Bulls must find a way to better utilize Thomas

Identifying the Bulls' problems is easy. One of the biggest right now is how they've failed to get many contributions from Tyrus Thomas after he posted two double-doubles in the first five games.

Trying to analyze what has gone wrong can be tough, however, without a good handle on how well the action on the court matches the coaching staff's game plan. The media are not allowed to watch practice, after all.

Whenever Thomas' situation comes to mind, I can't help thinking back to the example of Eddie Robinson.

That's not to suggest Robinson and Thomas have much in common, because they don't. Robinson had little in common with any NBA player.

When he first signed with the Bulls in 2001, Robinson told a sad story of his childhood. He was in second grade when he came home from school one day, found no one home, and no one ever came home.

In the depressed economy of Flint, Mich., his parents became distracted by other things, leaving Robinson and his older sister to basically fend for themselves. He didn't always attend school regularly and never played organized basketball until joining an AAU team late in his teens.

Even so, Robinson managed to get through four years of college and hooked on with the Charlotte Hornets, who were coached by Paul Silas at the time.

Those Hornets teams, which got as far as Game 7 of the Eastern semifinals in 2001, were interesting to watch. They ran simple plays over and over again but were effective because Silas tried to utilize his players' strengths.

When it came to Robinson, Silas found a couple of things the 6-foot-9 forward did well -- run the court and shoot midrange jumpers. When he was in the game, Robinson typically scored some in transition and ran through baseline screens to get open shots.

After signing a $32 million deal with the Bulls, Robinson basically was told to play within the offense by three different head coaches and was a complete bust. Scott Skiles' most frequent sideline comment during his first season here was "E-Rob, other side!"

Now, I realize there were plenty of other reasons why Robinson didn't succeed with the Bulls. The point is, the Hornets played to his strengths and turned him into an effective player. With the Bulls, he was never effective and used to sit in the locker room wondering why he couldn't just do the same things he did in Charlotte.

Getting back to today's Bulls, Thomas clearly does a number of things well. He won't have much success against Toronto's Chris Bosh 1-on-1, but Thomas can post up against certain players. He can face up and attack the basket, draw fouls and, of course, jump higher than most defenders.

Could the Bulls do more to capitalize on Thomas' skills? It sure seems like it.

There is no official count of successful alley-oop passes to Thomas this season, but it's not far from zero. Skiles has said his players aren't good at throwing lob passes, and there were two brutal attempts at lobs in the Knicks game. Then again, these same guards seemed to connect with Eddy Curry quite often in 2004-05.

Should the Bulls set a backscreen once in awhile for Thomas? Try to isolate him in the post or on the wing more often? I'm sure these things have been considered.

Skiles complained last week that Thomas doesn't run the court fast enough. It's debatable how much that would help, but the 6-foot-9 forward certainly could go after the offensive boards harder or attack the basket once in awhile instead of shooting jumpers.

But the bottom line is Thomas seems to be losing the confidence that was growing late last season, and the Bulls need to turn that around right away.

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com