With as long as the basketball season lasts, it still seems like yesterday
when the Bulls pulled off the opening night upset in Boston. Furthermore,
their 2-0 start had many a head turned. I don’t think anyone was expecting
a world champs, but who knew they would only win two more road games the
rest of the season?

I think it was decided since day one that a 30-win season was the equivalent
of making the playoffs for the ’02-’03 Chicago Bulls.
At this time we don’t know if they will make the 30-win plateau or not. But
the fact that they are knocking on the door brings a ray of hope for actual
and tangible improvement in the very near future. Let’s take a check at how
things looked…

JALEN ROSE:
Like most Bulls fans, I want to love Jalen. I really do. Before the
season, experts were saying that Jalen was ready to step up and lead his own
team at last. And I wanted to believe them.

For starters, Jalen could’ve gone a long way toward endearing fans to him by
hitting just one of those clutch end-of-game shots. Just one. And
sometimes I wonder if he knows anything about clock management and/or
possession value. Furthermore, I can’t handle too many more of those 4-22
shooting games. That said, Jalen’s most blatant drawback is his ridiculous
infatuation with showing up the officials. That act is so tired it doesn’t
even deserve further discussion.

But when Jalen’s good, he’s real good. I’ll never forget the 25-point
fourth quarter he dumped on the Pacers in a home victory this season. And
he’s killer at recognizing defenses and executing that little screen and
roll to perfection. That would lead me to believe that his basketball IQ is
above average–further puzzling me over his often horrific decisions.

Jalen will prove his value if (and only if) he learns to share the load with
his young big men.

DONYELL MARSHALL
Easily the most consistent Bull performer this year. Chicago tried to get
Matt Harpring in the off-season, but settled for Marshall. In hindsight, I
think Donyell’s ability to play the four made him even more valuable than
Harpring could have been. He has been effective starting, off the bench,
role-playing, and at times taking over a game.

Furthermore, Marshall is the Bulls’ most efficient three-point shooter. Not
bad for one of your main inside cogs. He single-handedly kept the Bulls’ in
a handful of their wins. There were the few instances when he sat fuming on
the bench while the team huddled, but other than that he has been an
efficient veteran addition.

EDDY CURRY
By this time next year Eddy is the most dominant center in the East.
Guaranteed. How fun is it to watch when he absolutely takes over a
game–and the defense can do nothing about it?!? I don’t know what
happened, but he went from playing his token eight minutes a game around the
All Star Break to being a true dominant force in the second half of the
season. His most memorable performance from this year will have to be the
Laker game in which he took Shaq to school. That one felt good.

He suffers from frequent defensive breakdowns, but those are still excusable
at his age. What does need immediate work is his passing ability. He
almost has no ability to pass effectively out of the post when defenses
collapse on him. As he continues to gain offensive dominance, he will see
more and more double teams. He has to get a passing plan and quickly.

TYSON CHANDLER
See Curry, Eddy in terms of the light coming on after the All-Star break.
For some reason, Chandler “got it” about a week and a half before Curry.
Chandler may never be dominant like his teammate. But with his length, he
will be wreaking havoc for a good long time. Where he is most effective is
his offensive rebounding and put back ability. It will be exciting to see
how good he is as he gets older and starts getting a call or two from the
officials. Could stand to put on a pound or 50.

MARCUS FIZER
If the Bulls don’t make it to 30 wins, you can blame the Fizer injury. I
feel very strongly that the Bulls would have won between 6-8 more games if
they hadn’t lost Fizer for half the season. Here’s the reason. Take 75% of
the second-half losses, and this was the scenario: Chandler and/or Curry
would come out and dominate for about 15 minutes in the first half and the
Bulls would jump out to a lead. Chandler and/or Curry would get into foul
trouble and have to sit. The Bulls would forsake their inside game
altogether in favor of jacking up quick perimeter shots. The Bulls would
lose.

That doesn’t happen if you still have Marcus. In the first half of the
season, he was the ONLY inside presence with whom you could feel comfortable
posting up. At the time Curry and Chandler were non-existent. But…if you
had Fizer coming off the bench in the second half of the season, you could
continue with your game plan without missing a beat. He has a true sense of
how to get his inside shots to fall.

After he got in shape, he was a tremendous force. How remarkable was his
fourth-quarter performance (on ESPN) when the Bulls knocked off the Wizards
on “Jordan Night” in Chicago? If I’m running the Bulls next year, I am very
excited to see what Fizer can do alongside an effective Chandler and Curry.
Take him off the trading block. Please.

JAMAL CRAWFORD
Who else loved the big lineup with Crawford (6’5) being the smallest player?
There were times when Jamal was absolutely unstoppable. The problem was,
he thought that was the case all the time. I wrote about Jalen sometimes
taking stupid shots. With Jamal, multiply that by 40. And he looked
utterly clueless trying to run a fast break. When was the last time you
actually saw him pass on a break? I generally had a hard time believing he
cared about anything but his box score. That could change in the future.
And if it does, look out.

JAY WILLIAMS
It would be so easy to bash J-Will as being yet another Duke bust. He was
supposed to come in and be the spark plug who efficiently ran the offense
and didn’t lose games for you. Yet, I can’t justify bashing Williams for
shaky play during his rookie season. What I CAN bash him for is his brutal
attitude. We thought we were getting a well-groomed, well-spoken champion
who could emerge as an immediate leader. What we got was a player
constantly rumored to be grumbling and soliciting a trade. Furthermore,
have a couple good games and THEN think about bashing your coach’s offense.

EDDIE ROBINSON
Of course he’s way overpaid for a role player (at best). But do the Bulls
ever run anything for him? Of course not. Eddie had a hand in numerous
successful moments for the ’02-’03 Bulls. How cool is it when he makes a
play and it looks like he was just launched off a trampoline? However, at
this point he may never get beyond role player status. Some have lost
patience, but the jury’s still out.

TRENTON HASSELL
Anyone who thought Hassell’s offensive heroics on opening night in Boston
were a sign of things to come was sadly mistaken. Trenton may never learn
how to consistently hit his shots. Hopefully on this team he won’t ever
need to again. By default he became the defensive stopper after the Bulls
rid themselves of Ron Artest. I have nothing but respect for someone who
willingly guards. Just stop taking those awful-looking shots.

LONNY BAXTER
Here’s the good thing about drafting a good solid winner who actually
finished college. What you see is what you get. Lonny Baxter is the very
same player we saw in the Final Four last year. He was never flashy to
begin with. Therefore, there aren’t the extreme ups and downs you see with
most rookies. Lonny does the dirty work and is basically just a big body to
throw out there. One thing he could stand to add to his repertoire is a
little move that we call in the business a “pass.” Lonny has just 14
assists in 605 minutes. Basically, if you give it to Lonny it’s not coming
back out.

FRED HOIBERG
Fred’s like Joe Girardi. He’s been in Chicago forever so you hate to get
rid of him. But what purpose does he serve? You’d think he would be a
“designated shooter” type, but his 23% from three quickly dismisses that
school of thought. They say he brings defensive intensity and veteran
leadership. We’ll see if that’s enough to warrant a roster spot for next
year.

CORIE BLOUNT
Hard to believe we endured another year of Corie. Every once in awhile that
nice little baseline jumper would prove useful. Other than that he was just
a minutes-eater. Being the veteran he is, he does know the little things
like where to be–both on the offensive and defensive end. When Curry and
Chandler start learning that stuff, we will no longer need Corie’s services
at all. Let’s hope that’s sooner than later.

ROGER MASON JR.
Seems peculiar to me that the Bulls thought they needed yet another point
guard with no NBA experience. There isn’t enough room to develop Jamal and
Jay–let alone Junior here. Pete Myers likes his versatility and such. It
would be hard to believe that there can be a place for him next year.

RICK BRUNSON
There were times this season when I wanted to see 48 minutes of nothing but
Rick Brunson. You KNOW those had to be rough times. He proved to be the
only Bulls’ point guard capable of running an NBA fast break, and put a
major veteran stamp on a couple wins. You know a guy like Brunson isn’t
worried about the stat sheet when he gets into the game. And that’s what
makes him so valuable. That said, he’s still a 13th or 14th man at best.

DALIBOR BAGARIC
Dalibor is so sure he should be playing significant minutes. Why? So we
could see his spectacular 33% shooting more often? It is a bad bad sign for
Bulls’ fans if Dalibor’s name is on the ’03-’04 roster.

BILL CARTWRIGHT
It’s been a year and a half and I still have no idea if Bill can coach. I
know it’s easier said than done when you’re working with 20-year-young egos,
but one would think that Bill would have them playing better defense by now.
One of his preseason goals was to establish a home court advantage. Done.
Now, the Bulls are 3-37 on the road. If you’re 13-27, you’re in the
playoffs. I say Bill has exactly one more season to get that turned around.

NEIL FUNK
Neil is Neil. Perhaps one of the most predictable announcers I’ve ever
heard, he still does bring a surprising excitement level to an overall bad
team. Most of all, he does a good job of staying out of the way and letting
John Paxson’s expertise steal the spotlight.

JOHN PAXSON
I haven’t heard them all, but I would be shocked if I ever found a color
analyst better than Pax. He has everything going for him. He’s
unbelievably articulate, efficient with words, doesn’t talk over the heads
of his audience, doesn’t get in Neil’s way, and makes perfect sense. I’ve
learned far more about the game of basketball from listening to Pax over the
past few years than any other period in my life.

There were times when I was listening to him and I firmly believed that the
Bulls would be a much better team if only he were Head Coach. He would
constantly point out simple things the Bulls weren’t doing defensively.
Does Cartwright not see these things? It seems simple enough: Call a
timeout and fix it. OK, I know it’s not that easy. But something tells me
Pax could have these guys playing real basketball in short order. I know he
doesn’t want to coach. And in a selfish way I hope he doesn’t get the GM
job. I need Paxson on my radio.

JERRY KRAUSE
Call my crazy, but I think this team has a real shot at a top-four playoff
seeding next year. It’s a shame that Krause won’t be around to reap a
little harvest at last. As much as people didn’t like him, you still have
to be excited about this team. It has every shot in the world to be good
for the next 10 or 12 years.