Now we’ve seen it with our own eyes. Ben Wallace really can’t make a free throw. How the heck do you practice or play basketball for several hours just about every day of the year for 11 professional seasons and remain unable to aim straight from 15 feet? That’s our $15 million-a-year prize?
So the Bulls got another Tyson Chandler, but smaller?
Turnovers, get your turnovers! The United Center is going to look like a bakery this season, with turnovers flying all over the place given the offense the Bulls run, which is quite impressive. They do more cutting than a high school senior, and there’s enough movement to qualify for dancing with Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice. None of that drop-it-in-and-stand-around-and-watch stuff. Better for the fan, not so easy for the coach.
If Casey Stengel saw the Bulls, he might ask, “Can’t anybody here make a shot?”
They don’t have a pure guard who has shot 43 percent in a season. The combined career shooting averages of their guards is below 40 percent. The highest career shooting percentage among the starters is Wallace’s 48.2, and no one has ever seen him make a layup.
It’s unlikely anyone will average 20 points per game, generally regarded as the cutoff line for great talent . . . or Wallace’s total while playing alone in a gym for an hour.
Two rookies likely will be in the rotation. There are seven new players, and it’s now the ninth season and counting since they’ve won a playoff series.
So where is this Bulls team going to finish?
On top of the Eastern Conference would be my guess.
And, no, I never drink Kool-Aid, red or otherwise.
Yes, this 2006-07 Bulls team has flaws. So does Catherine Zeta-Jones. No team is perfect. Heck, the 1995-96 Bulls lost about two games every month. Michael Jordan missed the majority of his game-winning attempts, though probably not against the Jazz.
Despite the blemishes, the face of these Bulls is very nice.
They look like the league’s best defensive team, and that starts with Wallace. He’s here for defense, and his presence is worth almost as much as his activity. When a big man who is respected and knows how to play is on the back line, your guards don’t foul as much because they don’t have to reach.
Instead, they can run out.
The Bulls won’t have to get steals to fast-break, though they showed in the exhibition season that they’ll use full-court pressure in certain situations. With their speed and long-armed defenders, it will be disrupting. Welcome back, Dobermans.
They also can fast-break off missed baskets with the guards and forwards, especially when Andres Nocioni and Luol Deng play together and Wallace is cleaning the boards. Wallace can outlet quickly, and the Bulls have shown they’ll score often that way.
So much for all that four-on-five stuff with Wallace. Hey, Bill Russell couldn’t shoot either, and it didn’t seem to hurt the old Celtics. And Ben seems grouchy again, as if he has something to prove after leaving Detroit.
Though the Bulls have built their roster with hard-working, motivated players, it doesn’t hurt that several, such as Deng, Nocioni, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, are coming into contract seasons. You get your enthusiasm wherever you can.
Though just a rookie, Tyrus Thomas has shown he could bring the oohs and aahs back to the United Center with his leaping.
We might not be talking dynasty here–for that you need someone like Michael Jordan–and Wallace really has just a few good seasons left. The Bulls hope Thomas develops into a replacement for him and that the chance to swap first-round picks with the Knicks in the June draft yields a big man.
But there is always the chance for a magical season now.
The Bulls’ drive-and-kick offense is a delight for purists. There’s constant motion and few contested shots–basketball one of the ways it should be played. The Bulls attack the offensive boards and will get enough extra shots to make up for the lack of a big scorer.
And there’s even an advantage to not having an elite scorer the caliber of Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James. The truth is they are not great defenders and they require big minutes. And as we saw last summer with Team USA, in tight times they can revert to their comfort zone, which doesn’t include defense.
Bulls coach Scott Skiles has no such problem. He has no one, perhaps beyond Wallace, who has to be in the game. And Wallace is there strictly to defend. So if you’re not defending and not hustling, you’re not playing. It’s the strongest motivation. Skiles is a terrific game coach and strategist. Given that latitude, it plays to his demanding strengths. And Skiles has shown he’s not hesitant to use his bench.
With the rookies, the Bulls will put out an active, athletic second unit that figures to overwhelm the reserves from the best teams because teams with several high-salaried stars cannot afford to spend much on a bench.
The Bulls aren’t very big, and it’s supposed to be a big man’s game? Not so much anymore.
“The speed guard is back in our league because of the rule changes,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s one reason a lot of teams are going to that. And I think the other reason is that there aren’t a lot of great bigs in our league.
“When you look at it, which one would you rather play? You should play your best five players, and if four of them are smalls … Now coaches are thinking, if I have the right guys, why can’t I play small? I think a lot of teams are starting to view it that way.”
Two years ago, the Suns went from 29 wins to 62 wins after adding stellar free agent Steve Nash and overwhelming teams with their speed on offense. The Bulls were a last-place team in their division until the last few days of last season. Can they win 55 or 60 games? Why not?
It’s not like this is the Eastern Conference of the 1980s and ’90s. Does anyone see a team the Bulls should fear? The only thing to fear is the schedule, with 10 of the first 13 games on the road. If they can get through that stretch competitively, there isn’t even a two-game trip until February.
“A lot of things have to converge at one time, some lucky breaks, shots go in and you’re rolling, and at some point you expect to win and the other team expects you to win,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Like the old Bulls.”
And the new Bulls? It could happen.
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sasmith@tribune.com
