Monday, October 19, 2009

Bulls Links (TT's 20/10 and D-Rose's ankle)

TT's 20/10 prediction -
Perhaps buoyed by the fact that he just did it, once, Tyrus Thomas reiterates his belief that 20/10 is something within his reach. In fact, he even upgrades it from possible to "likely". Per Mike McGraw:

"If I come out and do what I have to do, it's possible and not to go out on a limb, but it's likely."




McGraw had earlier written that Tyrus didn't explicitly say it, but he seems to have said it pretty explicitly this time.



Rose frustrated with ankle/sitting -
It has been more than two weeks since Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has played.

He has a strained tendon behind his right ankle where fluid is accumulating and the team is being very cautious.

"They're worried about me coming back too soon," Rose told the Chicago Tribune. "They tell me to take my time. They're not listening to me. If it was up to me, I'd tape it up and be on the court. They said they want it to be healed totally before the season starts."

Rose insists that he feels good and doesn't foresee himself missing the team's season opener against the Spurs on Oct. 29.

"I'm not worried about that," he said. "Hopefully, I will be back. It felt good (Friday). I should be back pretty soon."




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Rose getting closer -- but so is the regular-season opener


Point guard Derrick Rose, who has been sidelined since Oct. 2 with an injured right ankle, is getting close to returning but continued to sit Sunday as the Bulls conducted an open practice for season-ticket holders at the United Center.

''I thought I was going to go, but I'm still waiting,'' Rose said afterward. ''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.''





Bulls making gains in athleticism

Thanks to a combination of injuries and soft competition, the Bulls' preseason hasn't been especially insightful.

But here's something that stands out to me, which could be a positive sign for the coming season: The Bulls produced some decent success in recent years by trotting out a small, quick team filled with outside shooters. They'll still rely heavily on jump shots, but the Bulls now have the ability to throw a tall and very athletic lineup onto the floor.

An argument can be made that the Bulls have two players who are the best athletes in the league at their positions - Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas.




Bulls' Gibson starts over Thomas



Tyrus Thomas returned from missing four games with a sore right hip to drop a monstrous 22-point, 13-rebound game on Minnesota last Friday.

That won't affect the starting lineup for now.

Rookie Taj Gibson will start at power forward Monday night against Orlando.

Thomas came off the bench last game, but that was widely assumed to be a one-game scenario because he was returning from injury. Not so, as coach Vinny Del Negro decided to start Gibson in this next-to-last preseason game.

Obviously, who starts in the Oct. 29 season opener remains to be seen. But this development certainly adds unexpected intrigue to the power forward position.

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