Bulls' recent slow starts tied to two fundamental flaws
The best news for the Bulls right now, besides the fact that they're starting to play better, is how the Eastern Conference resurgence that had been forecast for this season has not materialized.
Boston and Detroit have been good, as expected. Orlando, which is 6-0 on the road, is the only real positive surprise in the East.
In other words, the Bulls don't have a ton of ground to make up, despite starting the season with 6 losses in seven games. As of Sunday morning, they were 2½ games out of the No. 4 spot in the East, which was held by Charlotte at 5-4.
But that doesn't forgive the Bulls for their poor start. The Kobe Bryant rumors and lack of contract extensions for Ben Gordon and Luol Deng may have been minor factors, but I see a couple of built-in flaws as better explanations for the Bulls' repeated slow starts.
One is how the absence of a dominant player makes it tougher for the Bulls to start clicking. The Bulls rely on a team concept, ball movement and superior defense to win games. It would be much easier to hand the ball to Bryant or LeBron James in the fourth quarter and wait for something good to happen.
"We really do rely a lot on each other," Gordon said. "We don't have many guys who can go out and get 20 points every night. So a lot of our offense is predicated on good ball movement, setting good screens so guys can get to their spots and shoot the ball."
Of course, the Pistons are another of those team-concept squads, and they aren't plagued by poor starts. That's because of the Bulls' other disadvantage -- they are still very young.
The average age of Detroit's starting lineup is 30.6 years. The Bulls, when Tyrus Thomas was a starter, were at 25.2 years.
Besides trying to work Thomas, 21, into the lineup, the Bulls have another new issue with Deng trying to become more of a post-up option.
Deng has actually done a decent job so far of scoring near the basket. When he played well at Phoenix last week, the Suns responded by sending double teams at Deng whenever he caught the ball in the fourth quarter.
That's a positive development for the Bulls, but Deng doesn't have much experience passing out of double teams. So there's another concept that will take time to work out.
Then, there's the basic fact that it's tough to win in the NBA with young players, and the Bulls are behind every other contender in the league in that category.
Cleveland starts a younger lineup than the Bulls, but the Cavs also use five players with at least eight years' experience in the NBA. Eleven of the 15 players on the Bulls' roster have fewer than five years.
Orlando also has a relatively young team, but leading scorer Rashard Lewis is in his 10th NBA season, while Hedo Turkoglu is an eight-year veteran.
After the Bulls beat the short-handed Clippers late Saturday, Skiles suggested he may turn more to his veterans.
"I've got to look at the way we've played from the beginning of the season and consider maybe I should have the veterans out there a lot more and the younger, developmental guys maybe shouldn't be out there as much," Skiles said.
People can keep dreaming about breaking up the Bulls' core and trading for some unavailable superstar. But keep in mind the Bulls will get some payroll flexibility when Ben Wallace's contract ends in 2010. Not necessarily cap room, but they could add another higher-salaried player.
By then, the nucleus of Deng, Gordon, Thomas, Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni and Joakim Noah will be between ages 23 and 30. That might be a better time for the Bulls' next big move.
mmcgraw@dailyherald.com