http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/pf_preview_0304.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Chicago returns the same cast of power forwards from last year?s squad: Lonny Baxter (6-8, 260 ? Maryland ?02), Tyson Chandler (7-1, 235 ? Dominguez HS ?01) and Marcus Fizer (6-8, 260 ? Iowa State ?00). Head Coach Bill Cartwright will look to Chandler, now in his third season, to start at the Bulls? deepest position. ?The big thing for Tyson will be to keep working on his strength and his offensive aggressiveness,? said Cartwright. ?Tyson at times last year was too unselfish in the sense that he was content to pass the ball to others and allow them to score. We want to take advantage of having Tyson. This guy has the opportunity to be a double figure scorer and he should be. He?s quick; so quick that he?s probably the quickest four in the league in the half court. I know he?s the fastest when you are talking about the full court and we want to take advantage of his speed and athleticism.? While Cartwright hopes Chandler is able to improve his scoring ability, he?s been pleased with his efforts on the other end of the court. ?Defensively, he?s been wonderful and we just need to keep pushing him to make sure he gets better,? Cartwright stated. ?He?s an instinctive defensive player and if there is ever a challenge up front, he?ll always volunteer for it. We really need to focus on making him more of a scorer down on the other end.? Chandler appeared in 75 games last year and made 68 starts. On the season, he averaged 9.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg (35th in the NBA), 1.41 bpg (22nd in the NBA) and 1.0 apg. He scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a 102-87 win over Portland. ?Tyson?s been working all summer on his face up scoring,? said Cartwright, who credits John Paxson for bring in a shooting coach, Andy Enfield, to come in and work with Chandler for much of the summer on his jump shot. ?You?ll see a much improved and better looking jumper from Tyson this year.? On five occasions, Chandler grabbed 15+ rebounds, helping the Bulls go 4-1 in those games. Following last year?s All-Star break, he played in 27 games, making 24 starts and averaging 11.7 ppg and 9.7 rpg, while shooting .542 from the floor. Along with Eddy Curry, he has steadily improved and progressed since coming to the NBA straight from high school, giving fans a vision of what could be the Bulls front line for a long, long time to come. ?Tyson is worlds away from where he was when we first drafted him,? Cartwright said. ?Both he and Eddy had this introduction to the league where it was almost overwhelming. From a physical standpoint, probably their best high school game was like a below average practice now as far as how hard it is. The physical effort, the mental focus that you have to have and the overall awareness? its everyday and it?s a lot of work.? </div> How deep is the power forward position and how will each player preform?
I think Tyson Chandler will be a very good rebounder/defender. I don't think we need to worry so much about his offense. We probably won't even need him to be our 2nd or 3rd option. If all goes well with Fizer's knee, he could be a 6th man candidate once again. It's always nice to have Lonny come off the bench also. I really like him, and I hope he stays with the Bulls and continues to develope.
Chandler will start. Fizer and Baxter will battle for Minutes off the bench. I think Fizer is better than Baxter tho.
I'd like to see Lonny get some more playing time, I hope he can back up Chandler. Notice hes a former terp . I don't want his career to be wasted, they'd be stipid not to play him.
