Start the Fire

By: Charlie Danoff

Following the “inmates running the asylum” 2nd benching of Joakim Noah, the Bulls played terrible against a team that hasn’t made the playoffs this millennium. Heading into the 4th quarter versus the Hawks Sunday, they were down 80 - 66. Ben Wallace and Joe Smith had already played most of the night at the PF and C positions. Aside from Noah, the other Bulls big men barely saw the floor as well.

14 points is not an insurmountable lead by NBA standards, but after the Bulls failed to close the gap in the first few minutes, you would think that, even if they were trying to WIN (heaven forbid) the game, that a change of pace might help. Maybe see if Thomas and Gray could get a spark going. Not to mention the fact they were not going to win and playing these kids is the only possible bright spot left for the year.

Following that woeful performance and all the media attention that has been surrounding the Ron Adams “incident,” I thought it would be an appropriate time to examine the Bulls big men. I will do a player-by-player look at the five guys who are a lot taller than you and me.

Ben Wallace

Everybody and their mother has criticized Wallace for his horrendous play this season and rightly so. The man who was supposed to teach this young squad about winning and carry them to the next level has done exactly the opposite. Starting with the “headband” incident, through probably being the biggest player influence on Skiles getting fired Wallace has been a complete, unmitigated disaster.

I will say the Bulls would not have swept the Heat in the first round last year with Tyson in the middle instead of Wallace.

Is one measly playoff round victory enough to make up for $60 million down the tubes?

Of course not. Even though any off-court influence Wallace has had since his arrival has been at best neutral, more likely negative, it would be ignored if he played well. Obviously that has not happened either. This season has to be the low point of an otherwise impressive NBA career. Wallace has finally started rebounding recently, but he is making an absurdly disgusting 32.6% of his field goals.

He does not even make a third of the shots he attempts. Remember also, its not like Wallace is the type of player taking hard 15 foot jumpers over defenders. 71 percent of his attempts are either close to the basket, dunks or tip-ins. Despite only shooting five-footers at most, Wallace is having the worst shooting season of his career. Currently he ranks 379th in the NBA in FG%.

If Wallace were still one of the top defensive players in the NBA (which he is not) it would still be difficult to justify playing him given his offensive output this year. He is as close as an NBA player can come to completely worthless for half of the time he’s on the court. Well, at least his hair always looks nice out there.

Writing on the Noah debacle, Bulls trade expert Sam Smith ended his column with a question:

“Some who know Wallace say he’ll try to play ‘the Man’ role he never really grasped under Skiles. Perhaps that means he’ll respond with better play. Or does he simply hijack the team and have it splinter around him?”

Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to ride on too many planes with Big Ben these days.

Joe Smith

The other half of Jim Boylan’s “veteran” movement, Joe Smith, has actually been playing quite well. Despite being only one year younger than Walllace at 32, Smith has not become a retirement home candidate. One could even make the argument that since the firing, Smith has been the Bulls best player.

While I will not go that far, Smith has had three double-doubles in the ten games since Skiles has departed. He was averaging around 20 minutes/game for most of the season, but in ‘08 he has been playing nearly 34 minutes a night. He has responded, averaging 8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and over 18 points a night in the new year.

His emergence as a reliable scoring option in the frontcourt has been a big reason the Bulls have crawled to a .500 record since Skiles left. Making slightly more than $5 million this season, Smith was an excellent addition this off-season by GM John Paxson.

If you’ve been reading these past few paragraphs and wondering why I am getting so excited over a 32 year old role player, just consider what that says about the rest of the franchise.

Tyrus Thomas

“After prairie fires, the dark surface of the soil is warmed by the sun, and in the spring this helps seeds germinate. Existing plants grow stronger after fires. New seeds carried into the burned soil start new plants. For some plants with hard seed-coats, fire burns some of the seedcoat off the seeds and actually helps the seed germinate faster.” — MuseumLink Illiniois project

Given that Tyrus plays in the “prairie” state, I felt bringing in a little environmental science about one of the state’s greatest wonders would be appropriate. Especially considering Tyrus appears in deadly need of a “fire” to wipe away most of the current Bulls roster.

