By Mark Eichenlaub

The championship years of the Chicago Bulls is now 6 years in the rear view mirror and a part of those championship teams is at the helm of bringing them back to the promised land.

John Paxson has a decent foundation left to him by his predecessor Jerry Krause and must now translate his skills from behind the radio booth to the front office. It is a daunting task for anyone but Paxson is just the man to do it. A quality, honest smart man at the top of the organization will filter down all the way to the water boy. The painful years of losing seem to be coming to an end and a possible dynasty is in the making. But before this can happen, Paxson has plenty of decisions must be made.

It seems as though NBA teams who are truly trying to win championships have followed a few different formulas to build teams over the past few years to fight for their goal of an NBA championship.

The first formula would be to examine the team who won the last championship and design your team to just beat them. For example, the Sacramento Kings brought in Doug Christie to be someone to defend Kobe Bryant and the team was built to be a team of good shooters and passers to expose what many saw as a weakness of the Lakers' championship teams. Sacramento was not the only team employing this technique. Portland searched for big man to throw at Shaq and many other teams stockpiled big men with the sole intent of using all six of their big mens' fouls on Shaq to put him on the line. During the Bulls' championship years there were always teams that were on the verge of contending looking for Jordan stoppers or some secret formula to dethrone the Bulls. The next strategy is to acquire as much young potential as possible and wait for it to develop. This formula allows GM's and owners to ask their fans to be patient and also allows them excuses to have dismal records for a few years, like the Bulls. This seems to be the formula Jerry Krause was using and what he left for Paxson. This is not to say that Paxson was not left with some pieces to work with that are not ready to play now. The team showed great improvement last season and now is the time when Paxson has to decide which way to go from here. Should he continue to stock players with lots of physical potential OR should he start looking for complementary players to surround his core with.

Either of these ways could work, either of these formulas could also fail. By stockpiling more players with great potential would employ Paxson to make moves for players like Darius Miles from his brother Jim Cleveland's team. He could also pursue more young players who MIGHT be great like Corey Maggette. Another great athlete. Or Paxson could start to search out and acquire role players.

Role players are needed on all great teams. The technique of acquiring a bunch of players who all wanna be "the man" like in Portland does not work. Players like Malik Rose, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Rick Fox are the types of players the Bulls should be seeking to acquire. Paxson seemed to be finding his first role player through the draft in Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich seems to be a humble, smart, hardworking guy. The type of player any team could use. The Bulls could use a few more players like him. Another guy they should pursue would be Shane Battier. The reason Battier should be pursued is because Paxson has said that the team needs a perimeter defender and perimeter shooter. Battier would also bring a strong basketball IQ, good work ethic, perimeter shooting and defense. He is exactly what the Bulls need on and off the court.

Acquiring Battier gives the Bulls a starting lineup of PG Jamal Crawford backed up by Hinrich, Jalen Rose at SG, Battier at SF, and their core players of Chandler and Curry at PF and C. This is a team that is young and can grow together that will undoubtedly be a good team this year and the potential to be great and compete for a championship in a few more years with more minor tinkering and more role players.


Mark Eichenlaub is a freelance writer in Orland Park, IL