Preseason finally came, with 6 new faces joining the team. We (The fans) get our first look at Ben Wallace and the two young rookies, Tyrus Thomas, and Thabo Sefolosha. Before this even started we all knew that the Bulls needed to develop chemistry before they went into the season and it defenitley showed coming into this game.

At the start Wallace was doing just what he came here for, grabbing rebounds and blocking shots. Dont be too suprised though if we see Wallace averaging around 12-14 ppg this season because it was obvious Scott Skiles wanted to get him involved. He didnt have to score for the Pistons but because the Bulls dont have the prodominate scorer Big Ben will get more chances or oppurtunity to score. He eneded the game with 7 points and 9 rebounds with a block and 2 steals. Very good for his first game in limited playing time.

The Bulls got off to somewhat of a slow start but very expecting with PJ and Big Ben the two new starters for this team. Luol Deng was a bright spot though for the Bulls scoring 13 and adding 5 rebounds. Then, Tyrus came in and did some nice things. You could see the quickness was there and the excitement. I cant wait untill he puts the package all together because he is going to be a very nice player in this league. Suprisingly though he and Thabo didnt play as much as I thought they would.

I really like this Khryapa kid. The first time I saw him in a Bulls Uni I said, "Well he looks like some scrub" however that wasnt the case. He looked very athletic and can shoot the "J" but he also does all the intangeables that you dont notice. He ended with 10 points and 6 rebounds. I think he will fit nicely with this team as a 7th or 8th man coming off the bench.

Overall this team did well and it was good to see them comeback and win. The bad thing was the free throws. You expect it from Big Ben but others werent hitting as well but I guess its the first preseason game and thats what it is for. We did get to the line 36 times which is still nice but you'd like to see them hit around 75-80% on free throws. But nonetheless a good game to watch which makes me even more anxious for the "REAL" season to get here. The Bulls next preseason game is Sunday versus Seattle.

I apreciate the recap as I'm out of comcast sports net range.




Don't they have a scrimage with Kansas coming up before the sunday preseason game?

Nocioni, Deng and Khryapa all looked very impressive IMO. Big Ben was surprisingly active and energetic for a meaningless game, which was nice to see, and Ben and P.J. are going to help this team way beyond even what the box score shows you. Thabo has a LONG way to go, and I think Tyrus will make more of an impact early on. Tyrus still has a lot of work to do, but he will get a lot of rebounds and blocks, and looks like he should make some free throws. All forms of shooting sucked tonight for us, and you could tell the communication was affecting the defense in a negative way, but overall for the first preseason game, we looked ok. The fact that Andre Barrett, who will be gone in 2 weeks, hit the game winner tells you all you need to know about this one. I'm still terrified of how bad this team will be at the free throw line, but I can't wait for Miami and Halloween.

Is that the season opener? Yeah I would of thought Tyrus would have much more to improve upon than Sefolosha but your right Sef didnt look very good at all today. Thats why we got our vets and wont have to worry about them untill next year or the year after.

Yeah, it is. I'm not surprised about Thabo though. Tyrus played 6 high level games against good competition last March, and is incredibly gifted naturally, so even though he's raw, he'll make an impact just with his God given talent. Thabo played in Europe and has a lot more work to do to adjust to the NBA game since he's not as naturally gifted, however what I did see of him tonight, he looks like he can play the point, and he's a very good looking defender who can defend the 1 through 3, so he will make an impact. People just need to be patient with both of these guys, they are only 19 and 20 years old, and they are talented, but it will take time.

gotta say, if you saw the summer league games you'd think thabo would have a much more polished year. Honestly, I think tyrus will struggle more this year than thabo, it was just an off game. In the summer league he was getting to the hoop and stuff, and tyrus will struggle to find his position a bit wherever he is playing and, like tonight and every summer game, relied far too much on a jump shot that doesn't fall consistently.

Thabo, coming from a better league (euro league better than NCAA for sure) and being his team's best player i think thabo will be a bit like noc, having a solid year as a rookie and really growing a lot in his second year. However, he is a lot younger than noc was when he came in. Thabo could be a real good and extremely versatile player for a long time. A josh howard type guy to be a 6th man or even start if we had more scoring from the pf or center spots down the line.

Tyrus continue's to take outside shots that he should sometimes pass up (did you see that three?) but looks good but raw down low on offense and defense. Because he has some touch on his shot, if he could bulk up to the point that he could bang down low, with those long arms, he'd be a solid offensive contributor and full time pf. If he can hit the 17 ft shots at that clip, i think he could hit 6 fters at a pretty good pace. COuld tyrus be Jermaine oneal but like 2 inches shorter down the line? Or is he a guy like AK47 who will never have a full time position. Truth is, the league is gowing small now with a lot of teams playing combo forwards at the 4 spot oftentimes. Tyrus is probably the perfect guy to defend the dirk, al harrington, shawn marion, ak47, etc types.

Well, either way, guess we don't need to know for a few years. That's a nice luxury.

