Young Guys Start to Hit Bull’s-Eye

Why can’t they be like we were?

Perfect in every way!

What’s the matter with kids today?

-- “Kids,” from “Bye Bye Birdie,” 1960

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CHICAGO -- Forty-five years later and nothing has changed.

It doesn’t matter how much allowance you give them, they don’t do anything you tell them. And that stuff they listen to, how can they call that music?

Generational strife has always been with us but now it’s a way of life in the NBA, where some of the best players arrive as teens and take years to develop, the allowances are in the millions and the consequences for teams are life and death.

No one knows it better than the Chicago Bulls, who dropped out of sight in the 1990s before trying to rebuild around 7-foot-1 Tyson Chandler of Dominguez High and 6-10 Eddy Curry of Thornwood High in suburban Chicago.

Each was 18 when he was drafted and their stories show everything that can happen, for better or worse.

After struggling for three seasons while the organization was going through two general managers and three coaches, Curry’s people sought a maximum $70-million extension after last season.

The team refused even to counteroffer, then started the new season 2-13. Curry’s people said he wanted to be traded and someone more authoritative within the organization might have been willing to accommodate the young man because lots of teams called and Golden State Warrior special assistant Mitch Richmond began scouting the Bulls.

What has happened since is the part that has people rubbing their eyes. The Bulls have climbed to 25-23 and are known suddenly as “the Baby Bulls.”

The future’s so bright they have to wear shades, or maybe it’s just the sun reflecting off the snow. In any case, the Bulls are on their way back.

“It’s definitely night and day and it’s definitely a relief,” Chandler said. “It’s been a tough stretch for me, just because we haven’t had any stability around here, as far as changing players, coaches, GMs....

“There were definitely times when I wondered if it was going to work but, as you see, eventually I knew it would come together. And right now, it’s coming together. And the beautiful thing about struggle is, when you start to win, it just goes that much better.”

Their record is the best the Bulls have had at this point since 1998, Michael Jordan’s last season in Chicago.

If they reach the playoffs, it will be their first time since 1998. The joke around the Bulls now is, the answer to any question that comes up is 1998.

Owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who had maintained a discreet silence, says he expects both of his young players, who’ll be restricted free agents, to be re-signed.

The scouts for the other teams have gone home, in the sure knowledge the Bulls won’t be moving either of these young men now.

“The difficulty is, it used to be by the time a guy was done with his first contract, he was 24, 25 years old,” Coach Scott Skiles said. “You knew who he was and you were either comfortable or uncomfortable with who he was, as a man and as a player.

“Now, guys are done with their first contract at 21, 22, they’re still growing up and you’re forced to make decisions and you’ve got to be careful. You don’t want to be hasty. On the other hand, you don’t want to be too patient, either. Pro basketball’s very difficult in that regard.”

Indeed, another bad week or so and Curry might have been somewhere else.

Of course, in recent weeks, Skiles has been benching him in the fourth quarter and zinging him again. Pro basketball’s still very difficult in that regard.

Back to Drawing Board

In the spring of 2001, the Bulls were a cumulative 43-171 in three seasons since ringing down the curtain on their dynasty.

General Manager Jerry Krause went back to Square 1, sending his new cornerstone, second-year forward Elton Brand, to the Clippers for their No. 2 pick in the draft, then selected Chandler. Then, with his own pick at No. 4, Krause drafted Curry, forming the NBA’s first prep tandem.

However, neither was a phenom like LeBron James or Amare Stoudemire, ready to compete right away.

Chandler, a fine athlete, had been compared to Kevin Garnett.

Actually, Chandler had great potential as a defender but wasn’t much on offense. Curry could score in the low post but didn’t defend, rebound or get in shape.

They complemented each other but only if they played together, which didn’t happen often, and if they stayed together, which began looking problematic.

By the end of last season, their third together, they were on their second general manager, with announcer John Paxson having replaced Krause, and their third coach, with Skiles having replaced Bill Cartwright, who had replaced Tim Floyd.

Krause had been thorny but wily enough to sit tight. Paxson was not only inexperienced but impatient. Skiles was not only impatient but sharp-tongued.

