We thought it might be a good idea to take an in-depth look at a couple of teams every day leading up to the start of the regular season.

Discussion topics can include, but are not limited to: roster makeup, offseason acqusitions/losses, likely rotation, playoff chances, strengths/weaknesses, coaching, best players, bench strength, team needs, cap room/available exceptions, etc.

http://www.mobilook.com/Images/NBATeamLogos/ChicagoBulls1-176x220.gif

2007-08 Roster
NUM PLAYER POS HT WT DOB FROM YRS
11 Andre Barrett G 5-10 173 02/21/1982 Seton Hall 3
20 JamesOn Curry G 6-3 190 01/07/1986 Oklahoma State R
9 Luol Deng F-G 6-9 220 04/16/1985 Duke 3
21 Chris Duhon G 6-1 185 08/31/1982 Duke 3
31 Thomas Gardner G 6-5 225 02/08/1985 Missouri R
7 Ben Gordon G 6-3 200 04/04/1983 Connecticut 3
34 Aaron Gray C 7-0 270 12/07/1984 Pittsburgh R
44 Adrian Griffin G-F 6-5 230 07/04/1974 Seton Hall 8
12 Kirk Hinrich G 6-3 190 01/02/1981 Kansas 4
51 Jared Homan F-C 6-10 250 03/06/1983 Iowa State R
38 Viktor Khryapa F 6-9 218 08/03/1982 Russia 3
13 Joakim Noah F-C 6-11 232 02/25/1985 Florida R
5 Andres Nocioni F 6-7 225 11/30/1979 Argentina 3
2 Thabo Sefolosha G 6-7 215 05/02/1984 Switzerland 1
32 Joe Smith F 6-10 225 07/26/1975 Maryland 12
24 Tyrus Thomas F 6-8 215 08/17/1986 Louisiana State 1
3 Ben Wallace - C C 6-9 240 09/10/1974 Virginia Union 11

HEAD COACH
Scott Skiles (College - Michigan State)

LEAD ASSISTANT COACH
Jim Boylan (College - Marquette)

ASSISTANT COACHES
Ron Adams (College - Fresno Pacific, Fresno State)
Pete Myers (College - Arkansas-Little Rock)

ASSISTANT COACH/ADVANCE SCOUT
Mike Wilhelm (College - Southampton)

STRENGTH-AND-CONDITIONING COACH
Erik Helland (College - Wisconsin-Eau Claire)

ATHLETIC TRAINER
Fred Tedeschi (College - University of the Pacific)

Discuss.

Unless their guards grew a few inches over the offseason, they're going to have problems beating teams with big guards (namely ours).

They also badly need offense from their bigs, and I don't think Varejao helps them in that area much. Their best offensive big man is Joe Smith.

This team scares me a bit.

their 3 rising stars in Deng,hinrich and Gordon are only getting more experienced. Too bad the rest of their team cant score more than 10 points.

they got alot of young players and assets. Paxon should look to move noah or TT with either Noc or Thabo and Duhon Gordon or Hinrich for Gasol or someone who can score in the paint. Noah,TT,Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith aren't really known to score in the post, especially against guys like Sheed, KG or Duncan.

Also Tyrus is going to be the Bulls version of the pistons maxiell.

top 3 team in the east. If they get unlucky and play us inthe first round, we should take them in 6 games.

They should scare a lot of people just not the Pistons.

Their big 3 got their asses kicked by Billups, Rip and Prince, mainly because they all got posted up at will.

To teams that can't slow the tempo though, they are really dangerous. Arguably the best jumpshooting team in the NBA.

Totally agree about their jump shooting prowess, they are fiyah.

That said, we all know the "live by it, die by it" cliche, but they don't really have a choice without any significant low post scoring.

Noah was a questionable pick IMO, since he'll duplicate a lot of the stuff that Ben gives them, and nobody is going to trade for Ben's contract, so they'll have that problem for a while too (the duplication). I think they thought he was the best big available and just went for him, good fit or not.

