Gooden says he delivered on promise to expand his game

Rookie Derrick Rose represents the Bulls' future, no question.

The veterans of all three recent playoff trips - Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni - are looking to bounce back after disappointing seasons.

But if the Bulls are going to climb back into playoff contention this year, their most pivotal player may well be power forward Drew Gooden.

The reasons are obvious. Besides late addition Michael Ruffin, Gooden is the team's only veteran at one of the interior positions. Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray are all still in the development stage.

Then think back to a night last March when the 6-foot-10 Gooden piled up 31 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Atlanta. The seventh-year pro promised to hone his skills during the summer more than he ever did when his job was a rebounding specialist in Cleveland. So how did the off-season turn out?

"It turned out excellent," he said. "I actually kind of surprised myself. I was capable of doing things I never really worked on in the off-season. I wanted to expand my game this summer and I think I did that. I worked on my outside shot more than anything."

A good place to start when Gooden takes on his expanded role this season is consistency. After that 31-16 game, he scored just 2 points a night later in Philadelphia, then had 9 points and 6 rebounds in a rematch with the Hawks. That's also when his season ended due to an abdominal strain, which kept him sidelined for the final 10 games.

Gooden spent about four weeks this summer in Vancouver, British Columbia, working with personal trainer Alex McKechnie in hopes of solving the problem.

"I felt my lower abdominal region wasn't strong enough to fulfill a whole NBA season," Gooden said. "That's why I had to shut it down at the end of last year. That's completely behind me now."

Gooden, who grew up in Oakland and Richmond, Calif., enjoyed the Vancouver experience so much, he plans to get his own place there.

"It's beautiful, from the mountains to the food to the people," he said. "You've got to love the Canadians."

After joining the Bulls on Feb. 21 in the Ben Wallace trade, Gooden averaged 14.0 points and 9.3 rebounds in 18 games. Back-to-the-basket moves are not really his specialty, but Gooden does finish well inside, and a more consistent jump shot might create more chances to attack the rim.

Until the games begin, though, it's difficult to tell what Gooden has in store. Coach Vinny Del Negro complimented Gooden for being in shape but wasn't ready to declare an offensive transformation.

"He's been good. He's been vocal, more of a leader," Del Negro said. "It's hard in training camp. We're going two-a-days right now and guys' legs are a little bit wobbly. Drew's been good. He's just trying to learn like everyone else."

London calling? The Bulls are being considered for a preseason trip to London next year, but nothing is concrete. With Luol Deng leading the way last month, Great Britain's national team qualified for the European championships for the first time.