Chicago Bulls Need a Shakeup Down Low

This week started with so much optimism. The Bulls had just returned from their annual circus trip at a respectable 8-9 and appeared to be coming into their own. A stretch of winnable games lay ahead and Derrick Rose was the new SportsCenter sensation.

A lot has changed in 48 hours as the Bulls have lost to the Sixers at home and the struggling Bucks up the road in Wisconsin. Rose put together two strong games with two near double-doubles. Ben Gordon got hot at times including a unconscious run tonight in the third quarter that single-handedly got the Bulls back in the game, but they couldn’t close to less than five down the stretch.  

One bright spot on an otherwise bad night was the fact that there was a Luol Deng sighting. Seems the former Duke star took a break from counting all the money in his fancy new deal to have a nice shooting night ending up with 21 points.

Now the Bulls sit at 8-11 and desperately need to rack up a few wins the next two weeks.  They play beatable teams and they are mostly going to be playing at the UC.  If they can win a few games and get to the .500 mark then we can start talking about the playoffs.

The problem is that it doesn’t matter who you play, or where you play if you get the type of play from your big men that Vinny Del Negro is getting.  Tonight, Joakim Noah, Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Aaron Gray scored 15 points, COMBINED.  The Bulls big men scored 15 points total on a night when Andrew Bogut missed the second half with an injury.

It doesn’t get that much prettier when you go to the season averages.  Drew Gooden has had a respectable enough season averaging 13.1 points.  But the other three Bulls big men are playing like guys who should be bagging groceries.

Tyrus Thomas, so coveted by other teams in all last year’s trade rumors appears to have taken a step back in the form of 6.8 points per game.  Joakim Noah is even worse at 3.4 points a game.  Aaron Gray seems to be the only one of the three that is getting any better, but he ain’t no world beater either.

It is fashionable to rip Ben Gordon for his trigger happy ways and blame Larry Hughes’ attitude for the Bulls struggles.  But this is all on John Paxson.  This is a roster problem. He simply does not have good enough players on the inside.

Thomas and Noah are bad basketball players. Thomas will always make some exciting plays and will probably is serviceable as a good hustle guy as a seventh or eighth man off of the bench. His athleticism and “potential” still make him a worthwhile guy to keep. But can Vinny make him do 20 pushups every time he takes a jump shot?

Now, it could be the UCLA fan in me, but Joakim Noah looks worthless.  This guy was a lottery pick?  He’s too skinny to be a rebounding force in this league.  He gets pushed around on defense and he is consistently beat down the court for easy baskets. 

Offense?  Forget about it.  Even when he does pull down an offense rebound, he is no threat to finish and piss-poor at the line. 

His is Ben Wallace without the body and the talent.  If anyone would trade Paxson anything for Noah, he needs to be shipped out the door.

The Bulls situation is both promising and sad at the same time. With the excellent guard play of Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon, the Bulls have one of the most dynamic back court combinations in the NBA. You have to figure that Deng will snap out of his slump and start to play like the guy we saw a few years ago.

With the likes of Thomas, Nocioni, Hughes and Gray, the Bulls have the depth to compete with anybody’s second unit.

If Paxson would only see the writing on the wall and make a trade for a big man. Look it doesn’t have to be a star, just somebody who can be counted on to grab some boards, play some defense, and score around 12 or 13 points a game.

Give me Chris Kaman, give me Donny Marshall. Hell, go find me Antonio Davis, and get him out of retirement. It is just to depressing to watch Noah and Thomas suck this team down. 

It’s early in the season still and this team could do something if Paxson makes a shrewd move or two. I think it’d be a mistake to trade Ben Gordon.

I may be the only one on Bleacher Report that likes the growing chemistry between Rose and Gordon but I think Del Negro agrees with me. Hughes is unhappy, so package him, Noah, and at next year’s draft picks and go get an average to above average big man. PLEASE!!!