2006–07 Chicago Bulls season

The 2006–07 Chicago Bulls season was the 41st season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team finished with a record of 49–33 in the regular season and reached the second round of the NBA playoffs, making it, at the time, their most successful season since the retirement of Michael Jordan, but nevertheless leaving some doubt amongst fans as to whether the team could compete for an NBA championship in the near future. The Bulls had the best team defensive rating in the NBA.[1]

2006–07 Chicago Bulls season
Head coachScott Skiles
General managerJohn Paxson
OwnerJerry Reinsdorf
ArenaUnited Center
Results
Record4933 (.598)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Central)
Conference: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finishConference Semifinals
(lost to Pistons 2–4)

Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television
RadioWCKG
< 2005–06 2007–08 >

In the playoffs, the Bulls swept the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in four games in the First Round, before losing to the Detroit Pistons in six games in the Semifinals.

Offseason

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Whereas previous seasons under General Manager John Paxson focused mostly on allowing the young players which comprised the core of the Bulls' roster to develop, before the '06-'07 season Paxson made an expensive free-agent signing in the form of Ben Wallace. Many fans were excited about the veteran experience and star power Wallace brought to the team, though some questioned if he was the best fit for the team, as Wallace had always been known for his defense, and many believed that the Bulls' biggest problem was a lack of inside scoring.

On July 20, the Bulls traded Tyson Chandler to the New Orleans Hornets for J.R. Smith. However, six days later, Smith was traded again, this time to the Denver Nuggets, in exchange for Howard Eisley and two second-round draft picks.

NBA draft

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Round Pick Player Position Nationality College / Club Team
1 2 LaMarcus Aldridge (traded to Portland) F  United States Texas
1 16 Rodney Carney (traded to Philadelphia) F  United States Memphis

Regular season

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The Bulls got off to a rocky start, posting a record of 3–9 in their first 12 games. The criticism by some in the offseason about the signing of Ben Wallace seemed to gain some validity, as Wallace appeared to show his age and was not always able to put up big rebounding numbers as he had been known for with the Pistons. However, as they had in the 2004-05 season in which they started 0–9, the Bulls performed better as the season went on and finished 49–33. The record was good enough to receive the #5 seed among the 8 teams qualifying for the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Bulls, however, lost their final game of the season to the New Jersey Nets[2] which would have boosted them to a #2 seed and given them an easier path to the Eastern Conference finals.

Season standings

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W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Detroit Pistons 5329.646-26–1527–149–7
x-Cleveland Cavaliers 5032.610330–1120–2110–6
x-Chicago Bulls 4933.598431–1018–2312–4
Indiana Pacers 3547.4271822–1913–288–8
Milwaukee Bucks 2854.3412518–2310–311–15
#
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Detroit Pistons5329.646
2 x-Cleveland Cavaliers5032.6103
3 y-Toronto Raptors4735.5736
4 y-Miami Heat4438.5379
5 x-Chicago Bulls4933.5984
6 x-New Jersey Nets4141.50012
7 x-Washington Wizards4141.50012
8 x-Orlando Magic4042.48813
9 Philadelphia 76ers3547.42718
10 Indiana Pacers3547.42718
11 New York Knicks3349.40220
12 Charlotte Bobcats3349.40220
13 Atlanta Hawks3052.36623
14 Milwaukee Bucks2854.34125
15 Boston Celtics2458.29329

