Bulls look to take some Charge out of Canton

By Colin Mieczkowski

On Friday night, the Windy City Bulls return home to the Sears Centre, for a game against the division rival, Canton Charge. It has been the Aaron Thomas show for the Bulls during the road trip.

Thomas has accumulated an amazing 82 points in his last three games. His best performance over that period was a rematch against the Long Island Nets, where he dropped in 33 points and collected five rebounds.

A scoring machine like Thomas, gives player like Spencer Dinwiddie a chance to play more traditionally at the point guard position. This also takes the pressure off of he and J.J. Avila who have carried most of the load offensively.

Certainly, the Bulls still need Dinwiddie and Avila, but having Thomas opens more doors of opportunity. Thanks to Thomas’ stellar play, the Bulls have won four of their last five games.

Thomas, who was once declared ineligible for the Florida State Seminoles for a whole season, is now proving his worth at the professional level. If he keeps playing like this, then the Bulls shouldn’t have too much trouble with the last place Charge who charge their way into the Sears Centre.

Despite the Charge’s 3-6 record, they still have some threats on the team to be aware of. In particular, the dangerous Quinn Cook, who dropped 27 points against the aforementioned Nets.

Cook was an all-star and the D-League Rookie of the Year last season. He was also hot player coming out of high school. He was ranked as a top 40 recruit from Rivals, Scout, and ESPNU in 2010 before committing to Duke.

Despite a successful college career where he made Sporting News’ All-American second team, Cook went undrafted in 2015. Although he would sign with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA, he was let go after a few preseason games.

He was the resigned by the Charge, where he currently plays, and continues to play well. Cook may possibly be the Bulls’ toughest individual matchup yet.

This is where Thomas needs shine once again. He doesn’t need to drop 30 or more points, but if there is enough balanced play between the Bulls’ “big three” of Thomas, Dinwiddie and Avila, then they may overwhelm the Charge and the reigning Rookie of the Year.

Although former Fresno State star Kevin Olekaibe, and former Kent State baller Chris Evans played well last game for the Charge, look for them to feed Cook. Much like in the NBA, D-League teams have alpha dogs, who are given more scoring opportunities.

Cook, is one of the league’s alpha dogs. If the Bulls have a ‘captain’, it would likely be Dinwiddie due to his NBA experience. But, he’s not the ‘best’ player right now, as they title probably belongs to Thomas at the moment.

However, the good thing about the Bulls is that, things are constantly changing. It’s not just one person carrying the team all the time, despite Thomas’ hot streak.

It just shows the versatility on the roster, and ultimately, it could very well pay dividends for the Bulls on Friday night.

Be sure to listen to all home games and read up about the team, on your official radio home of Windy City Bulls basketball, SportsTownChicago.com.

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