Bulls’ Rose Expects To Play In Regular-Season Opener

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose resumed practice this past Wednesday and expects to play in the regular-season opener on October 29. When reporters asked Rose if he’ll face the San Antonio Spurs, the guard responded by saying “I’ll be playing, no doubt in my mind, I want to play. The trainers have been saying I’m looking good, running better every day. It’s a little sore, but I’ll be fine.” Rose has not played since October 2 against the Indiana Pacers due to an inflamed tendon in his right ankle. Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro told the press that Rose “Worked out yesterday a little bit and was a little sore, and today he worked out and felt better. So that’s a good sign. So we’ll see how sore he is tomorrow and try to get him another workout and just try to build it up and be smart about it.” Although Rose believes he can play in a preseason game on Friday, Vinny said he doesn’t expect that to happen. It’s uncertain how much Rose would be able to play against the Spurs even if he gets a couple of practices next week. The guard added that it’s the only time in basketball he’s been injured.

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Derrick Rose’s Injury Report

Last year’s reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose may have to miss the Chicago Bulls season opener next Thursday against the Spurs due to a inflamed tendon behind his right ankle. Rose told the press that if it was up to him, he would have been already on the court. Bulls second year coach Vinny Del Negro said he wants Rose to take his time getting back to the court. The coach continued to say “But it’s also an unusual injury and it’s a different injury, and I just want to make sure it’s healed up and we’re doing everything and the doctors tell me and the trainers tell me and then we talk to Derrick.” Vinny has been very cautious with Rose’s injury. He doesn’t want to bring the big man back to the hardwood and jeopardize re-injury. Rose has been anxiously waiting his fate to hit the floor again. He stated that “It’s been kind of crazy. I’m kinda mad, but when you’re sitting out you see a lot of things like the plays, defensive plays, offensive plays, you see a lot of things not playing, but it’s killing me not to be out there.”

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Magic 101, Bulls 98

Although Chicago forward Tyrus Thomas had 22 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Minnesota on Friday, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro did not start the big man in yesterday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic. In 25 minutes against the Magic, Thomas was able to finish with 10 points and three rebounds. Ryan Anderson’s 3-pointer in the final minute and Dwight Howard’s 18 points gave the Magic a 101-98 victory over the Bulls. Trailing 92-91, Anderson gave the Magic (6-0) the lead with a 3-pointer with only 40 seconds left of the game. After Brad Miller missed a jumper for the Bulls, Howard went to the charity stripe and swooshed two free throws to extend the lead 96-92 with 21.2 seconds remaining. Kirk Hinrich hit a jumper with 18.4 seconds left of the game to bring the Bulls within two. The back-and-forth scoring continued when Orlando’s Jameer Nelson buried both of his free throws. Then Hinrich nailed a 3 over Howard to make it 98-97 with 8.5 second left of the game. Vince Carter secured the win for the Magic after he registered two free throws with 7.2 seconds left on the clock. After the game, Howard told the press “It’s just preseason. We can’t be ‘We went undefeated in preseason.’ Your record in the preseason play is meaningless.”

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Guard Derrick Rose Might Return For The Preseason Finale

Point guard Derrick Rose, who had been out of the lineup since he injured his right ankle on October 2, is getting close to returning but continued to sit Sunday as the Bulls participated in an open practice for season-ticket holders at the United Center. The guard stated that “I thought I was going to go, but I’m still waiting. I ran. It’s getting better every day. I’m happy I’m seeing some progress. Hopefully, I’ll be playing in a couple days.” Since Rose did not practice with the squad on Sunday, he will most likely not play tonight, when the Bulls host the Orlando Magic. The Bulls would like Rose to practice in a few games before playing in a game. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said, ”We have shootaround [this morning], he worked out a bit [Sunday]. Most likely he’s out [tonight]. It’s the ol’ day-to-day thing.” If Rose can return to practice Tuesday, He’ll have three days of practice before Chicago takes on the Washington Wizards at the United Center in the preseason finale on Friday. Vinny told the press he wore a wireless microphone during practice so fans couldn’t hear him bark out instructions.

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Bulls Defeat Timberwolves 99-94

Chicago Bulls rookie James Johnson helped his team finish strong to earn a 99-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center on Wednesday. Chicago jumped to a 32-16 lead at the end of the first quarter and shot 65 percent from the field, making 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range. Bulls’ John Salmons and Luol Deng stepped up big against the Timberwolves. Salmons scored 16 points and Deng had 14 in limited minutes, while both players shot 50 percent from the field. Deng left the game early because of an injured finger, but he should be fine. Bulls center Joakim Noah also played well, with 14 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes. The center added some great dunks in traffic. After the game, Noah stated, “It’s always a good feeling to win, but we know it doesn’t really mean that much because it’s preseason. It’s all about improvement. It’s our first back-to-back and having two wins in a row and having the right mind-set, it’s important.” Chicago improved to 4-1 in preseason. They have three games remaining, all at the United Center, beginning with a Minnesota rematch on Friday. After Minnesota came from 11 down to take the lead, Chicago’s rookies and reserves raised their game to another level and secured a victory for the Bulls.

