With seven new players, Bulls coach Scott Skiles has said he might begin as early as Wednesday’s exhibition opener against Washington to try to establish a rotation.
In another breath, he has talked about being cognizant of possibly playing into late May or even June and the inherent need to keep players fresh.
These goals, to use a Bulls analogy, would seem to be as conflicting as the philosophies of Tim Floyd and Charles Oakley. Not so, Skiles insists. And here’s why: The rotation could go 12 deep.
“We’re a pretty deep team,” Skiles said after practice Monday. “The fact we may play a lot of guys on Wednesday may end up how we play. We may play 10, 11, 12 guys most of the season.
“I’d like the guys to settle into some sort of routine they can expect every game. We have so many guys who are good players, but all do something a little bit different that nobody really jumps way in front of anybody. We think that’s a strength, our versatility. I’d be foolish if I don’t try to use all that.”
Skiles certainly has in the past.
Jannero Pargo, now with New Orleans/Oklahoma City, helped win games last season after needing directions from the bench to the court because he hadn’t played for so long. Eric Piatkowski, now with Phoenix, had 25 DNP-CDs before making minor contributions down the stretch.
Expect similar situations this season.
“There may be two or three guys that are very valuable to our team that play for a week and the next week don’t play that much,” Skiles said. “But they’re there when we need them and for certain matchups, we’ll get them out there. We’re trying to sort all that out now. It’s very difficult.”
Perhaps the largest difficulty is getting players to buy into Skiles’ spread-the-wealth system. Dangling the carrot of a long postseason run works. So does signing players who welcome competition.
“It is more competitive this way,” guard Ben Gordon said. “You really have to earn your minutes. I’ve been other places where you played regardless of if you’re playing poorly or not.
“This way, everybody stays ready. It helps the team, too, because guys can come in and play hard for longer periods of time because they know someone else could be coming in. They can pick up their intensity.”
Then again, there are times when Gordon will play, say, entire fourth quarters.
“If a guy has a hot hand, he’s going to ride it out,” Gordon said. “Coach doesn’t discriminate. If you’re on the team, he’s going to use you at some point. Everybody really gets a chance.”
Layups
Malik Allen left practice early after jamming his left thumb. He underwent an MRI but said he expects to play Wednesday. . . . Skiles said guard Kirk Hinrich would play less Wednesday than during Sunday’s exhibition at Kansas, his alma mater. “He’s a star there,” Skiles said, smiling. “At least that’s what they tell me.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
