Bulls' Chandler shows Chicago how good its future may be

Chicago Bulls forward Tyson Chandler has always had the burden of high expectations.

Those expectations have come from himself as well as from outside sources.

During his freshman season at Dominguez High School in California, Chandler was the subject of a story that was done by "60 Minutes," the popular news magazine show.

The Bulls had high expectations as well, as they sent popular and effective power forward Elton Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers on draft day in 2001 for Chandler.

Up until recently though, Chandler had not done much to change doubters' minds in Chicago who would have preferred to build around Brand rather than Chandler and Eddy Curry, another star high school player drafted by the Bulls in 2001. Both skipped the college game to jump straight to the NBA.

During his 2001-2002 rookie campaign, Chandler did exactly what was expected of him. At times, he would show the talent that made him the second overall pick in the draft., while at other times, he would show the immaturity and impatience that should have been developed and minimized in college.

Those inconsistencies were frustrating for the Bulls' two head coaches of the season, Tim Floyd and Bill Cartwright, who was hired on December 28th, 2001.

In the first half of his rookie season, Chandler managed to score in double digits only two times and was as anonymous as any rookie on a struggling team.

His slow start kept him off of the rookie team in the annual Rookie/Sophomore game that is held during the All-Star Weekend.

The first sign of a sense of purpose showed in his reaction.

"It's disappointing. But I'm going to be felt by the end of the season," he said at the time.

With renewed determination, Chandler improved immensely in the second half of the season, scoring in double digits 13 times, including a career high 21 points on April 10th against the Detroit Pistons.

That raised the Bulls' hopes for the 19-year old and things were looking good.

He ended the season with an average of 6.1 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game.

There are many differing opinions when it comes to the phenomenon that is known as the sophomore slump. That is the belief that as a player goes through his rookie season, opposing teams learn more about them. This results in playing against the player's strengths while focusing on their weaknesses, and the only thing the athletes can do is work on their weaknesses to combat opposing team's strategies.

With that burden looming over Chandler's head, he headed into the 2002-2003 season hoping to improve on his previous season. A sign that he was getting better was his selection to play on the sophomore team at this year's All-Star Weekend.

At the break, Chandler had been averaging 7.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game while playing just 20.6 minutes a game.

Considering the Bulls reliance on Chandler to become a building block for their future, the marginal improvement was somewhat of a disappointment.

Many factors have been blamed. Cartwright's reluctance to give Chandler significant minutes was one. Another factor that was blamed, was Chandler's seeming reluctance to work hard and do the things he had to do to become a better player.

After the All-Star weekend, Chandler's season hit another low point. He was stuck in a security line in an Atlanta airport and ended up missing his flight, which was to take him back to Chicago in time for the team's first post All-Star practice. Cartwright took away his starting center spot because of it.

Chandler, however, responded. In his next game on February 12,, he set a career high with seven blocked shots and 21 points as well as 17 rebounds. The next day, Tyson took another step backward as he overslept and missed the first 40 minutes of the Bulls practice. But he has been on fast forward ever since.

Ever since the second game following the All-Star break, Chandler has been, arguably, the best player the Chicago Bulls have. He has four double-doubles in the seven games since, while averaging 16.1 points per game and 12.9 rebounds per game in that stretch.

The increased productivity has translated into more playing time, as Cartwright has given Chandler 33.5 minutes per game since the break.

Just three days after the Bulls played the Philadelphia 76ers, the game in which Chandler had those seven blocks, the Bulls went up against the Denver Nuggets. Chandler had a monster game and scored 19 points while pulling down a career high 22 rebounds as the Bulls defeated the Nuggets 88-69. That was the first game that Chandler started since the incidents after the All-Star game.

When given a chance to show what he can do, Chandler has performed with the best of the NBA. He is 15th in the league in blocks per 48 minutes, just ahead of Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal and Indiana Pacers center Jermaine O'Neal. That is very good company to be in.

Chandler also seems ready to be the team leader that the Bulls sorely need.

"I can't wait until this team is my team, so I can stop some of the stuff that goes on," he said in a recent Chicago Sun-Times article. That may be more important to the Bulls future than his numbers.

Chicago Bulls' fans have not had much to be excited about since the dismantling of the dynasty. However, with Jay Williams slowly, but surely, showing signs of improvement, Eddy Curry getting better as he sees more minutes, and Chandler out to make people forget about Elton Brand, the Chicago basketball community has begun to show faint signs of a heartbeat.

The Windy City can only hope that they are allowed to see just how good this new nucleus can be.

Note: Chandler scored 15 points and had six rebounds in the Bulls 90-87 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday to continue his strong start to the second half.