Can Bulls win East without low-post scorer?

Only three different centers have won NBA championships in the last nine seasons -- Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal and Ben Wallace.

Duncan and O'Neal have four rings each, proving that a dominant interior scorer might be the most valuable weapon a pro basketball team can own.

Wallace, with his 6.6 point career scoring average, is living proof that a title can be won without a dominant post player.

Some analysts try to claim Wallace's 2004 Detroit Pistons had a post scorer in Rasheed Wallace. But while Rasheed is capable of draining turnaround jumpers, he spends much more time hovering outside near the 3-point line.

The universal complaint about the Bulls' off-season seemed to be that they failed to add any low-post scorers. The Bulls do have plenty of depth, balanced scoring, players with room to improve and more height than last season.

As they prepare to open the 2007-08 season in New Jersey tonight, it's worth asking: Do the Bulls really need a low-post scorer, and can they win the Eastern Conference without one?

"I think we've proven that if we come out and we play the way we're capable of playing, we can beat anybody regardless of who we've got scoring in the post, regardless of who we've got out on the floor," said Ben Wallace, who is about to begin his second season with the Bulls.

This question is valid across the NBA. O'Neal will turn 36 in March, and Duncan's Spurs have never won back-to-back titles. Does the league even have another big man capable of carrying a team to the championship?

There are a few strong candidates: Houston's Yao Ming, Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire and Utah's Carlos Boozer have shown signs of being dominant interior scorers. Portland's Greg Oden might join the list when he returns from a knee injury next season. Those players are all in the Western Conference, it might be noted.

"We're always on the lookout for scoring down there," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "There just aren't that many of them. I think I watch as many college games as any pro coach and there just aren't that many guys that go in there and score.

"If you're a freshman or sophomore in high school, European or American kid, for whatever reason they filter out to the perimeter now. They want to handle the ball. They want to pass and do other things, which is fine."

There are some decent big men in the East, but they all have flaws.

Orlando's Dwight Howard is a great athlete without much scoring polish. Indiana seems to fare worse as a team the more Jermaine O'Neal scores. Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas might qualify as a post scorer, but he averaged just 11.9 points last season and almost never plays in the fourth quarter.

"Most teams don't let you score down there very much anymore," Skiles said. "Even with great interior players, you double-team, you dig down, you get the ball out of the post player's hands and it still relies on your perimeter guy's decisions."

A post scorer doesn't figure to help the Bulls get fourth-quarter baskets, which was their downfall in the playoffs against Detroit last season.

There is a nice advantage, though, which the Bulls enjoyed three years ago before trading center Eddy Curry to New York. The Bulls usually could count on Curry to get them 6 or 8 easy baskets a game. That's 6 or 8 possession when the other players on the floor can just relax.

"It does make a game a lot easier," forward Luol Deng said. "You don't always have to run off the screen to get a jump shot."

Deng has volunteered to venture inside this season to try to score some points in the post himself. Rookie center Aaron Gray also has a nice-looking hook shot, while Tyrus Thomas should be good for a few easy dunks every night.

"I've worked on my post (skills) a lot," Deng said. "So hopefully I'll try to bring that to my team. I know we need it."

Skiles emphasized that the Bulls usually work the ball into the post area more often than their opponents. Their conversion rate in the post isn't great, but oftentimes a nice pass to an open jump shooter will be just as effective as a drop-step bank shot.

Wallace himself might be ready to contribute more interior scoring. He hit 16 of 29 shots from the field in the preseason and sounded ready to get the regular season started when he spoke Tuesday at the Berto Center.

"You can't win them all if you don't win the first one," he said.

Can Bulls get to NBA Finals?

As the Bulls open the season Tuesday night at New Jersey, tell us what you are expecting and hoping for this season. Is the Eastern Conference finals the realistic goal, or can the Bulls progress right into the NBA Finals? Do you expect Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Tyrus Thomas to continue to improve? Will rookie Joakim Noah have a big impact? What about newcomer Joe Smith? Tell us what you think at sportstalk@dailyherald.com. Please limit your comments to 200 words and include your name, hometown and daytime phone number (for verification purposes).