The Bulls Face Off Against the 76ers Tonight

The Chicago Bulls open their home schedule tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers at the United Center and there’s no doubt that Bulls fans will pack the stadium to see their team battle it out. The Bulls lost in overtime to the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday with a score of 112-103 and coach Scott Skiles is hoping that his team will come out much sharper tonight. Of reviewing Wednesday’s game tape Skiles said, “The third look was worse than the second look. You’ve got to come mentally ready to play. We still appear to be battling being ready and on mentally, but at the same time, not being uptight and nervous. Each guy has to get himself ready.”

It seems that the Bulls may have just had a case of nerves in their season opener – and if that’s the case we should expect to see them step it up in tonight’s game. Skiles says that he plans to start Tyrus Thomas in the power forward position again tonight. The second-year forward scored four points on 1-for-7 shooting and had six rebounds in 22 minutes against the Nets. According to press notes, Skiles seems to think his guys just need a little time to get back into the groove of things. “He (Thomas) started four games last year. He’s going to get more than four starts right now. He’s going to get an opportunity to be out there. He needs to take advantage of the opportunity just like every other player. I’m not going to bust up the starting lineup too early in the season (as long as) we can play well and win some games.”

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