Playoffs

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2007 playoff game log
First Round: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1 April 21 Miami W 96–91 Luol Deng (33) Ben Wallace (14) Ben Gordon (11) United Center
22,183
1–0
2 April 24 Miami W 107–89 Ben Gordon (27) Ben Gordon (7) Kirk Hinrich (8) United Center
23,097
2–0
3 April 27 @ Miami W 104–96 Ben Gordon (27) Luol Deng (11) Kirk Hinrich (6) American Airlines Arena
20,280
3–0
4 April 29 @ Miami W 92–79 Ben Gordon (24) Luol Deng (12) Gordon, Hinrich (4) American Airlines Arena
20,283
4–0
Conference Semifinals: 2–4 (home: 1–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1 May 5 @ Detroit L 69–95 Luol Deng (18) Wallace, Deng (8) Kirk Hinrich (6) The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076
0–1
2 May 7 @ Detroit L 87–108 Tyrus Thomas (18) Ben Wallace (7) Kirk Hinrich (7) The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076
0–2
3 May 10 Detroit L 74–81 Luol Deng (21) Luol Deng (14) Kirk Hinrich (7) United Center
23,462
0–3
4 May 13 Detroit W 102–87 Luol Deng (25) Ben Wallace (17) Kirk Hinrich (10) United Center
23,099
1–3
5 May 15 @ Detroit W 108–92 Ben Gordon (28) P. J. Brown (8) Kirk Hinrich (13) The Palace of Auburn Hills
22,076
2–3
6 May 17 Detroit L 85–95 P. J. Brown (20) Ben Wallace (7) Kirk Hinrich (11) United Center
23,030
2–4
2007 schedule

Awards and records

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Roster

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2006–07 Chicago Bulls roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
F 35 Malik Allen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1978-06-27 Villanova
G 11 Andre Barrett 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1982-02-21 Seton Hall
F 42 P. J. Brown 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1969-10-14 Louisiana Tech
F 9 Luol Deng 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1985-04-16 Duke
G 21 Chris Duhon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1982-08-31 Duke
G 7 Ben Gordon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1983-04-04 Connecticut
F 44 Adrian Griffin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1974-07-04 Seton Hall
G 12 Kirk Hinrich 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1981-01-02 Kansas
F 38 Viktor Khryapa 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1982-08-03 Russia
F 5 Andres Nocioni 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1979-11-30 Argentina
G 2 Thabo Sefolosha 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1984-05-02 Switzerland
C 50 Mike Sweetney 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1982-10-25 Georgetown
F 24 Tyrus Thomas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1986-08-17 Louisiana State
C 3 Ben Wallace 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1974-09-10 Virginia Union
Head coach
Assistant(s)

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Updated: January 2, 2007

Player statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Regular season

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Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Malik Allen 60110.6.415.000.8242.0.3.3.34.0
Andre Barrett 604.8.500...81.2.0.01.3
P. J. Brown 724920.2.407.000.7874.8.7.3.76.1
Luol Deng 828237.5.517.143.7777.12.51.2.618.8
Chris Duhon 783024.4.408.359.7522.24.0.9.17.2
Ben Gordon 825133.0.455.413.8643.13.6.8.221.4
Adrian Griffin 54110.8.473.000.7892.01.1.6.12.5
Kirk Hinrich 808035.5.448.415.8353.46.31.3.316.6
Viktor Khryapa 3307.0.386.000.7311.7.6.3.02.2
Andres Nocioni 533126.5.467.383.8485.71.1.5.514.1
Thabo Sefolosha 71412.2.426.357.5112.2.8.5.23.6
Mike Sweetney 4808.0.433..5612.5.6.2.23.2
Tyrus Thomas 72413.4.475.000.6063.7.6.61.15.2
Ben Wallace 777735.0.453.200.40810.72.41.42.06.4

Playoffs

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Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Malik Allen 506.8.167..1.4.2.2.2.8
P. J. Brown 101022.8.493..7394.71.2.8.28.3
Luol Deng 101041.0.524.000.8078.72.41.0.722.2
Chris Duhon 9019.1.290.316.8001.82.3.3.13.6
Ben Gordon 101039.5.415.436.9213.83.8.9.120.4
Adrian Griffin 402.3.000...3.0.3.0.0
Kirk Hinrich 101036.2.376.302.7694.27.5.9.312.1
Andres Nocioni 10019.7.360.333.7223.5.8.2.58.8
Thabo Sefolosha 9011.0.385.375.5831.9.8.2.03.3
Mike Sweetney 103.0.500..000.0.0.0.02.0
Tyrus Thomas 10012.2.390..6333.4.61.0.55.1
Ben Wallace 101036.9.566.000.5009.51.41.51.78.7

Transactions

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References

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