Why Tyson Chandler is important

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jun 9, 2006 12:48 AM CDT in News Comment 19 comments

ChicagoSports.com has a semi-regular feature where they publish fan submitted essays on the Bulls, and this recently posted one by Tonny Lee assessing Tyson Chandler is dead on .

I know at this site there is more patience for Tyson than in most places, but in the Chicago MSM Chandler is unfairly vilified as the root of the Bulls problems. It's an easy argument to make, he did not have a good year after signing a huge contract. Even when he is playing well, it is through altering shots and rebounding, which fail to overshadow the awkward post moves and dropped passes that better stick in one's memory.

But as obvious as the Bulls' need for a defensive guard to keep Hinrich from always guarding the best opposing guard, it is just as important to find a post player to keep Chandler from having to guard the opponent's best big man. I'll just got to the letter:

He is ranked No. 1 in the NBA in rebounds-per-minute, which means that we must keep him out of foul trouble and in the game for him to be effective. The trade of Eddy Curry hurt Chandler more than anyone cares to admit. The Bulls should acquire Joel Przybilla in the off-season to defend the opposing teams' best post players, thus allowing Chandler to rebound and block from the weak side and play meaningful minutes. He certainly needs to gain significant strength in off-season workouts.

I truly feel he gets too much blame for the team's flaws and unfortunately has developed a foul-prone reputation with the referees.

We debated the name Przybilla yesterday, but whether he's the right guy or not the important thing is that they find somebody similar. I also loved the next part of the letter:

We are often too enamored with the "potential" of college players who have only showed one good season in school, or even just one good tournament. Chandler would easily be a top-5 pick in this year's draft since there is no true top-tiered center.

How very true. I caught an episode of Chicago Tribune Live around the aftermath of the NCAA final, and the discussion was all about Joakim Noah and the help he could give the Bulls. The host jokingly compared Noah's supposed dominance to the bumbling, awkward Tyson Chandler, claiming Noah was a better player already, especially on offense. Former Bulls beat reporter KC Johnson (who once made fun of my blog but I won't hold it against him) was on the panel that night and stood up for Tyson, correctly pointing out how ludicrous it was to compare Chandler, a 23 year-old and a 4-year veteran, to a college sophomore.

While Noah is out of the draft, Tyrus Thomas has a Chandler-like game that has many people gushing. But if Chandler was playing for LSU last year, he'd be destroying people. That may be damning with faint praise considering the paltry talent the NCAA has nowadays, but I think it's important to put these college players in perspective in the midst of all this pre-draft drooling. Sometimes Chandler is considered disposable but he may be the Bulls' most important player.

Consider this March article from 82Games.com , which looked for any correlations between championship teams and how their rosters fared in the regular season awards. Nearly all championship teams had superstars, either an All-NBA first team player or defender. The following point was driven home:

STEP 1: Acquire a Championship Superstar

Approach #1: Acquire a Top 5 caliber player
Only two NBA Champions failed to include a player named to the All-NBA first team during their careers. These players are easy to identify as all but 4 NBA championship teams included players named All-NBA 1st Team in the prior four seasons.

Approach #2: If you fail to acquire a Top 5 caliber player, then you need a Top 5 caliber defender.
Only two NBA Champions failed to include a player named to the All-Defensive first team during their careers, and each of these teams included Top 5 Players.

Approach #3: Clear salary cap space for next year.
No NBA team has won a championship without a Top 5 player or Top 5 defender.

Look at the Bulls roster and you won't find a future top 5 player. But there is a possible top 5 caliber defender and it's Tyson Chandler.

This is hardly an exact science, the seasonal awards are subjective and those on good teams are given preference (resulting in a chicken-or-egg type argument). But the point to be made is that superstars are hard to find, either on offense or defense. While Tyson definitely needs to have a comeback season to justify his draft status, his contract, and now all my hyping, I think he can do it and eventually get to that championship level. And even if he only comes close, if he's gotten rid of too soon the Bulls will be stuck looking for someone like him.

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he was the number 2 pick in the draft.

