Bulls hitting the gym for more practice
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MINNEAPOLIS – Bulls coach Vinnie Del Negro wants to get back in the gym and practice.
The Bulls certainly weren’t complaining about their 99-94 victory at Minnesota on Wednesday night – their second victory in as many nights – but they know that there still is much work to do before their Oct. 29 season opener against San Antonio.
Getting in that actual work has been difficult for the Bulls so far this season. There was a trip to London for an exhibition game against Utah. No team has played more preseason games than the Bulls (4-1). And throw in injuries to Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas and the Bulls aren’t exactly sure what they have got.
“We need some practice time and transfer that into the game,” Del Negro said. “We’ve had guys out longer than anyone would like. [The games are] not a great barometer, but guys are working. The guys that are playing are playing hard. We’re improving in some areas, but we have to get our main guys to get in the flow a little bit.”
That might begin to happen. Del Negro said Thomas (sore hip) is expected to practice today. Rose, the 2008-09 NBA Rookie of the Year, is getting closer to returning from an ankle injury.
“We need Tyrus and Derrick back,” said Luol Deng, who scored 14 points. “We’ve got to get better. We’re not going to know what kind of a team we have until about a month into the season. Definitely with those two guys back, we’re a lot better of a team.”
Although many questions won’t be answered until Rose and Thomas return, the Bulls simply are trying to get into good habits.
“It’s always a good feeling to win, but we know it doesn’t really mean that much because it’s preseason,” said Joakim Noah, who also scored 14 for the Bulls.
“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.”
Although the Bulls held a double-digit lead for much of the night against the Wolves (1-2), that cushion vanished down the stretch and the Bulls needed several key plays from Chris Richard (team-high 17 points, 13 rebounds) and James Johnson (9 points, 10 rebounds) to hold on. John Salmons also scored 16 points for the Bulls.
Trailing by 11 points to open the fourth quarter, Minnesota went on an 18-4 run to take a lead for the first time since the opening quarter. When Sasha Pavlovic made a three-pointer from the left wing with 6:30 to play, the Wolves led, 85-83.
Minnesota still led 91-90 when Flynn made a pair of free throws with 3:47 to play. But Johnson scored the Bulls’ next three baskets and grabbed a key offensive rebound. Richard sealed the victory by making two free throws with 14.3 seconds to play.
