Kris and Dan Answer NBA Questions

Welcome to the second installment of "Kris and Dan Answer NBA Questions" here at the Block Party.

Over the next couple of weeks, to get ready for the NBA season, Kris and Dan are going answer a bunch of questions. One question and two responses per post. Pretty straight forward.


Question 2: Do the Bulls have enough to really challenge for the Eastern Conference title?


Kris Says

I am on the band wagon of the baby Bulls. Of course this is a tough question to answer because of the lingering Kobe saga. I do believe that if the Bulls were going to pull the trigger on the deal they would have done it earlier in the summer. That being said I will evaluate the Bulls on their current roster and not try and make any Kobe predictions.

I love they way the Bulls are built, especially they way they have acquired role players. Everyone knows they can score with the electric backcourt of Hinrich and Gordon and budding superstar Luol Deng. But up front they have a steady diet of role players, which sort of reminds me of other Bulls championship teams. They will start veterans Joe Smith and Ben Wallace. Now I have made fun of Joe Smith in the past, but this is a team where he can flourish, there is no pressure on him. There is plenty of scoring in the backcourt and Ben Wallace will always be the defensive stopper in the front court. In the draft the Bulls added Joakim Noah (by the way his name is simply pronounced JOE-KIM, nothing fancy) and Aaron Gray which were both nice picks. Also they have last years #2 pick Tyrus Thomas and third year man Andris Nocioni. What this gives them is scoring (Nocioni & Gray) defense (Wallace & Noah) and rebounding (Smith & Thomas). Now obviously all of them won't play but it is a nice rotation of players to choose from.

Like I said most of us know about their backcourt abilities. But besides the starters they have quality experienced backups. Chris Duhon has proved to be a consistent bench PG in this league, more than I ever thought he could. Also they signed free agent guard Adrian Griffin who can be a defensive stopper off the bench and second year man Thabo Sefolosha. Again like the front court it makes for a good mix of players with varying abilities.


The Bulls have the pieces in place, a team that has been together for awhile, a solid starting five, a mixture of veterans & quality young backups and a coach who has been with the team. However, basketball for the most part has always been a game of superstars (with certain exception like the ’04 Pistons). I feel that Luol Deng needs to now make that jump from promising young player to NBA superstar, be a an All-Star starter and someone his team can count on in big games. I think if he elevates his scoring to the 25ppg. range then the Bulls will be the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Dan Says:

To make a run at the Eastern Conference? Yes, certainly.

Let's take a look at why:

- This is a team that won 49 games last year, and destroyed the Heat in the playoffs.

- They didn't lose any major player in the offseason.

- They didn't go through any major player or coach related offseason turmoil.

- The nucleus of the team is young, just entering their prime. If anything, most of these guys should get better.

- There is no dominant team in the East.

The biggest question mark about this team is that they don't have any consistently dominant scorers. Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and Luol Deng are all decent scorers, but as evidenced in the Detroit series in last year's playoffs, they can be stopped by certain types of tough defensive teams.

But let's take the optimistic approach. Let's say Hinrich and Gordon have typically solid years. Let's say Deng continues to be one of the best small forwards in the league, as he showed most of last year. Let's say that Tyrus Thomas furthers his development, and plays more dominant, explosive minutes. Let's say that Joakim Noah and Andres Nocioni prove to be good energy guys for the second unit. Let's say that Thabo Sefolosha gets to show what he can do for more minutes. Let's say Ben Wallace doesn't die this year.

Then I'd say you're looking at a young, talented, and deep 50-win team that can contend with any other team in the East.

They'd still struggle against Detroit most likely, as that is a bad matchup for them. But they're deeper than Boston, they're tougher than Toronto, and they are superior to Washington, Cleveland, and Orlando.

And none of this is to mention that they have the assets to trade for Kobe. Which is a whole other story.

So, bottom line, this Bulls team certainly has enough to contend for an Eastern Conference championship. They won't beat any of the Western teams in the Finals, though. No chance there.