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The good news for a team that won 15 games and is banking on two teenagers? There's nowhere to go but up

By Marty Burns

Curry is the more polished of the prize rookies, but his knowledge of the game still doesn't rival his street smarts.  Stephen J. Carrera/AP Enemy Lines An opposing team's scout sizes up the Bulls " Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler should complement each other. Curry is a low-post presence with a big body. Chandler, as tall as he is, is really a perimeter player right now. The tough thing for Chandler is that he can't guard threes, and until his body matures the fours are going to push him around. A lot is going to depend on their dedication. If they get personal trainers and do all the extra work and the off-season programs, they should become contributors in the third year. But you just don't know with high school guys. ... It surprised me when they traded Elton Brand. It's hard to deal a guy who gives you 20 points and 10 rebounds every night. I hope Tim Floyd was on board with that move. He's been handcuffed by the lack of talent Jerry Krause has given him. Then Krause forced him to keep running the triangle when it wasn't really the right offense for that team. It's a good sign for Floyd that they don't seem to be running nearly as much triangle this year. ... Charles Oakley will give them 25 to 30 solid minutes. He'll provide rebounding, defense, toughness and leadership, and he won't let the young guys get pushed around.... I doubt that Marcus Fizer is ever going to live up to his billing as the No. 4 pick in the 2000 draft. He's basically a 6'9" power forward with a limited outside shot. ... Eddie Robinson is a dynamic player. He and Ron Mercer are going to be good for them on the wings. ... When I look at Oakley, Ron Artest and Greg Anthony , I see that the Bulls should be tougher than they've been since Michael left."

Bulls coach Tim Floyd was instructing his team at practice one day when rookie center Eddy Curry raised his hand. "What do you mean by pressure release?" Curry asked. For a second Floyd must have thought he was back at Iowa State, where he coached before he came to Chicago in 1998.

Pressure release, as any college player knows, refers to the act of swinging the ball out of danger when an opposing defense overplays the ball side. Curry, who along with fellow rookie Tyson Chandler has jumped to the NBA straight out of high school, had never heard the term. "These guys are going to be something special," Floyd says, "but they've still got a lot to learn."

Welcome to the Great Chicago Rebuilding Project, Part II. After having had the NBA's worst record in each of the last three seasons, Floyd is starting over with two kids straight from the prom. Chandler, a sleek 7'1" forward from Compton, Calif., who was picked No. 2 by the Clippers and then quickly traded to the Bulls for Elton Brand, is considered a potential Kevin Garnett clone. Curry, a 6'11" center from South Holland, Ill., whom the Bulls selected fourth, has been dubbed Baby Shaq. Together they hope to form the twin pillars of a new dynasty.

For now, though, the Baby Bulls will have to be content with baby steps. Hoping to ease the transition, G.M. Jerry Krause acquired veteran Charles Oakley from the Raptors in exchange for a second-round pick. Krause also signed former Hornets reserve Eddie Robinson to a five-year, $31 million deal and picked up point guard Greg Anthony from the Blazers for another second-rounder.

The Bulls are nonetheless still one step above CBA level. The departure of Brand leaves them with no reliable low-post scoring threat to draw double teams, and only shooting guard Ron Mercer is capable of consistently breaking down the man guarding him. On defense there are no shot blockers to cover for the perimeter players' lack of speed.

Chandler and Curry eventually will provide help in both areas, but for now they're too busy trying to help each other find their way. While in Long Beach for the NBA summer league, Chandler took Curry to eat at one of his favorite restaurants, Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. In Chicago, Curry gave Chandler a rundown on the expressways.

Restaurants and highways are fitting topics for Chandler and Curry, considering the steady diet of new material they get each day at practice, which features more stop-and-go than rush hour on the Kennedy Expressway. During training camp Floyd had to break so often to go over basics that the veterans nearly started bringing paperbacks.

Of the two teenagers, the 285-pound Curry is better prepared to play now because of his size, strength and relatively superior offensive game. Though his low-post moves are still rudimentary, he can provide jolts of athleticism down low. Chandler still needs to add 10 to 15 pounds to his 235-pound frame before he can bang with the likes of Oakley. Until then he hopes to steal some minutes as a backup small forward while Ron Artest recovers from thumb surgery.

While Floyd says he has been encouraged by the maturity of the two teens, he doesn't plan to throw them to the Wolves -- or the Lakers, Sixers or Knicks -- until they're ready. "I've made it clear-cut that there aren't going to be entitlement minutes," he says.

Will Floyd be singing the same tune come January, when losses are piling up as high as the snow and the United Center faithful are chanting the names of the franchise's young saviors? Or will the 2001-02 season become a throwaway campaign for the Bulls, designed to get Chandler and Curry some playing time -- and the franchise a shot at Duke point guard Jason Williams in next year's draft lottery? Ultimately, that could be the pressure release that Floyd and Chicago need.

Issue date: October 29, 2001

Click here to look back at CNNSI.com's preseason Bulls preview.