Windy City Bulls ready to begin Year 3 at Sears Centre
It's been a great week for former Windy City Bulls players.
Monday saw the return of a player from the inaugural season, Chicago native Alfonzo McKinnie, who dropped 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden State Warriors against the Bulls at the United Center.
On Wednesday, guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who only spent about a month with the local G-League franchise in 2016, scored 25 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer for the Brooklyn Nets against Detroit.
Meanwhile, the stars of last season's Windy City Bulls squad, Antonio Blakeney and Ryan Arcidiacono, have had significant roles for the NBA Bulls so far this season. Blakeney was the G-League's top scorer and rookie of the year last season.
With a goal of developing more future NBA players, Year No. 3 of the Windy City Bulls tips off Friday at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates against the Lakeland Magic.
One theme for this season is continuity. Head coach Charlie Henry is back for a second year on the bench, as is lead assistant Jannero Pargo, the former Bulls guard. A new addition to the coaching staff is former Naperville North and Eastern Illinois star Henry Domercant.
Meanwhile, four regulars are back from last year's squad, which finished 24-26 and was in playoff contention until the final week of the season - guards Jon Octeus and Mychal Mulder, along with forwards C.J. Fair and Karrington Ward. Octeus is the only three-year Windy City Bulls veteran.
"I definitely think it's a benefit coming back the second year, having gone through it once," Henry said. "Obviously, last year was my first year of being a head coach. It was also my first year of being around the G-League, so it was kind of two-part.
"You're going through all the normal growing pains any head coach would go through in your first year and you're also learning the league for the first time. So I definitely feel much more comfortable. I love having our four returners that are familiar with how we want to do things and can help expedite the process for our new guys."
A luxury this season is having an experienced point guard in Tyler Ulis as one of the team's two-way players. Ulis played in 133 games for the Phoenix Suns the past two years, including 58 starts.
Two-way contracts began last year as a way for G-League players to make more money. Those players split time between the NBA and G-League, and get paid an NBA salary while they're with a big-league squad. The Bulls' other two-way player is 6-5 shooting guard Rawle Alkins, a rookie who played two seasons at Arizona, including one with Lauri Markkanen.
"He's extremely talented, with his skill in pick-and-roll, he can really get places on the court, he can score it," Henry said of Ulis. "He can also get his teammates involved, get them easy looks, easy baskets. So it's a huge luxury at this level, obviously."
Some other players who figure to be in the rotation are 6-8 forward Kaiser Gates, a 3-point shooting rookie from Xavier who was with the Bulls in summer league and training camp. Henry has been impressed with first-round draft pick Joe Kilgore, a 6-5 guard from Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, and 6-8 big man Ferrakohn Hall, who played for Windy City during the inaugural season.
Without many talented big men to go around, most G-League teams play at a fast tempo with guard-oriented lineups. There are now 27 G-League teams, every NBA franchise has its own affiliate except for the Blazers, Pelicans and Nuggets.
"The unique thing in the G-League is the fluidity of the rosters," Henry said. "You're going to have (NBA) guys come down on assignments; you're going to lose guys during the year. The teams that have the style of play that give them a chance to have success at both ends and then stay true to it, no matter who's with them, who's not with them - those are the teams that really win in the end."
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