Eighty minutes before tipoff Monday, Kirk Hinrich was asked if he had met the Junkyard Dog.
“Who?” Hinrich said.
That’s the nickname of Jerome Williams, Hinrich’s new teammate. “Not yet,” Hinrich said, when recognition hit. “I will later.”
Such was the order of things at the United Center, where a new Bulls coach led a new-look team into what general manager John Paxson hopes is a new era.
Fielding a team that could have worn name tags, the Bulls responded to Scott Skiles’ demand for more intensity with a 97-87 home victory over Milwaukee.
The Bulls got huge games from Jamal Crawford, with 30 points and eight assists, and new Bulls Williams and Antonio Davis to make Skiles’ debut successful.
“Our activity on defense and our ability to get out on the break won the game for us,” Skiles said. “You could call this a honeymoon game. But I don’t think so.”
At the tail end of a whirlwind day that included passing physicals in the morning, Williams posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Davis added 11 points and five boards.
“I’m going to definitely miss my Dog Pound in Toronto,” said the ultra-hyper Williams. “But I’m looking forward to hearing what the dogs have to say here.”
The Bulls, who also got 22 points from Eddy Curry, were playing at home for the first time since Nov. 15. Skiles went to work Friday, beginning a three-day mini-training camp. Saturday, Paxson pulled the trigger on a six-player trade.
Knowing that familiarity would be impossible, Skiles implored his team to “forget the X’s and O’s. … We have to become competitive from an effort standpoint.”
Skiles received applause from the crowd of 17,140 when introduced before the game. So did Davis and Williams when they checked in during the first and early in the second quarters, respectively.
“I don’t call myself a savior,” Davis said. “But hopefully effort will be enough to help this team, whether that’s on the floor or in the locker room.”
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Edited by Phillip Thompson (plthompson@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
