home with him, the rare times that he is home, according to his wife. A man like that shouldn't be married in my opinion.
Kelly, you know the Bulls better than I do, but me and my brother (who lives in Chicago) got tired of Chandler's lack of development. He needs to add some pounds and gain a little strength. Since I missed the Rockets game and haven't seen him play one time this year, maybe he's done that. After 3-4 years of flat lining, the Bulls understandably ran out of patience. But perhaps they pulled the trigger a year too soon. Big Ben disgusts me. He's making the Bulls pay him for what he accomplished with the Pistons. I still expect him to get his act together eventually. His 0/0 against Philly should make Big Ben feel ashamed of himself! Kim, I've followed Skiles since his Plymouth HS team played in the Indiana state finals way back. He is one of the most intense people the NBA has ever seen. As a player at MSU and in the NBA and unforgettably when coaching the Suns, his intensity can be over the top and rub normal human beings the wrong way. I hope your suspicions about his wife aren't true. Seems like when he was hired by the Bulls, Skiles implied he would handle things differently.
They need a scorer for one thing, and they do need more help on the inside. I think Swetney is also not there this year, nor is O Harrington.
It puts things in perspective.. Imagine you switch Wallace with Yao. They would be instant contender right there!
And he'll still win defensive player of the year no matter what he does, even though guys like KG ,Dwight Howard and AK47 are just as good defesively while still contributing on offense instead of just camping around the basket for rebounds and cheap weakside blocks.
