Skiles steers clear of announcing team goals

For two straight days, reporters have tried to get Bulls coach Scott Skiles to set a goal for the season.

Are the Bulls championship contenders? Will it be a disappointing year if they don't reach the conference finals?

Skiles refused to offer any details beyond saying the players have lofty goals for the season and have written them down. But he did suggest a way to recognize if the Bulls are on the right track.

"If you see us early in the season playing well on the road, that will be a very good sign for us," Skiles said.

Skiles is trying to stress the team's road record without making it a point of emphasis. Last year he stated a goal of playing better at the United Center. The Bulls responded by going 31-10 at home but slumped to 18-23 on the road.

The preseason provided no cure as the Bulls were 0-3 away from home, though they held a late lead against Milwaukee in La Crosse, Wis., and lost after clearing the bench.

"One thing that's happened to us is our road play early in the season has not been good," Skiles said. "Eventually we come storming back on the road and end up having a pretty good road record.

"These exhibition games where we haven't played well on the road, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't try to make some sort of connection there. We definitely need to clean that up."

Shoe in the spotlight: Ben Wallace is scheduled to introduce his new line of Big Ben sneakers Monday at the Steve & Barry's store in Mount Prospect. Of course, he was wearing the $14.98 pair of shoes when he suffered a sprained left ankle Thursday against Milwaukee.

"Perfect timing," Wallace said with a laugh. "It'll be something if I come in there sprinting."

Bull horns: Ben Gordon had this to say about his Dunkin' Donuts duty Wednesday: "I took one for the team, that's what it's about." Gordon spent an hour passing out product at the Deerfield store after saying earlier this month that the Bulls players preferred Krispy Kreme. Dunkin' Donuts is a longtime team sponsor. … The Bulls will host their annual tipoff luncheon today at the Hilton Chicago.