The Bulls: A story and a Theory

By:  Dan Barto, Director of Player Development at the Basketball Academy and PTC

Since the Kobe's rumors, every columnist and sports authority has brought up the "struggles" of the organization.  I for one am a biased Bulls fan.  Not so much a fan of the team but of the organization.  While working with Yi Jialian during his pre-draft training last spring I was allowed to sit in on the workout that the Bulls observed him in.  For the record Yi only worked out for selected teams in a private setting in Los Angeles.  Each workout included sets of drills and athletic tests.  The workouts were jaw dropping as Yi displayed his array of skills and Olympic like athleticism.  The Bulls with Yi's permission were allowed to conduct their own sets of physical tests.  (Though the Bulls had the 9th pick, they heavily considered moving Deng or Gordon to acquire the pick, knowing that the extensions were looming.)

The workout was held on UCLA's campus in the Men's gym and the Bulls sent the whole crew.  While the other teams had there GM's and scouts come through and usually the head Coach, the Bulls had John Paxson, Scott Skiles, Matt Loyd and the whole contingent of strength coaches.  Throughout the time that Yi went his athletic tests, both Paxson and Skiles were tremendously outgoing and professional.  They walked around the closed workout introducing them and prodding for small tidbits of information and loosening the environment. 

 While other organizations asked what his vertical and 3/4 sprint were, the Bulls strength coaches tested reaction time, single leg strength, lateral change of direction ability, and the all important ground contact time between jumps.  The assistant strength coaches were on top of each statistical bit of information and were also in charge of trying to explain to Yi how to conduct the exercise.  (Though Yi's English is decent it was always entertaining watching people try to talk to him during their first meeting)     

I believe there was a total of 7 teams that came to see Yi (Milwaukee did not see him workout at all); the Bulls were head and shoulders above all the rest in their presence and strategic planning. (Golden State was 2nd)  This story causes me to beg the following question:  What is their philosophy?

At one point as they were rebuilding I believed that they were building around proven winners, who though undersized or limited in one facet of their game would buy into the team thing.  Let's face it John Paxson and Scott Skiles were grinders who just got the job done when they played.  Gordon, Deng, Hinrich, Duhon, Wallace, Noah, Nocioni, Gray, and Khryapa fall into this category.  However talented they are Sefalosha, Thomas, Griffin, Nichols, Smith and Curry do not.  Though intangibles are difficult to teach and competing, extra work, and ability to overcome adversity tend to be innate, the organization knows whether these guys get it.

The question knows becomes what to do.  Smith is the ultimate professional but now falls under the journeyman listing.  Tyrus Thomas may well be a max player and the rest of that group has little value.  With Deng and Gordon leveraging the organization until the end there are a lot of murky waters.  As an organization they have a winning formula with the leaders not afraid to put in the extra work to do things the right way.  I do not believe they have what it takes to win the east this year so now is the time to make a move.  The move should bring in more like minded people even if it is at a loss.  I remember the Mavs giving up Nash but now have become annual contenders.  I believe that if they make a move on the shortened they will be in the top three in the east for many years.  If they do not I could see the parting of the Red Seas somewhere between O’Hara and Midway.