December 2, 2003
Chicago Hope
The Scott Skiles era has begun in Chicago, and I don't think there's been this much love in one place since Woodstock. As the new-look Bulls ran the Bucks out of the gym last night, there was an excitement at the United Center that hasn't been there since You Know Who retired. And I'm not trying to make any comparisons to MJ here or even say that the Bulls are great -- they still have a long way to go. However, with one game under his belt, Skiles has already made two great moves that should make this team immediately better and more fun to watch. The first is that he appears to have almost entirely scrapped the archaic and dreaded triangle offense, which clearly only works if you have some of the best players in the league to run it and Phil Jackson and Tex Winter to coach it. The second great move Skiles has made is somewhat of an offshoot of the first. He moved Jamal Crawford to shooting guard, but more importantly, he has taken the reigns off the offense and given players like Crawford the freedom to operate. In his first game removed from the shackles of the triangle, Crawford exploded for perhaps his best game ever, dropping 30 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists on Milwaukee. The funny thing is, neither of these moves by Skiles are exactly strokes of genius, and they should have been made a long time ago. It makes you wonder whether former coach Bill Cartwright didn't have the freedom to make them or was just too stubborn to do so.
While it appears that everything is honeydew and maple syrup in Chi-town, there might be a bit of drama unfolding behind the scenes. After last night's game, Bulls' forward Scottie Pippen commented that Crawford, Eddy Curry and Kirk Hinrich are the future of the Bulls' franchise. He's right, but he made a noticeable omission: Tyson Chandler. Granted, Chandler is out with an injured back, so he clearly wasn't on Pippen's mind, but I can't help but notice a growing sentiment that Curry seems to have eclipsed Chandler in the eyes of Bulls' management. This is partially speculation on my part, and I hope I'm wrong for the Bulls' sake, because Chandler is going to be a monster if he's not one already. At 21 years old, he's an unusual combination of raw (his post moves and jumper are still not there) and extremely polished. Chandler is listed at 7-1 but he looks like he's 8-4. He's coordinated, agile and catches every pass thrown in his vicinity. Once he gets bigger (right now he's built kind of like Gumby), he's going to be unbelievable. Curry is obviously a great offensive talent, but you get the sense that he'll never be the rebounder or the shot-blocker that Chandler is going to be. Hopefully the Bulls are smart enough and will have the resources to keep both, but if I had to pick one, I'd take Chandler, back problems and all. I don't necessarily get the sense that Bulls' management feels the same way. -Matt Stroup
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