By Sam Amico
ProBasketballNews.com
The Chicago Bulls are lacking an identity and don’t have anyone consistent to turn to in the clutch.
That’s not an indictment of the Bulls -- just the things I noticed most in their
95-86 loss in Cleveland.
Clearly, this is a team with major issues. Not exactly a stop-the-presses statement when you consider the Bulls sport a 23-36 record, and only have about 20 games to get their act together.
So far, they’ve tried just about everything to recapture last year’s strong season. They fired the coach (Scott Skiles) and made a major trade (Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to Cleveland for Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons).
Before the season, a lot of people picked them to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals. Now, they have a roster full of guys who have plenty of proving to do.
Think about it. Who do the Bulls have who really frightens opponents?
Yes, you need to keep an eye on the perimeter shooting of Ben Gordon. Yes, they have a couple of athletic young big men in Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. And yes, Hughes seems especially determined after his 2 1/2-season experiment in Cleveland clanked off the back of the rim.
Yet none of that is enough, and Bulls general manager John Paxson has to realize it.
He must know that Gooden can’t be your lone low-post threat, that neither Hughes nor Gordon is a true No. 1 option.
Of course, the question is do Hughes or Gordon realize it?
It sure doesn’t seem that way, especially when it comes to Hughes -- who was still complaining about his role with the Cavaliers more than a week after they traded him.
But Hughes’ struggles in Cleveland may have had less to do with how he was used and more to do with the fact he’s clearly lost some explosiveness after all those leg injuries. That likely explains his 38 percent shooting from the floor on the year, as Hughes just doesn’t seem to be getting the same lift on his jumper. Also, he doesn’t penetrate nearly as much as he did in his first year in Cleveland.
Again, none of this is meant to rip Hughes or the Bulls. It’s just to point out that continuing to gut the team this summer may not be a bad idea.
Along with Hughes, Gordon and Gooden, players like point guard Kirk Hinrich, forward Andres Nocioni and even forward Luol Deng have been fairly unreliable.
Is there still time to turn it around? Absolutely.
As Wallace told the Chicago Tribune, “I really don't feel that team is that far off. Even when I was there, I felt we were a couple plays or possessions away from being a real solid team. They just have to pay a little more attention to detail. They have a lot of young guys, so they have to drill, drill, drill until you get your point across.”
If that doesn’t work, then this has been a lost season and the Bulls will have to go back to trying to rebuild the team. And whoever thought we’d be saying that at the beginning of the year?
RANDOM STUFF
* Have you noticed how much better Dallas center Erick Dampier has been playing since Jason Kidd joined the team? In his previous five games, Dampier is averaging 8.0 points and 12.0 rebounds. He’s made 17 of 23 shots in that span (including 7-of-7 in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers), and compiled at least 13 rebounds on three occasions (including 17 against the Lakers).
* Surprisingly, Indiana hasn’t looked any worse without injured starters Jermaine O’Neal and Jamal Tinsley -- which is why the Pacers are likely to try moving both of them this off-season. Actually, there’s been talk the Pacers have been trying to trade O’Neal for at least a year now. The difference is they may have lowered their asking price.
* The “new” Pacers are led by suddenly steady guard Mike Dunleavy (36 points in Sunday’s win over Milwaukee) and continuing-to-develop small forward Danny Granger. In fact, landing Granger with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2005 draft may have been team president Larry Bird’s best move yet.
* Also, in the past three games, little third-year point guard Travis Diener is averaging close to 16 points per game and shooting close to 50 percent (16-of-34) from the field.
* Speaking of little guards, after buying out Sam Cassell, the Los Angeles Clippers do not have an active point man taller than 6-foot-0 on the roster. Right now the point guards are Brevin Knight (5-10), Dan Dickau (6-0) and 10-day signee Andre Barrett (5-10).
* In final little man news, 5-5 Earl Boykins is off to a slow start with Charlotte. In 12 games, Boykins is averaging 4.8 points on 21 percent shooting. That’s considerably worse than last season (with Denver and Milwaukee), when Boykins averaged better than 14 points and made 42 percent of his 3-pointers.
