Curry, Chandler out of starting lineup tonight
By Mike McGraw Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Bulls notes If at first you don't succeed, try a new lineup.

With the Bulls staring at the worst start in franchise history, coach Scott Skiles announced after Tuesday's practice at America West Arena that fourth-year big men Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler will not be in the starting lineup tonight at Utah.

Veteran shooting guard Eric Piatkowski is also expected to take a seat. The trio will be replaced by Luol Deng, Chris Duhon and Antonio Davis. This would be the first start of the season for all three players, even though Deng is the Bulls' top scorer at 15.7 points per game.

Curry actually had one of his better games of the season in Monday's 100-82 loss at Phoenix, finishing with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Chandler had 10 points and 9 boards against the Suns.

Curry and Chandler are the only players still on the roster who were acquired by former general manager Jerry Krause. So it's no surprise they have been scapegoats for the Bulls' poor start.

One or both big men are likely to be dealt before the February trade deadline. A rumor that might have some legs is Denver swapping Nene, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Rodney White for Piatkowski and either Curry or Chandler.

Gordon gets going: During most of the Bulls' losses this season, a few positive signs creep up.

On Monday in Phoenix, rookie guard Ben Gordon had his best offensive performance, scoring 20 points while hitting 7 of 16 shots. The previous night against the Los Angeles Lakers, Gordon played a season-high 35 minutes and had 15 points.

"He gets open shots all over the place," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "He's just got to relax and knock them down. He's a little more aggressive driving (to the basket). But in general, he's just knocking down his shot."

Gordon, the No. 3 pick in the draft, is averaging 10.0 points per game and shooting 34.4 percent, a pretty good climb from where he was two weeks ago. Gordon is still struggling with ball control and has 19 turnovers to go with just 11 assists.

"There's a lot to learn," he said. "Really a lot to learn, because you might be doing the right thing every time, but the players are so good.

"I think I'm just learning and getting more experience. I was always confident. It's a matter of kind of getting in a rhythm. I think I'm starting to find it a little bit."

Defense in a zone: Phoenix set a season low with 12 points in the third quarter of Monday's victory. The Bulls used a zone defense to hold the Suns to just 2 points over an eight-minute stretch.

"It was good. I thought we were active in it," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said of the zone. "We only have one lineup, maybe mixed in with one other player, that it's been effective with. So we have to try to get that lineup out there."

That third-quarter zone lineup included Kirk Hinrich, Eric Piatkowski, Luol Deng, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. Chris Duhon joined in when Hinrich got his fifth foul. Ben Gordon and Antonio Davis subbed in late in the third quarter.

The Suns scored 65 points in the first half and 35 in the second.

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