Tyson Chicken may start tonight

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

http://chicagosports.com/bulls/content/story/0,1984,166386,00.html
Chandler Might Get First Start
By K.C. Johnson
Tribune staff reporter
November 1, 2001 9:07 PM CST

After one game as a professional, Tyson Chandler has as many technical 
fouls as he does points and he has played a whopping six minutes.
He might start Friday night against Boston. Coach Tim Floyd hinted at that 
scenario after practice Thursday, as much to improve an anemic bench 
performance as to bolster Chandler's confidence.
Floyd made a similar move in the Bulls' final preseason game against 
Denver. The thinking is with Chandler in the starting lineup, the second 
unit doesn't feature all young players when substitutes enter.
Indiana's reserves outscored the Bulls' 27-16 in Wednesday night's opening 
loss.
"We have to get more out of our bench," Floyd said. "I may start a bench 
player and get him six minutes here and six minutes there to try to bring 
some guys along."
Chandler didn't play until 6 minutes 20 seconds remained Wednesday. Fellow 
teenager Eddy Curry played 12 minutes and shot 1-for-6.
"I think they need to be spoken to," Floyd said. "You have to have some 
one-on-ones with them, let them know that you still love them. That's 
important for 18-year-olds."
Chandler, a mixture of defiant confidence and self-deprecation, says his 
confidence is intact. His sense of humor certainly is.
"I didn't see myself on the [game] film," Chandler said. "We didn't get 
that far."
Chandler had 12 family and friends in from California for his debut and 
acknowledged that he was distracted as he sat and waited to play. His 
frustrations boiled over when he received a technical for reacting 
emotionally to Jeff Foster's flagrant foul on him.
"That's not a good trend. I have to stop that," Chandler said. "When I got 
my chance to come in, I should've been prepared and I wasn't. My mind was 
out of the game. I didn't think I played well at all."
Friday's another chance.
Zoned out: Floyd is juggling the need to play zone defense to hide matchup 
problems caused by the absence of a true small forward with the fact he has 
an extremely young team that still is trying to master basic defensive 
principles.
For instance, when Curry and Chandler played zone in high school, they 
didn't have to worry about a defensive three-second rule. Indiana exploited 
the Bulls' meager attempts to play zone.
"When we went to zone, Jermaine O'Neal started getting inside of us and 
getting layup, dunk, layup, dunk," center Brad Miller said. "We almost 
tried to play it too much, and they found the gaps in it. Our man defense 
isn't that bad. It was mostly zone and transition defense that hurt us."
Switching defenses will continue, though, out of necessity.
"It can be a real advantage early in the season, not letting teams get into 
a rhythm," Floyd said.
Close call: Guard Fred Hoiberg has been battling a sore right knee and 
played 33 minutes Wednesday night, most of them chasing Reggie Miller off 
screens. The situation is delicate because Hoiberg missed 43 games two 
seasons ago with a similar problem.
"He isn't going to tell you, but he's babying the thing," Floyd said. "I 
tried to pull him out of practice five minutes in. But he said, 'I'm fine.' 
We'll see."
Layups: The Bulls' opening-night attendance of 18,163 ranked seventh of 17 
home openers around the league. New Jersey drew 8,749 for its home opener. 
 Forward Ron Artest will have the pin removed from his right ring finger 
next week and begin rehabilitation. He is expected to be sidelined until at 
least mid-December.  Charles Oakley missed practice to attend to a 
personal matter.  Dating to last season, the Bulls have a three-game 
road-winning streak.
Copyright 2001 The Chicago Tribune