If Deng continues to improve, then he's going to be a big time star. I'd like to say that they will become "his team" but I don't see the fire or leadership from him that he would need to make that happen, seems kind of soft-spoken. A stud in any case.

As far as coaching, I'm the opposite of a Scott Skiles fan. His teams always seem to have that underlying discontent to them. I suspect that this year's Bulls won't be any different.

It seems like Duhon and Gordon have both been rumored to be on the trade block for years now, so is it finally going to happen? I would suspect that Duhon is the most likely piece of trade bait on the current roster.

Thomas is silly athletic, and if he can get his head straight, he could be an x-factor for them.

I'm nonplussed by the Joe Smith signing, although it was a weak-ass free agent class. It just seems like a trade might have been a better option to fill that need.

I see a similar playoff demise for the Bulls this season unless Paxson shakes up this roster a bit more to balance it out.

#1 or #2 in the Central this year is my guess.

With the way things have been for us in the past couple seasons, Bulls over Pistons in 6 in the ECF IMO.

The Bulls are going to give us trouble this season. Last season seemed like a year they took their lumps and now they're a bit more seasoned. Their penetration is going to drive us insane again. Lucky for us, they usually look for the drive and kick out, but when they're on it means trouble for us.

I'm not terrified of the Noah pick, but I do think he'll be underrated. Offensively inept, but he'll really do all the little things when Ben's on the bench and as Ben gets older.

I wouldn't say their big 3 got their asses kicked. 2 of the big 3, but Deng was holding his own against us. He's the only guy on that roster that consistantly scares me.

I agree that Thomas is going to be their version of Max, only Thomas is going to be all over the boards for them. If he ever figures it all out he's going to be scary to play against.

Skiles just seems like that hard-nosed coach that just starts to get on your nerves after a while. The type that keeps pushing his players even when its obvious the team need him to lay off a bit. Its great for a few years, helps push people to their potential, but then eventually they start to tune you out.

I wouldn't say their big 3 got their asses kicked. 2 of the big 3, but Deng was holding his own against us. He's the only guy on that roster that consistantly scares me.

I agree that Thomas is going to be their version of Max, only Thomas is going to be all over the boards for them. If he ever figures it all out he's going to be scary to play against.

Skiles just seems like that hard-nosed coach that just starts to get on your nerves after a while. The type that keeps pushing his players even when its obvious the team need him to lay off a bit. Its great for a few years, helps push people to their potential, but then eventually they start to tune you out.

Zekyl, that sounds strangely familiar...

Yeah, only Skiles isn't as good at it.

Real's headline or teaser for the article is


Deng More Likely To Get Extension Than Gordon




Lu two: Deng getting time at guard

A FUN EXPERIMENT | Bulls forward says he's having a good time at position


October 15, 2007
BY BRIAN HANLEY bhanley@suntimes.com
Having 6-9 forward Luol Deng get some minutes at guard was in Bulls coach Scott Skiles' plans.
Just not this quickly.

