Bulls ready for 2007-08 tipoff

Meet the new Bulls

Joe Smith

Height: 6-10 Weight: 225 Age: 32

Position: PF College: Maryland Hometown: Maury, Va.

Brief bio: Signed a two-year deal as a free agent this summer. The No. 1 pick of the 1995 draft was most productive early in his career. Since then, he's become a role player known for strong rebounding and accurate midrange shooting. After spending three years in Milwaukee from 2003-06, he split last season between Denver and Philadelphia, moving to the Sixers in the Allen Iverson trade. He missed three preseason games with a sore right knee.

Joakim Noah

Height: 6-11 Weight: 232 Age: 22

Position: PF/C College: Florida Hometown: New York

Brief bio: No. 9 pick of the 2007 draft is expected to miss the first week of the season with a sprained right ankle. He became famous for helping lead Florida to two NCAA championships. Was named most outstanding player of the 2006 Final Four. He is the son of former tennis star Yannick Noah and acclaimed sculptor Cecilia Rodhe. After spending most of his early years in Paris, he moved to New York with his mother at age 12.

Aaron Gray

Height: 7-0 Weight: 270 Age: 22

Position: C College: Pittsburgh Hometown: Emmaus, Pa.

Brief bio: No. 49 pick of the 2007 draft was the Bulls' most pleasant surprise of preseason, averaging 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in just 17 minutes. He didn't start playing basketball until his freshman year of high school. After backing up Chris Taft for two years at Pittsburgh, he averaged 13.9 points and 9.9 rebounds as a junior and senior.

JamesOn Curry

Height: 6-3 Weight: 190 Age: 21

Position: G College: Oklahoma St. Hometown: Pleasant Grove, N.C.

Brief bio: The No. 51 pick of the 2007 draft struggled with his shot during preseason, hitting just 28 percent overall. A combo guard who improved every year in college, averaging 17.3 points last season as a junior. He left high school as the all-time leading scorer in the state of North Carolina. He grew up on a tobacco farm.

Thomas Gardner

Height: 6-5 Weight: 225 Age: 22

Position: SG College: Missouri Hometown: Portland, Ore.

Brief bio: Free-agent addition beat the odds to make the Bulls' final roster. He left Missouri after his junior season, went undrafted and played last year in Belgium. He led the Bulls' summer-league squad in scoring at the Rocky Mountain Revue, averaging 17.3 points. Thanks to an injury to Ben Gordon, he started four preseason games, shot 47 percent from 3-point range and played good defense. If the Bulls wanted to sign another player, it's no guarantee that he would be the one to go.

Can Bulls take off running?

Getting off to good starts hasn't been a specialty of the Bulls. They've posted a winning record in November just once since 1997. Last year, they started 3-9 after playing their first eight road games against teams that eventually made the playoffs. The early stretch of this season's schedule isn't quite as difficult, but can the Bulls deliver a winning record on Dec. 1? Here's a month-by-month look at the calendar:

November

If they can win their home games, the Bulls have a decent chance of being 5-1 when they depart for this year's circus road trip. The journey features back-to-back games at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers for the first time. Wonder if Kobe Bryant will stop by the locker room to say hello?

December

Last year, the Bulls played eight consecutive home games in December and took advantage to climb back over .500. This time the longest home stand of the season is four games and they won't play more than two in a row at home in December. The highlight of this month should be the first home and away games against the new-look Boston Celtics.

January

This is arguably the easiest month for the Bulls with five of the seven road games against non-playoff teams from last year. The Phoenix Suns visit for a Sunday afternoon ABC broadcast on Jan. 27.

February

The ice show road trip isn't all that imposing until it ends with games at Golden State and Utah. After the all-star break, the Bulls have a challenging mini-trip to Houston and Dallas.

March

The Bulls finally face defending Eastern Conference champ Cleveland on March 2. That same week features an Eastern power sampler -- they get the Cavaliers at home, followed by games at Detroit and Boston in a span of four days. The Bulls' first visit to New Orleans in three years is on March 17. Get out the green jerseys.

April

There aren't any easy games when the regular season wraps up. April begins with Boston at home, then brings two more meetings with the Cleveland Cavaliers before the Bulls close with the Toronto Raptors at the United Center on April 16.

Red and Green clash

There will be some interesting matchups when the Bulls battle the revamped Boston Celtics this season. The first meeting is set for Dec. 8 at the United Center. Ever since the 2004-05 season, when the Bulls' nucleus of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng was formed, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have struggled against the Bulls.

• Last season, Pierce scored in single digits three times in 47 games, and two of those came against the Bulls. Pierce did have a 43-point game against the Bulls on Dec. 2, 2005, but the Celtics lost.

• Allen has averaged 22 points against the Bulls but shot a poor percentage and often gets preoccupied complaining to the refs about a lack of foul calls against Hinrich. Allen has claimed that Hinrich taps him on the elbow during shots, a move that is apparently imperceptible to both referees and television cameras.

• Garnett, meanwhile, has basically wiped the floor with the Bulls' big men the last three years, averaging 23.0 points and 14.3 rebounds.

How will it turn out when the Bulls have to guard all three players at once? We'll find out soon enough. The Bulls are 9-2 against Boston since the 2004-05 season and have won eight in a row.

Celtics' Big Three vs. Bulls since 2004-05

Player G FG pct Reb Pts

Paul Pierce 11 .374 7.5 20.8

Ray Allen 5 .351 4.0 22.0

Kevin Garnett 6 .481 14.3 23.0