You're right. This was just the first pre-season game. Watching the game you definitely see that Sefolosha can run the point effectively and his length makes him a good defender (I think he got his blocked shot while standing). He looked confused on offense, but I think he needs more time to learn the sets. Tyrus, from all the reports, has a quick learning curve, and you can see it on the offensive side. He made a few mistakes, but nothing that won't go away with time. Only gripe is that he is not strong enough yet, but we already knew that.

Khryapa is going to be very valuable. I'm for starting Deng and having Nocioni and Khryapa come off the bench. Both of them seem to have energy, which will be good of the bench. Khryapa was a steal, and he is much more athletic than I thought he would be.

Hinrich, Deng, Nocioni, Brown and Wallace were all solid. Gordon looked great as well, but his shot wasn't falling. He should have taken it to the hole more but finished with six points, three assists, two boards, a steal and NO TURNOVERS. I thought his handle was looking a little better.

Also, everybody is going to compare Khryapa to Songalia since he's a light skinned Euro who is tall and can shoot, but ignore it. Victor has a FAR higher ceiling and is way more versatile.

In my oppinoin Victor Kryapa was a definate steal. I really don't see the comparisons between him and Songaila. Victor is alot more explosive, he ain't afraid to shoot, and he can take it to the hole. I was very suprised by his agressiveness, and atleticness. Sefalosha just had an off gme, but I believe that he is going to surprise many people. he is still trying to get his bearings. He just looked a little confused on offense, but in a few more games people will see how good he is. He is also explosive, and he is very agressive.

sef did have a clutch forth quarter block IIRC

Khyrapa is another good combo forward. And you know whose game he reminds me of? Toni Kukoc. I swear. A little shorter (toni's 6'11 and vic is 6'9) but moves well on the perimeter, can short from a distance, penetrate a bit, and a really good passer. He had a few nice assists.

Look for the Bulls rotations this year to be extremely different from night to night based on matchups. A team like orlando that will have two basically 7fters in at most times and the like will see a lot of Ben and PJ together with sweets and Malik coming in to play big.

A lot of teams don't have two solid bigs, so then you will see almost exlusively a combo forward (noc, khyrapa, tyrus, deng) at the pf spot throughout the game. Which is what you saw last night except for the first few mins with PJ and the last few with sweets.

Viktor to me is more of another Nocioni rather than a songalia, he just seems like a really hard worker

Sefolosha IMO wont get as much PT as Tyrus and now im starting to believe that Tyrus will have a better year as well. Not because of this ONE game but I just think he will have a tough first year because he hasnt played any "High" level quality players yet. He will just have to get by with his athletiscm for his first year or two. He shouldnt have a problem after that.

Not to diss Nocioni, but Viktor has a lot more talent than him. Nocioni gets by on being a nut job really, although his shot is getting much better, which is why I think he might really bust out this year. But yeah, the Songalia comparision is silly, they are not the same at all except both are 6'9 Euro's that can shoot.

Im hoping this is the season when Deng really busts out... he has so much talent and I just want to see him explode. PJ Brown looked really bad during the game but being a solid vet im not 2 worried about him. This team should be pretty fun to be with all the athletes on it. God its going to be brutal watching Wallace at the line though... I thought Tyson was bad.

Thats the great thing about our roster this season... weve finally got -
1) a recognised Allstar
2) a solid big man
3) veteran experience
4) depth at all positions
5) rookies who dont have that extreme pressure to produce straight away

From what I saw in that first game the sky is really the limit right now. I mean yeah we looked a little out of rhythm at times but its still preseason and theres plenty of time to learn to flow. I loved seeing Bens first points come from a monster dunk and also the little intangibles that he brought to the game like tipping out a rebound on offense so we get second chance points. Then you had Tyrus elevating for a shot and even though he missed getting his own rebound and scoring his first basket for the Bulls. He got his own rebound on two seperate ocassions plus a nice steal too later in the game.
I think that our new additions will take pressure off guys like Gordon and Deng because now they have more options when it comes to offense. Hopefully it will mean they will get more open as a result and it will make scoring easier for both of them. I saw somebody else talk about Deng's potential for greatness and if he stays healthy I agree completely. People have been toting Gordon as the star but I think they sleep on Luol and once he gets comfortable I think hell be an All-Star. Nocioni has some thugs to back his smash mouth defense up now too so I can see him tearing up some things with our new additions.
Khryapa came strong in his debut with some nice moves .... hes like a poor mans Kirilenko. He sent that reverse layup from Russia with Love baby!!!! (I know he's from Ukraine but I had to say it!) If Kirilenkos number is 47 for "AK 47" ....then I vote Khryapa's 38 stand for "38 special". We got a new nickname in the works, lol...
This is our year!!!
One

At first I hated the Tyrus Thomas pick but now when Im seeing him actually playing my opinion has changed on him. I think he can be a pretty special player if he keeps growing on offense like he appears to be doing.