Chicago Bulls: Style of Play Does Not Match Personnel

I've been thinking a lot lately about what has gone wrong with the Chicago Bulls and why. Upon taking over, John Paxson made it very clear that he was going to build around players with winning backgrounds who will work hard and stay out of trouble. It was looked upon as an honorable thing to do, and everyone supported the idea from the start.

Although many believe that these players are too soft, I don't think this is the real problem for the Bulls. Paxson wants his teams to play tough perimeter defense and on offense execute in half court sets. This is where the flaw is: his players don't fit the style of play he wants. To play tough, active perimeter defense you need big, versatile guards that can defend on the perimeter. To execute in half court sets, you need either a big man that can score with his back to the basket or a wing player that can consistently score off the dribble. The Bulls have none of these things.

So as Chicago had varied success with this for three seasons, once the team tuned out Skiles and began to forget about the ideals they had stressed (toughness, high energy, execution), they began to fall apart. Although the players never fit the style Paxson and Skiles wanted to play, Skiles' superior coaching masked this problem. Once the players put Skiles aside and tried to play differently, it all came crashing down.

So now, either the Bulls need to change their style or vision of how they will play (keep the players) or keep these ideals and change the players to make it work.

Off Day NBA Thoughts

On a Bulls off day and only one game occuring tonight, I wanted to record some random league thoughts I had:

-During Scott Skiles’ three full seasons as the Bulls head coach, the team has started off very slowly. It is probably impossible to determine if this is the fault of the players, coaches, management, scheduling or a combination of all, but it certainly is frustrating for everyone involved. In the 2004-05 season, the Bulls lost their first nine games and after 15 games they were only 2-13. In 2005-06, after ten games the teams record was 5-5. Last season, the Bulls were 3-7 after ten games and started the season with a 3-9 record before they turned things around. The Bulls have an important week ahead of them (Clippers, Pistons, Raptors) before they begin a six game road stand. They need to pickup their play very quickly, starting tomorrow night when they face the Clippers.

-Richard Jefferson certainly looks healthy for the first time in awhile after only playing in 55 regular season games last season. Jefferson scored 29 points in his first game against the Bulls, 27 against the Raptors, and 22 in his most recent game at Philadelphia.

-Kevin Durant has the chance to easily win the Rookie of the Year this season. With limited talent around him on Seattle's roster, Durant will be taking a great deal of shots and will play a lot of minutes. After three games, he has taken more than 19 shots more than the next player on his team.

-A key reason for the Wizards struggles so far this season is the amount of turnovers committed by their key players. Caron Butler leads the league in turnovers per game and Gilbert Arenas is in fifth in that category.

-Chris Paul looks like he's ready to take back the position of top rookie in the 2005 class from Deron Williams. Paul is fearless going to the basket and looks like he has improved his perimeter shooting. In addition, he has been getting to the free throw line a great deal.

-I don't want to hear anything more about the Bulls not playing with enough "energy". Their failures this season go much further than effort or energy concerns. Ben Wallace has not put up big rebounding numbers once this year, Tyrus Thomas continues to play inconsistently, Luol Deng has not shot the ball well from the field, Andres Nocioni is taking too many three point shots, Ben Gordon has not shown a sense of urgency until the second half, Kirk Hinrich has struggled from the field and picked up too many fouls, and Joe Smith appears to just be getting back into playing shape. They have not won a game yet this year because of a lack of energy, but because they have not executed well.

Bulls Plan to Get Inside Scoring By Committee

After losing their second round playoff series to the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls general manager, John Paxson, explained that they clearly have a need for someone who can score in the post in order to advance further next season. This immediately started trade rumors that had the Bulls acquiring Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, and others. With the league's summer camps now over and teams getting ready to focus on the season ahead, it is becoming more likely that the Bulls will stick to their current roster.

At the power forward position Joe Smith, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, and Andres Nocioni will all share time. Smith is projected to start at the position and Nocioni will play at that spot sparingly when they want to go with a small lineup. Thomas and Noah may also spend some time backing up Ben Wallace at the center spot.

Here are my projections for the these four guys when they spend time at the power forward position for the Bulls:

Name, Minutes, Points, Rebounds
Joe Smith, 22, 10, 6
Tyrus Thomas, 16, 8, 6
Joakim Noah, 5, 4, 3
Andres Nocioni, 5, 4, 2

So during the 48 minutes of a game, the Bulls project out to get 26 points and 17 rebounds from the power forward position. The idea of having a problematic position be filled by a group of strong role players may work well for the Bulls. Each of these four guys plays with a great deal of energy and provides unique individual talents.

The Bulls certainly hope that the 2007 Pepsi Pro Summer League will be a sign of things to come for Thomas, where he averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds per game, while being named to the First-Team All-Summer League team. Long-term, if Thomas can continue to develop into a reliable power forward, then the Bulls problems may be solved without having to give up any of their assets. Looking at next year, Thomas should be able to provide great help off the bench for Skiles when he looks to spell Smith of minutes. He brings the ability to block shots and play above the rim, skills that Smith no longer can provide well. At the same time, Smith will provide spirts of strong post play and competent post defense.

Noah will be another wildcard for Skiles because his game is still very raw. Undoubtedly, Noah will bring great shot blocking and energy and any offense he can bring will be seen as a bonus. Nocioni's ability to play big allows Skiles to move to a smaller and quicker lineup. I assume that Skiles will look to do this in short stints during a game.

Although these four guys cannot bring what a Jermaine O'Neal or Kevin Garnett can bring to a team, they should be able to form a nice combination at the power forward spot each night. The Bulls big men will certainly be upgraded with a healthy Nocioni, development of Thomas, and the additions of Smith and Noah. Hopefully, at the end of next season, Paxson will not be again quoted as saying that their offseason priority is a scoring big man.