The tone changed alarmingly. Asked how Curry could improve his rebounding, Skiles answered, “Jump.”

The Bulls finished 23-49, a drop of seven wins. Paxson called the beat writers in and roasted them for not properly presenting his “vision,” which he then dictated.

Nor were their prospects looking brighter this season, when they began running an ad campaign titled, “Through Thick and Thin!” asking fans to hang with them.

Said Skiles: “I guess I’m in charge of ‘Thin.’ ”

Coming into a contract year, Curry reported at 285 pounds, his lightest weight as a pro.

Said teammate Antonio Davis: “Somebody told me his weight about three weeks ago. My thing was, ‘Heck, no. There’s no way. He just doesn’t have it in him. It’s not going to happen.’ ”

However, Curry, off to his usual slow start, scored three points in a 20-point loss to the Phoenix Suns and was booed by the hometown fans.

Curry had fired his agent, Arn Tellem, replacing him with two friends, Darren White and Lamont Carter. White told the Chicago Sun-Times that Curry wanted to be traded.

Said White: “Lamont and I no longer feel that he can reach his fullest potential playing for the Bulls.”

Curry’s mom even told the Sun-Times that her son might be better off elsewhere. A day later, Curry repudiated his agents, saying he “definitely had a few choice words” for them, but maintained a tactful silence about his mom’s comments.

The Bulls were 0-9 when Skiles benched Curry and Chandler in Utah and they finally won.

Both players said they were upset but would have to accept it. Said Chandler: “I just have to continue to go out there and ... uh

The Bulls were reportedly willing to take a starting forward in exchange for Curry, like Portland’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim or Golden State’s Troy Murphy, but no one offered one. Meanwhile, the rest of the league sent in low-ball offers and watched with interest.

“Heck,” said Boston Coach Doc Rivers, “I hope they get rid of both of them, if you want me to be honest.”

Aside from that, things were right on schedule in Chicago.

Let There Be Light

It’s axiomatic in basketball that big players take longer to develop and when, or if, they do, it’s as if a light bulb has gone on over their heads.

The light bulb went Dec. 8, when the 2-13 Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Chicago. Curry had 20 points and nine rebounds. Chandler came off the bench to get nine rebounds and two blocks.

After that, they took off, finally, in tandem.

“People said, ‘Eddy’s not Shaq but other than Shaquille O’Neal, I wouldn’t take any other center over Eddy right now, especially in the Eastern Conference,” said Eric Piatkowski, the former Clipper who’s a Bull reserve.

“Everything that Eddy doesn’t do, Tyson does wonderful. It’s nice to know, hey, Eddy’s a scoring machine. That’s what he’s going to do for us. They’re going to have to double-team him and he’s just starting to understand how to work the double team and when he should take it and when he should get the ball out of there so we can knock down shots and get the pressure off of him.

“And Tyson, he’s blocking shots, he’s altering shots, he’s grabbing every single rebound. He just goes right up over everybody.”

Everybody loves everybody now. Skiles loves the young guys. The young guys love Skiles. The young guys are grateful to Paxson for sticking by them.

“I was a die-hard Bulls’ fan,” Curry said. “It was tough watching them struggle back before I got here, thinking that -- not really knowing what to expect -- you’re going to go in and all of a sudden everything’s going to turn around. It didn’t happen that way....

“I mean, I can definitely recall coming in, not knowing what was going to go on, not knowing if me and Coach were going to get along that day.

“But I think he really handled it in a professional way. He didn’t let the talk go too far and I, myself, tried to calm it down a little bit. ‘Cause it really wasn’t going to help anything. We were still losing and at that point, you really didn’t want to be one of the distractions on the team.”

And they lived happily ever after?

After winning 20 of 26, the Bulls ran into a schedule crunch in late January, which continues.

After a loss to the Celtics, Skiles noted, “Paul Pierce had 13 defensive rebounds. Our center had none. That’s a pretty evident stat.”

After Curry made 10 of 14 shots in a win over the Dallas Mavericks, Skiles noted, “I thought our guys did a good job handing him baskets, so to speak, except for a couple he kind of got on his own.”

The trade deadline is Feb. 24. Imagine the possibilities.