Tyson was to be a KG type or Rasheed. He never really has developed. Until he gets a hook shot or becomes more selfish he will be a one end player. 4 years and just now he's learing he needs to lift more? You just can't baby them anymore. 60 million whatever he makes get a post move. I like Tyson but he has to man-up and be more consistant. Don't get fixed on the super star crap. Dwade has Shaq and a good team of vets. Dirk has a great team also. I don't buy into the super star crap. Even so its not like the Bulls can get the type that will be on the levels of Wade, Kobe and LBJ. I think the NBA is wide open you get hot in the playoffs you can win it all. Look at the Pistons. I think the Bulls can have a nice team that can contend for a few more years. They gave Miami the most Heat in the east anyways. I agree Tyson will be better next season once he has more help.

by joejoeEnglish94bulls4ever on Jun 9, 2006 1:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank you

I am glad we have some Tyson support. While I cringe when I recall last season, I drool when I recall the season before. Tyson was an intimidator in the interior and basically locked it down. I would also argue that he has clearly been lifting as his physique has gotten sturdier. However, he's likely getting near his max and he's never gonna be Venice Beach material. I'm fine with that though as he can still make a huge impact. I mean, Wallace will be getting a huge contract this summer and, aren't we talking about the same type of player (granted, Ty's not nearly in Ben's league.... ..yet)?
As for stars on defense and offense. It's indisputable. To respond to JoeJoe, I don't think we need a Wade or Lebron, but we do need a go-to guy on offense. Ben could grow into that but inconsistency and lack of a game outside of scoring are keeping him from it.
What really excites me is that we are really close. If we get a reliable big guard and a reliable center, that will potentially give us three all-NBA defensive players (Chandler, PF; Nocioni, SF; Hinrich, PG) with another that could get there (Deng). Hinrich, in particular, is ready to make that leap given his performance in the playoffs and how it was received by NBA execs. And, don't think for a second that Hinrich would do nearly as well without a swatter like Tyson roaming the interier.
One last thing, what did KC have to say about the blog, Matt?

by CookDing on Jun 9, 2006 7:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

KC

It was a long time ago in the middle of the '04-'05 season. They had KC doing Q&A and I wrote in saying how I ran some stats on the blog regarding Gordon's fouls. And the first line of his response was "who has time to run stats on their blog?". And it wasn't like I was calculating PER it was something like fouls/40minutes.

I definately was trying to pimp the site by mentioning it in the email, but that really was for him to check it out I wasn't intending to get the URL on the chicagosports.com site or anything.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jun 9, 2006 9:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember that

now that you mention it. Not so cool of him. you are kind to forgive.

by preverbal on Jun 9, 2006 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hearing about how good tyson's going to be...

...reminds me of hearing every year about how the Cubs will be so dominant once their starting rotation is healthy.

If you watch Tyson play on the offensive end, he looks like a guy that wants nothing more than to have somebody take the ball from him so he doesn't have to embarrass himself. I've seen him get the ball on offense and spend almost ten seconds at the free throw line extended when nobody's open, and not even face the basket!

The press et cetera have already shaped this kid's image of what kind of player he's GOING to be so much that every night he goes home discouraged, and then shows up the next day afraid to go the hole, or even square up. He's going to have to get bigger faster blah blah this summer, but the most important thing for him is to find his confidence.

Oh and don't forget that another thing limiting him is the hiatal hernia he's got, which is his stomach sticking up through his diaphram into his chest -- ouch! I might lay off the weightlifting too!

by thug life on Jun 9, 2006 8:25 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Please don't bring up the Cubs

I come to this site to ESCAPE what's going on at Clark & Addison! :)

If I can't have some sort of online sanctuary, I'll go crazy.

In Pax we Trust!

by Jobu on Jun 9, 2006 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

image

just don't think about Chandler as an offensive player and you'll be a lot happier. he's just not going to be anything more than a putback player there. his bread and butter-and worth-is defense.

by CookDing on Jun 9, 2006 12:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tyson

has had a lot of changes in his life this past year. Getting married and having a child have a way of maturing people. I hope it does that for him. I like Tyson too and hope he is working hard to keep in shape this summer.

by sue369 on Jun 9, 2006 12:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Tyson is a keeper

Every other team in the league would like to have him (but maybe not his contract).

Sure, he's a disappointment on the offensive end, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone with worse hands, but at times he can be a real terror on the other end, and just aren't many guys in the league who can do that.

The original post was dead on; he needs another big body to protect him. Tyson shouldn't be spending his time leaning against big-bellied centers.

Przybilla's name has been mentioned, and he'd be great. Throw Aldridge or Thomas into the rotation, and suddenly that's a pretty imposing front line. Not very much O, but the glass would sure be cleaned and a lot of shots would be sent packing.

by jamestkirk on Jun 18, 2006 9:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs