NBA Preview: Bulls

Recap: So i think its safe to say that everyone had the bulls a tad over rated going into 07. Rightfully so tho, the team was coming off a 49 win season and a 2nd round playoff appearance, hell some people thought they could win the east. Those hopes came crashing down faster than you Bulls fan can say Marcus Fizer. They crawled out of the gate going 2-10, with two 30 point losses. The bulls started out so bad that after 25 games they fired Scott Skiles who was considered to be one of the safer coaches heading into the year. It was clear that the team didnt buy into Skiles is do what i say or ill kill type of coaching style, so after a 9-16 mark assistant Jim Boylan stepped in. The problem is the bulls really didnt play for him either, they never were even within 6 games of .500 and finshed the season with 33 wins. Heres the puzzling thing, the team was healthy for the whole season, Luol Deng was the only player to miss time (19 games) but that should not have been a problem with the amount of depth they had. I feel that all the trade rumors of Kobe heading there got inside the heads of a few players ( Gordon, Deng). I also feel that a lack of team chemistry had something to do with the fall of the Bulls. Or maybe its just that this team is not that good. Henrich and Gordon exceeded expectations in 06 by a wide margin, but both came back done to earth last year. It also didnt help that Ben Wallace forgot how to play basketball, i mean the guy coming in was offensively challanged but the one thing he had was he d, well that along with his head band appears to still be in Detroit. The achilles heal of the bulls was there shooting, they ranked dead last in 2pt field goal % and overall field goal %. If you cant put the ball in the basket your probably not going to win many games. And of course the bulls being as shitty as they were the first half of the season would go out and make a major deal. Honestly i wonder what goes threw a gm mind when they make the deals they do. Did John Paxton really think that Larry Hughes, and Drew Gooden were really gonna bring the bulls back from the basement of the jv league. This was the same guy that when asked about trading for Kobe or KG would dam near punch you in the face, so when the guy finally does make a move its for these two jackass and a couple other cleveland leftovers. Ask LeBrick James what he thinks about Hughes and Gooden and if you can win with them. And just when you thought hey the season is over its the offseason all is gonna be ok, John Paxson the jackass that he is goes out and signs the scrub of all scrubs Vinny Del Negro. Del Negro has no coaching experience what so ever, i mean i wouldnt trust this guy to coach a Boys and Girls youth basketball team.

Strength: Depth. The bulls have so much depth that they could create there own european division of bulls backup players. Each position has a backup that could start on most other teams. PG- Henrich and Rose, SF- Deng and Nocioni, SG- Hughes, Gordon, and Sefolosha, at PF they are undersized with Thomas and Gooden, and at C they again are undersized with Noah and Grey. IF Paxton was smart he would trade away a couple of these guys and get a true 4 or 5 so they dont get completely out rebounded every night.

Weakness: Inside Scoring. If i was a bulls fan i would be searching for Luc Longly right now cause i think he may be better than the guys they have right now in the paint. Thomas is undersized and raw, Gooden has never lived up to the potential he showed while at Kansas, Noah is more of a Hype man than anything, he comes in energizes the team but to say he is a threat in the paint is like saying Ricard Collier is gonna beat Usian Bolt in a race. Now had the bulls had a coach like D'Antoni i would be saying the bulls are a threat because they cane run, but instead they are going to be a boring half court offense that will get out reounded every night and fail to put up alot of points in the paint. Which brings us to the Rose Beasley debate, and who they needed more. I think Beasley becasue he would have provided inside scoring yes he is under sized bt he has a killers mentatily and you already have good gaurds.

Outlook: The bulls are loaded with young talent but young talent doesnt translate to wins, see the 05-06 Celtics. The bulls also take Hughes off the books after this year so the future is bright in Chicago, very bright. But in 08-09 i feel the bulls will struggle, Despite the praise my friend Drew gives D. Rose and how he is a hybrid of CP3 and Derron Williams i dont see it. It generally takes pg a full season to get use to the speed of the league, and it may take Rose longer becasue it took him half a season at college to get going. Rose will be good just not that good. The other problem the bulls face is again there big men suck. They are not gonna move anyone out of the way nor will they get boards which spells trouble. Now of course there are wild cards here, if Del Negro can actually coach the bulls could be a little better than expected, also if Rose comes out and proves me wrong and drops say 14-15 ppg and 6 ass they could make the playoffs. With that said i see the bulls missing the playoffs but man this is a team that could be real scary in a year or 2

Prediction: 35-47