It has long been said that the triangle offense does not suit the Bulls playing personnel - point guards Jay Williams and Jamal Crawford especially - yet Jerry Krause and Bill Cartwright continue to hold onto the one remaining on-court link to their championship past.  While Chicago supporters have encountered endless frustrations over the last few seasons with this very issue, it looks like they are now not the only ones who are disappointed.

Phoenix guard Stephon Marbury is a big Jay Williams fan, but the All-Star is angry at the Bulls.  The triangle, says Marbury is killing the young phenom.

"They have a lot of talent on that team, but the way they play the triangle offense is not suitable for Jay Williams and his style," Marbury said. "He needs to be free. He needs to be a guy you let go.

"When you have a guy like that, you've pretty much tied his hands. He's not that type of player. Everybody knows that. He's out there hesitant. He's not a guy to be passing and cutting and setting picks. He's a guy who breaks people down and goes to the basket and dunks on you."

Williams, who has been spectacular in All-Star type games before the season with his showman type style, has a game which is similar to that of Marbury, which is the reason that Stephon is frustrated about what is happening with the ex-Duke product.

"It's unfair to him. It's even frustrating to me, because I know that's not how he plays," Marbury said. "But they draft him and say, 'We want you to play the triangle set.'"

And that's not his game, said Marbury, the player to whom Williams often was compared while in college.

"He's a pick-and-roll, 'iso,' spread the floor guy," Marbury said. "His creativity is being taken away. But that's how they play. It just makes the situation tough."

Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune writes that while it is rare for an All-Star to feel so passionately for a player to whom he has no ties - and a rookie non the less - it does show deeper problems for the Bulls that seem apparent to the rest of the NBA.

Chicago's latest plan simply is not working, and teams are only concerned with two players when they prepare to play the Bulls.  Those players are Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall, both of whom are veterans and proven.

"All day at shootaround coach [Frank Johnson] talked about Donyell, the numbers this guy could have," said former Bull Randy Brown. "We focused on Jalen and Donyell, and it's just what happened. Jalen held them there, and Donyell almost beat us."

"They're really our only consistent guys," Cartwright acknowledged. "You know what you'll get from Jalen and Donyell, and everyone else is pretty much up and down. The only thing we can do, hopefully, is develop the other guys in order to win some games. It's a balancing act. Whoever is going well, leave him in."

"I see a bunch of young players and veterans, but not necessarily the right mixture," Brown said. "They have some players who know how to put the ball in the basket. There's talent there, but not just a very good mixture.

"When you have too many young players, guys are trying to up their status, competing against one another. Veteran players know how to take it day by day and help the kids. It's hard to win games the way they are."

Smith states that the Bulls simply have too much youth, and now need to work out who will form their future nucleus, ship out the duplicates then get more veteran help.  This happening in the near future is doubtful with Fizer now out for the season, his injury limiting the number of enticing packages the Bulls can put together.

"I see potential there," said former Bull Scott Williams,. "But young players have trouble finishing games. You turn up the heat like we did, pressure them, and they get rattled, get out of what they're doing, start their offense with maybe 12 seconds left on the shot clock rather than operating smoothly.

"Their future relies on those young guys, but you want to be competitive or they'll get frustrated and lose confidence."