Bulls show grit, but lack inside scorer against Pistons

	Luol Deng emerged as a playmaker in the postseason, but the Bulls still lack an inside scorer. AP
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CHICAGO -- Bulls center Ben Wallace threw a white baseball cap over his bushy afro, turned it around backward and actually smiled a little.

"These guys have a lot of heart," he said as he looked around the quiet Bulls locker room after Thursday night's season-ending Game 6 loss to the Pistons. "There were a lot of times this season when we could have cashed our chips in. But we worked hard and made the most of it.

"Like I said, losing sucks. But these guys came to work every night. I'm proud of how we played."

The pesky Bulls won't be making history this season. Their bid to become the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series ended when they ran out of gas in the second half against a slightly bigger and more experienced Detroit club. Heart and hustle can only take a team so far in the NBA.

But Chicago showed it is a team that will have to be reckoned with in the future. The Bulls won 49 games during the regular season, swept the defending champion Heat in the first round, and then took the Pistons to six games in a hard-fought series. More important, Chicago showed a rare competitiveness and mental toughness.

"You have to give the Bulls credit," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "They were down 3-0 and fought back and made it a tough series. I think a lot of people expected these two teams to meet in the conference finals and not the semi-finals."

Against the Pistons, the Bulls clearly showed they had the grit -- if not the overall talent -- to compete with the East's best. Chicago easily could have packed it in after getting blown out in Detroit the first two games and then blowing a 19-point second-half lead back at home in Game 3. But like they have all season, the Bulls just kept attacking.

Keep in mind, this is a team that finished 23-59 just three seasons ago.

"We went from a bottom-five team to a top-eight team in two years," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "That is not easy to do. We did it with young players and they deserve a lot of credit."

The question for the Bulls now is how to take the next step. Chicago clearly needs a big man who can score inside. Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni form a nice perimeter core, but they have to run such precise sets and work much too hard to generate offense.

Bulls GM John Paxson, who has done a masterful job overall building the team, has talked openly about the need to add a legit post presence to help "settle things down" when the game is slipping away. In Game 6, for example, the Pistons went on a 15-2 run to start the second half after the Bulls had gone into the intermission with a five-point lead. At that point Chicago desperately could have used somebody in the low block to catch the ball and score or draw a double team.

Paxson had a chance to land Pau Gasol from Memphis before the trade deadline, but he refused to part with Deng. It's hard to argue with that decision now, after the way Deng emerged as a big-time performer in the postseason. But it's clear Paxson needs to do something, even if it means giving up Hinrich or Gordon.

Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal are the other two big names mentioned most often, but there is hardly any guarantee either will be available. The T'wolves insist they are not going to trade Garnett. The Pacers probably will dangle O'Neal, but would Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh risk trading him to a division rival?

The Bulls certainly have the pieces to make an attractive offer for a big-time player. Gordon is a 20-point scorer. Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefalosha are nice young players who could fit in a team's rebuilding plan. The Bulls also have a lottery pick in this year's draft.

The biggest hangup for Chicago is that it doesn't have many big salaries to match up. Hinrich's salary goes up to $11 million next season, but his status as a base-year compensation player could be problematic. Most likely they would have to re-sign free agents Nocioni and P.J. Brown, then use them in a sign-and-trade.

Either way, the Bulls players weren't bashful Thursday night discussing the need to add pieces to the roster.

"We just have to get better," Deng said. "In the last three years we've been getting better every year. Winning the first round was big for this team. Obviously we wanted to go further. But we came up against a team that is experienced and are kind of used to this. They've been a great team in the East. It hurts to lose but it's time to get better in the summer time."

Gordon was even more blunt in assessing what the Bulls needed to take the next step.

"More talent wouldn't hurt," he said.

Whether Paxson can find a way to add to his team without disrupting the chemistry will be one of the biggest stories in the NBA this offseason. The Bulls are clearly right on the cusp. Maybe that's why Wallace -- and his teammates -- were able to smile a little even after such a disappointing night.