Bulls Dozing Into the Future

One more reason that, although it’s theoretically possible that the East will rise again, no one should hold his breath:

The Chicago Bulls.

If this conference has a hope for the future, it’s this team with its talented young giants, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler, even if the Cleveland Cavaliers do get on TV more these days and LeBron James does sell more gear.

Of course, last week the Bulls offed their coach, turned over one-fourth of the roster and got themselves in even worse trouble with their salary cap, raising one question:

You guys really won six titles?

Dynasty or no dynasty, it often seems that if it weren’t for mismanagement, the Bulls wouldn’t have any management at all. It’s true that after fate dumped Michael Jordan in their lap, they did enough things right to rule, but he left in 1999 and fate now seems indifferent to their plight.

General Manager Jerry Krause, a canny personnel man in a thorny package, left last season, seeming to herald a new era as the personable heir apparent, John Paxson, took over. Paxson had no front-office experience, having chosen to stay out of Krause’s way on the broadcast team, but this wasn’t a major concern since he could grow on the job along with his young team.

This, however, wasn’t how Paxson saw it. He handed out “No Excuses” T-shirts, delivered stern lectures and, three weeks into his first season, began shopping Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford, convinced that the dour Rose was undermining Coach Bill Cartwright and the irrepressible Crawford wasn’t part of the solution.

Meanwhile, the team was lying down on Cartwright, waiting for management to get the hint. Paxson had to suspend trade talks to fire Cartwright, although he noted it was “the first change but not necessarily the last.”

Believing Cartwright’s problem was that he wasn’t tough enough, Paxson replaced him with Scott Skiles, whose reputation preceded him. As Skiles’ old boss, former Orlando general manager Pat Williams, once joked, “How demanding is he? The dog and the fish try to look busy when he comes home.”

In a five-day interim period, the players decided Skiles wouldn’t do, either.

“I’d rather say nothing than anything,” said Corie Blount, who had played for Skiles in Phoenix.

Said Rose: “I know about the negative stuff but I can’t comment. What should I say? I have an open mind.”

Said Donyell Marshall: “As a team, we have always said that if something happens, Pete [Myers, the assistant who went 0-2 as interim coach] should get a chance.”

Not that Rose and Marshall had to worry about it. Before Skiles coached his first game, they were in Toronto.

Cartwright wore the kids out while helping grow them up so his firing was inevitable. After that, giving Skiles a chance to see whether he could work with Rose would have been OK. Moving Rose or Crawford for cap room would have been OK.

Instead, Paxson brought in two more big men: Antonio Davis, who’s 35 and has two more seasons worth $25 million on his contract, and Jerome Williams, who’s superfluous but will get $6.5 million a season through 2008.

Skiles must start Crawford at shooting guard, which Cartwright refused to do because Crawford, a matchstick at 6 feet 5 and 180, couldn’t have played defense there if he’d tried, which he didn’t.

With Rose gone, their only starting-caliber small forward is Scottie Pippen, who’s 38.

With Marshall gone, they no longer have their best reserve.

If Crawford hasn’t matured noticeably in two weeks, they’re now obliged to re-sign him this summer. When they get done extending his contract, Curry’s and Chandler’s, they’ll be out of cap room for the foreseeable future.

So anything they don’t have or can’t get in the draft, they’d better learn to live without. This is their team.

Young as they are, they have their moments, like Skiles’ debut, a 97-87 victory, which did wonders for Mood Swings R Us, even if they beat only Milwaukee in the United Center.

Williams, agog at Curry’s 22 points, announced, “Eddy Curry is the next Shaquille O’Neal. Whether he knows it or not, or the city knows it or not, he cannot be guarded. When he finds that out, good luck to all the 28 other teams.”

Curry said they felt “reborn,” announcing, “We’re calling ourselves the New Look Bulls now.”

Crawford, in nirvana after learning he was not only starting again but had inherited Rose’s shots, gushed that “Coach Skiles’ system” made him “the most comfortable I’ve been in four years here.”

As in the reign of Ivan the Terrible, er, Krause, the man who’s actually in charge is Jerry Reinsdorf, the ever more reclusive owner who winters in Arizona and describes himself -- accurately -- as a businessman first.

Reinsdorf never told Krause to preserve the dynasty, choosing to believe they could get a new power in place before their luxury-suite leases came up for renewal. As Reinsdorf also noted, they didn’t make much money in their title years but would clean up with small payrolls.

Reinsdorf makes it a point not to meddle, which is sound policy until one remembers his letting his White Sox general manager, Ken Harrelson, run off his popular manager, Tony La Russa. Harrelson had to be fired too, and the White Sox were never as prominent in Chicago again.

There’s empowering and there’s disinterested, as fans of the White Sox and the New Look Bulls could tell you.

Faces and Figures

Do the okey-doke, you’re a big joke: The New York Knicks had a spine-tingling moment as fans chanted Antonio McDyess’ name in warmups before his first game. McDyess, one of the game’s nicest men, had to leave the court because he was crying.

Postscript: McDyess missed all five of his shots and scored two points as the Knicks, who had won four of five, blew a 15-point lead and fell to the Detroit Pistons, beginning a new losing streak.

Knick fan Spike Lee to the New York Times: “We’ve got the highest payroll in the league, the highest-priced tickets in the world and New York city fans aren’t stupid, they’re not going for okey-doke, they’re not going to be hornswoggled or bamboozled. So you got to put a plan in place. I think if you poll most Knicks’ fans, you tell them, ‘Look, let’s be honest, we got to rebuild, we got to tear this down and start from scratch.’ And I think most of them would say fine.”

I don’t know how to break it to you, Spike, but New York City fans have been hornswoggled and bamboozled for years and as No. 1 cheerleader, paying $65,000 annually for your courtside seat, you’re at the top of the list.

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The Portland Trail Blazers began their long-deferred cleanup by giving talented troublemaker Bonzi Wells to Memphis for a mid-round No. 1 pick and Wesley Person, whose primary attraction is his expiring $7.7-million contract.

Portland can let Rasheed Wallace walk this summer, with Damon Stoudamire and Dale Davis going in ‘05, trimming a $90-million payroll that triggered a $40-million luxury-tax bill and led to a $100-million loss last season below the salary cap.

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New Jersey’s Kenyon Martin, marveling at how good Brad Miller looks in Sacramento: “I just know he wasn’t this good of a player at Indiana. He’s really good in their system now.”

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Have comb, will travel: Jermaine O’Neal wanted to wear a ‘60s-style Afro with the Indiana Pacers’ retro uniforms but couldn’t because his hairdresser, whom he flies everywhere from her home in Atlanta, wasn’t available and he didn’t want big hair for two games.

Then there’s Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle, trying to lighten the mood after being fired in Detroit for being so grim. After recent wins, he praised Scot Pollard, who hadn’t played, and former coach Isiah Thomas.

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Famous last words: Dallas’ Danny Fortson, asked whether it was fair that Gary Payton and Karl Malone had joined the Lakers: “It isn’t, but what can we do about it? We just have to play hard and not focus so much on their names, realize that these guys are still old and we’re still younger. If we remember that and play hard, I think we can run them off the court.”

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Houston’s Yao Ming, grateful at no longer being a big story: “Thanksgiving just passed, so you should probably know what I’m thankful for. LeBron James.”