D-League's Windy City Bulls set to debut Friday at Sears Centre
Thomas Walkup might be the ideal spokesplayer for the inaugural Windy City Bulls, the NBA D-League team that debuts Friday at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates.
"I'm from a suburb in Houston, so this is perfect for me," Walkup said. "I don't do very well with traffic. So this is great. It's an easy five-, 10- minute drive into work."
It's a good fit for Walkup, but playing in the D-League is also about opportunity and trying to land a job in the NBA. Another familiar face on the Windy City Bulls roster is Spencer Dinwiddie, who played well for the Chicago Bulls in preseason and spent the past two years with the Detroit Pistons.
When released by the Bulls late in training camp, Dinwiddie could have gone home or played overseas. Instead, he followed I-90 to Hoffman Estates.
"I could have gone overseas and made a good living, but my dream is to be a great player in the NBA," Dinwiddie said. "I felt like this was the quickest step to getting back because my resume isn't good enough at this point to just sit at home and work out and expect a team is going to call."
Opening night arrives Friday against the Long Island Nets, the first of 50 regular-season games. WC Bulls officials are expecting a good crowd.
"You really see people getting excited about it," team president Brad Seymour said. "Our phones have been ringing off the hook."
While there are plenty of avid basketball fans in the Northwest suburbs, a minor-league team can get lost in a large market, where the major-league teams dominate the sports news.
"No doubt about it, we're a small fish in a big pond and we know that," Seymour said.
By focusing its marketing on a 15-20 mile radius around the Sears Centre, the team's goal is to recreate the entertainment value of a Bulls game at the United Center while offering a shorter drive for suburban fans, along with the smaller ticket prices.
On the court, the nucleus of this team figures to be the players who spent preseason with the Bulls - Dinwiddie, Walkup, guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and forward J.J. Avila. Recent Bulls acquisition R.J. Hunter was assigned to the D-League this week and is expected to play in Friday's game. It's probably safe to say second-round rookie Paul Zipser will spend time with Windy City this season.
When the Bulls beat the Iowa Energy in a recent exhibition game in Des Moines, Dinwiddie (17 points), Smith-Rivera (14) and Walkup (13) were the top scorers.
Walkup, Smith-Rivera and Avila essentially signed training-camp deals with the Bulls this summer knowing their future would be building a D-League startup in the suburbs.
"It's all about just getting your foot in the door. I know it's a lot about networking," Walkup said. "I think there's a good chance at some point throughout the year, not just me, but somebody from this organization will get called up by the Bulls. I definitely think it's overall a good situation and I'm excited to be here."
The head coach is Nate Loenser, who was a video coordinator for the Bulls last season and before that worked at - where else? - Iowa State as an assistant for Fred Hoiberg. Loenser's last head coaching job was in high school, but he has plenty of college coaching experience, too. His assistants are former Bulls guard A.J. Guyton and longtime UNC-Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz.
Loenser is hoping his team resembles the NBA Bulls on the court, although realistically, there are more talented guards seeking work in the NBA than big men. The starting center will likely be 7-1 Alec Brown, a Phoenix Suns second-round pick in 2014.
"R.J. Hunter was sent on assignment Wednesday and we were able to plug him right into practice because our plays are similar (to the Bulls) - we just might not run as many of them," Loenser said. "The terminology defensively is the same, so he's able to essentially pick right up."
Will the Windy City Bulls look like an expansion team Friday? It's difficult to tell what to expect, but the players and front office hope to set a positive precedent.
"I'm excited about the guys we have - really competitive, open to coaching and everything," Walkup said. "I just had a fun time playing basketball in our scrimmage. It's fun to play basketball when you play the right way."