http://media1.suntimes.com/multimedia/101507bull.jpg_20071015_03_35_44_116-116-165.imageContent (http://javascript<b></b>:dc_popup_win('http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketball/bulls/603365,101507bulls.fullimage', 'fullimage', 'toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,m enubar=no,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,width=650,hei ght=650')) Coach Scott Skiles says Luol Deng has done a good job at shooting guard in two preseason games.
(AP)But nagging injuries to shooting guards Ben Gordon (sprained left ankle) and Thabo Sefolosha (right hamstring) have sped up the experiment, with Deng spending stretches of the first two preseason games at the position.
Skiles suggested the transition was more difficult for the rest of the team than it was for Deng, the Bulls' starting small forward.
''Lu didn't do anything to hurt himself,'' Skiles said after practice Sunday. ''The other guys I don't know were cognizant that he was in the game at the two, which is a little bit scary because it's been twice already.
''I guess the silver lining of the Ben and Thabo injuries has been the fact that I can slide [Deng] over there and get a few minutes and kind of play out of it.''
Neither Gordon nor Sefolosha practiced Sunday. Skiles said he did not anticipate Sefolosha's injury, in particular, to keep him out as long as it has. He was injured during a scrimmage Oct. 7. Gordon rolled his ankle last Monday.
Deng said he has enjoyed playing guard.
''It's been fun,'' he said. ''We're just trying to see a bigger lineup. To be honest, there are just a few sets that differentiate the two and the three, so I don't think it makes that much difference.
''When I move to the two, we've been going down low and taken advantage of smaller guys on me. So far it's been good for us, getting teams in foul trouble. Maybe in the season it will be a lot different. We just have to keep trying to see how it works out for the team.''
With only 16 days until the league deadline of Oct. 31 to complete contract extensions, Deng said he remains hopeful he and the Bulls will come to terms. A source close to the situation said it appears more likely that the team will work out something with Deng than with Gordon, who also is eligible for an extension of up to five years.
Alternating between forward and guard hasn't hindered Deng's offense. He leads the team through two games with an average of 14 points. He tied for game-high honors with 18 points in only 21 minutes -- on 6-for-7 shooting -- in a 100-92 victory over Dallas on Friday.
''I worked on my shot,'' said Deng, who has made 11 of 16 field-goal attempts. ''But last summer I spent a lot more time on my shot than I did this summer. I worked on other things this summer. I just think I'm playing with a lot of confidence right now.''
And Skiles is confident that he need not worry too much about playing Deng in the backcourt.
''I'm not real concerned about Lu specifically at that spot,'' Skiles said. ''The two-guards in the league that can guard him should be able to post him up some. It's just a matter of whether we can recognize, while the game is going on without a timeout, that there is a small [defender] on him and run him down there.
''We're doing a decent job through two games of looking for him down there. But the moment a guy checks into the game, in a more regular-season setting, I would take control and make sure that we knew [there was a matchup advantage]. All of that can't fall to me at this stage of our development as a team. The guys on the floor have to recognize that.''
Deng might have been aided Friday by the fact the Mavericks had 6-7 Josh Howard and 6-6 Jerry Stackhouse defending him.
''Early on in Lu's career, the guys who gave him trouble defensively were guys that were running off of multiple screens,'' Skiles said. ''But not so much anymore. He's a lot stronger than he was and he's a lot more clever and he's adept at using his length, so we don't see that as a big deal. We think he can guard almost any two.''

Interesting.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=63697&src=150


Before the Bulls elected team captains Wednesday, coach Scott Skiles asked which players were interested in running for the office.

Ben Wallace, a sure winner, kept his hand down. So the Bulls will have just two captains this year -- Kirk Hinrich and 22-year-old Luol Deng. Hinrich was elected for the fourth time, while Deng is new to the job.

"It's their time," Wallace said. "They're on the way in. I'm on the way out. I haven't got that much time left. Let these guys step up and fill those shoes."

Team captain in the NBA is largely a ceremonial position. Besides going out to meet with the referees before a game, there aren't many required duties.

"The captain goes out on the floor and leads the team," Wallace said. "Even in tough situations, he shows that there's no kinks in his armor, that he's going to continue to fight for his team until the end."

That last quote is pretty interesting from a guy that just turned down the opportunity to be a captain.

If the Bulls do, in fact, get involved in the Kobe sweepstakes, Ben's got to be going to LA. He might even volunteer.

Wallace, Noah hurt ankles, Thomas injures foot in Bulls' victory

I don't think Noah and TT will be out for long but Big Ben might be out with a sprained ankle...and his age is catching up to him so that might take more time to heal

I heard Aaron Gray could be the starting PF for this team...unbelievable cosidering they drafted one in the 1st round each of the last 2 years and signed one in free agency...

I agree, w/ Cross, Ben is getting older and still is useless from an offensive standpoint, especially since this team has nobody that can score in their frontcourt...they should win at least 45, and be better than cleveland, but I don't think they have enough offense to make a legit run at a Title