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Rose Missed Third Consecutive Preseason Game

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose missed his third straight game due to a strained right ankle. Rose, who was the rookie of the year last season, sat out of Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The guard has not played since his preseason opener against the Pacers on October 2. Forward Tyrus Thomas also missed his third exhibition game because of a sore right hip stemming from a charge he took while playing the Pacers. The injury plagued Bulls will be without center Brad Miller, who has the flu and will not make the trip to Minnesota for Wednesday’s game. Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro told the press that he hopes Rose and Thomas will practice on Thursday. The coach continued to say “For sure Tyrus. Derrick’s day-to-day, but he feels a lot better every day. We’re being a little bit more cautious than anything, but I expect him to get out there Thursday and practice.” When reporters asked Vinny if Thomas could play on Wednesday, the coach did not rule it out. He said, “I want to see how he works out before the game.” During the game against the Bulls, Bucks coach Scott Skiles decided to rest center Andrew Bogut.

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Derrick Rose Hopes To Return To Practice Soon

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is hoping to return to practice by the end of the week. The guard is receiving treatment for his injured right ankle. After practice on Monday, Rose told the press “I have fluid around my ankle and around my tendons. They’re just waiting for the fluid to get loose, so it can relieve some pressure on my ankle.” Rose injured his right ankle in the exhibition game in Indiana on October 2 and has not practiced since. The guard explained to the press about the constant treatment he has been receiving. He said, “Right now they’re treating it using a lot of [stimulation] on it. They’re massaging it and making me do a lot of things … for motion in my ankle and running on the treadmill. I’m kind of mad about my conditioning, but I have to do this to get back in shape.” Power forward Tyrus Thomas is also struggling with a right hip injury and has not participated in practice since last Friday. Rose and Thomas will be out of the lineup when the Bulls host the Milwaukee Bulls on Tuesday. The Bulls have been struggling on defense lately. Through their first three preseason games their opponents have averaged 98 points.

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Bulls Need To Work On Defense

The Chicago Bulls’ defense played well against the Indian Pacers in their preseason debut. However, the Bulls’ defense picked up some poor habits in their next two exhibition games against Utah and Milwaukee. Their rotations have been poor, pressure on the ball has been inconsistent and attention to the game plan has been sporadic. Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro told the press “We’re trying to be more consistent. A lot of this comes down to execution and understanding how we’re supposed to do things. This wasn’t indicative of our first couple of games and how we’ve been practicing.” The Bucks made 30 points from the paint against the Bulls. Through three games, the Bulls are allowing an average of 98 points. John Salmons said they are working on their defensive woes everyday. He continued to say that Chicago has the potential because of their size and inside quickness on the perimeter, but also acknowledged that the team has not mastered their schemes and rotations. Joakim Noah noted another problem the Bulls have been working on, early fouls. Chicago committed too many early fouls against Milwaukee - another consistent problem area from last season.  Noah said, “We keep adding new things on post defense and trapping from different angles. We’re playing hard and guys are taking it seriously. It’s important we get better defensively. Everybody is committed to it.”

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Chicago Bulls Coach Ready To Step Up?

Before last season, Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro had never coached on any level. Many fans said it showed at times. The coach made several rookie mistakes, particularly late in the game, but that was expected from a first-year coach. But Vinny also did a lot of things right last season. He worked with the Bulls’ young players and got them to improve as the season went along. “He did a very good job getting Derrick Rose ready to play from the start of the season and also had a positive effect on Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas.” Bulls’ fans do not get a chance to see a coach work with players in practice, so there were many fans who had a negative opinion of Del Negro. Chicago fans blamed Vinny for the mistakes he made and did not have any other opinion. The one year experience seems to have made a big difference. The coach is more confident and isn’t as defensive. Vinny has been very organized and the Bull got a lot accomplished during training camp.If the Bulls can overcome their injuries over the next couple of weeks, they should be prepared for a fast start in the regular season.

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Will The London Trip Hamper The Bulls?

In 1990, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan took his team to Japan to open the NBA regular season against the Suns. Sloan said, “I remember when we got back, our players looked like they had played 80 games already and the season had just started. It took us three weeks to get our legs under us.” The Bulls’ eight-hour flight home Wednesday doesn’t come close to Utah’s 14-hour flight. But with Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas out of the lineup because of injuries, John Salmons attending to his pregnant wife, and Aaron Gray out for a couple of weeks (stress fracture in leg), and rookies James Johnson and Taj Gibson still learning the game at the pro level, is acclimation an issue for the Bulls? Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro quickly squashed that question by saying “Because it’s so early in the exhibition season, we’ll be fine. We’re taking Thursday off, which should get our body clocks right. Then we can have a good practice Friday, play the (exhibition Saturday against Milwaukee) in Green Bay and, by then, we should be acclimated. That gives us plenty of time before the (regular-season) opener.” Playing a game in another continent is never ideal during training camp, however, players usually praise the experience as unifying and fun.

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