I would say Tyrus is kind of like one of the “plants with the hard seed coats.” In order to bloom, Tyrus requires all the old plants to move out of the way. I will not argue that Tyrus has been a disappointment since the Bulls drafted him, he is certainly no LeMarcus Aldridge, but it is far to early to call him a “bust.”

He has yet to find his nitch in the NBA, but another young big man the Bulls gave up on, Tyson Chandler, hadn’t found a way to be successful by 21 either. It was not until last year at age 24, after the Bulls traded him, that Tyson finally began playing up to his potential.

I am not trying to say that fans should accept what Tyrus has given them so far. Clearly, the kid needs to step up in a HUGE way. It is just that for whatever reason, big men take a lot longer to develop in the NBA. And maybe, especially given the Chandler situation, former coach Scott Skiles was just not the guy to help Tyrus reach his potential.

Could Jim Boylan do it? Well he would have to play him first. In the 9 games since Boylan took over, Tyrus has played a combined 83 minutes. I realize it has to be maddeningly frustrating to watch Tyrus put up 14 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks one night against the Kings, and then to follow it up next game vs. the Knicks shooting 1 for 7 with only 5 rebounds. Especially given that Boylan played him the same number of minutes both nights.

Tyrus is a project. He is an unknown gem that could be fool’s gold or a diamond. He is a frigging hard-seeded plant. But all of this was known when the Bulls took him. The reason Paxson chose him instead of Aldridge was a gamble on the player Tyrus could become in the future, not the player he was or is in the present.

As it stands now, the bet still could very well pay off. Most people tend to learn a thing or two and change as they age past 21.

Joakim Noah

Earlier this season I did an article on the young big man focusing on what he brings to the table as a prospect and what his future may hold. My editor criticized me then for printing the piece too early, given Noah’s lack of playing time and he was right. As it stands now, even after his latest incident, Joakim still leads all rookies in PER. Even if you feel far too much faith is placed in convoluted statistics like PER, that is still impressive relative to his fellow rookies. Other than that, I’ll wait till Noah plays a few more minutes than 331 to re-evaluate.

Aaron Gray

The Bulls big white hope, or as Comcast analyst Kendall Gill calls him “Big Sexy” has had one of the strangest seasons in recent memory. Following a strong preseason where he even started a few games, Gray barely played during the Bulls horrific start. Despite the fact the team’s most debilitating weakness was their lack of inside scoring, and Gray is their best low-post scorer, he continued to ride the pine.

It was not until a three game stretch in late December where he averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds in 25 minutes, shooting a inverse-Wallace-esque 64% from the floor, that he got consistent minutes. When he plays, the entire rhythm and flow of the Bulls offense changes. The ball is worked into the low post and then back out as players work together to get the best shot.

Many times that best shot is an attempt on the blocks from Gray. It usually is a good move, as Gray has the highest FG% on the team.

Since that mid-December stretch, Gray’s minutes have returned to randomness. The strangest game was last week’s loss to the Knicks. Gray came into the game in the first half and responded strongly to extended (for him) minutes. Playing only 600 seconds, Gray scored 12 points on 5-6 shooting. Through some strange twist of coaching logic, Boylan then decided to sit him the rest of the game. Think the Bulls could have used some easy points in their five-point loss to the worst team in the East?

After the loss, Boylan said: “I don’t think I did a very good job of managing our team.”

Ya think Jim?

Conclusion

As this season painfully drags on, one has to hope against hope Boylan will see the light and play his talented trio of young big men more. They are really the team’s best hope for future success. Playing Smith and Wallace extended minutes may earn the team a trip to the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed, but is a first round exit really what this team needs? The only explanation that makes sense for playing these old dudes so much is that Paxson is trying to market them for trades. If that is the case it is acceptable. Just get a move on Pax. Start the fire, otherwise all your young plants may die before they even get the chance to bloom.

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Charlie is an aspiring writer and a caddy at Skokie Country Club. Odds are you will hear a lot about him in the years to come, so if you want to be the first kid on the block familiar with his work, click here.

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  1. [...] you know what that means, another plea for a lineup change here at CSR: As this season painfully drags on, one has to hope against hope Boylan will see the [...]

    Pingback by Bulls Season In Review - Part 4 | NationalSportsReview.com on April 24, 2008

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