Chicago Sun-Times

Derrick Rose held out of Bulls’ scrimmage

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:34:57 -0500

Carlos Boozer spent a few minutes on Monday trying to explain what he’s been seeing from Derrick Rose through the first three days of training camp.

Focus of Bulls’ core players: Staying in the moment

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:24:03 -0500

The Bulls’ players are well aware of the makeup of the team heading into this season. Luol Deng will be a free agent this summer. Carlos Boozer is a prime candidate to have the final year of his deal wiped off the team’s salary cap by the amnesty clause when the 2013-14 campaign comes to an end. Even with that win-now cloud hanging over this core, stressing over that is not real high on the agenda. “I don’t worry about that,’’ Boozer said Monday, when asked if the window was closing on keeping this core together. “That’s not for us …

Mike Dunleavy wanted to be part of no-excuses Bulls

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:33:17 -0500

Mike Dunleavy Jr. didn’t expect Bulls superstar Derrick Rose to call him this summer and sell him on Chicago. Rose has said numerous times that it’s not his style, and Dunleavy didn’t need it.

Team adjusting to Derrick Rose’s return

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 09:33:17 -0500

Coach Tom Thibodeau anticipated some rough spots with Derrick Rose returning to the mix after missing last season while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. But he said Sunday a veteran core has made it much easier. ‘‘There’s an adjustment,’’ Thibodeau said. ‘‘[Rose has] been around, and the core of the team has played with him before, so that’s a big plus. But you have to re-establish your chemistry. We start from a zero base from last year and build from there. But the fact that these guys have been together for a while has …

Derrick Rose in attack mode on first day of camp

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:43:46 -0500

There were glimpses last season. ‘‘A ‘Matrix’ moment,’’ as Bulls forward Carlos Boozer called it. A certain play on which Derrick Rose would look like the player who would attack the rim with a viciousness not seen in most point guards. The same Rose the Bulls remembered before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in April 2012. But those moments were few and far between once Rose started practicing with his teammates last December. It was a different story in the Bulls’ first practice of training camp Saturday at the Berto Center. ‘‘He attacked all day …

Tom Thibodeau says those critical of Derrick Rose don’t have a clue

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 13:31:50 -0500

Meet the new and improved Tom Thibodeau. Just seconds after finishing his news conference Friday at the Berto Center, the Bulls coach promised a new “warm and fuzzy’’ persona. Obviously, it’s going to be a work in progress. Discussing the criticism that point guard Derrick Rose received while sitting out all of last season to recover from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament, “warm and fuzzy’’ was chucked out the window. “The people that have been around Derrick … I think our real fans have an appreciation for him,’’ Thibodeau said at the team’s media day. “I think the people …

Starter-to-be Jimmy Butler appears ready for action

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:43:56 -0500

Other than Derrick Rose, the player who got the most attention on the first day of practice was swingman Jimmy Butler. Penciled in as the starting shooting guard this season, Butler has been putting on a show all summer. ‘‘Jimmy is sort of like under the radar, but he’s really tough,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. ‘‘He’s improved. He’s not one of those guys that [only] talks about it. . . . Jimmy actually puts the work in. He doesn’t have to say anything. You look at him, and his actions tell you what he’s doing. There are no shortcuts with him. He …

Luol Deng mum on contract talk

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 13:31:50 -0500

Luol Deng finally spoke Friday about his pending free agency, and his message was clear: It’s not a topic for discussion. “I’m going to try not to talk about it, and I’m going to try and do it in a nice way,’’ the Bulls forward said. “I’ll try not to be rude. But honestly, I would rather not talk about it. I would rather play. It is a situation where you sign a contract and it ends. I’m in my last year, so I’ve just got to go out there and do what I’ve been doing, play basketball. “We’ve got …

Bulls sick of this reign, eager to stop LeBron

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:20:06 -0500

Steve Kerr knows a few things about kings. The former long-range sniper played during Michael Jordan’s reign in the 1990s, then added some more rings with the San Antonio Spurs after moving on from the Bulls. Now an analyst for TNT, Kerr admitted at the end of last season that we’re all witnessing the latest era in NBA sovereignty. ‘‘This just happens to be the era of LeBron,’’ he said. And as Bulls fans know all too well after the last three seasons, LeBron James’ rule has not been good for them. The Miami Heat forward is responsible for two …

Derrick Rose — and 5 more keys for Bulls

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 22:45:55 -0500

Let the Derrick Rose scrutiny begin. After all, that’s what training camp, which starts Friday, will be all about. How did Rose move on the surgically repaired left anterior cruciate ligament? How was his explosion? How was the jumper? What did Rose wear? What did he eat? Wait, was that a slight limp? Every move, every interview, every ice bag on the knee will be put under a microscope as the Bulls build toward the opening-night tipoff Oct. 29 in Miami. “You’ve got to look at it where I missed the whole year,’’ Rose said last weekend when asked about the …

Derrick Rose confident he’ll be back strong

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:39:43 -0500

There will be a finished product. Bulls star Derrick Rose has no idea how long it will take or what it will look like, but creating art on the hardwood is inevitable in his eyes. That’s what he does, surgically repaired anterior cruciate ligament be damned. ‘‘The thing that changed in my game the most, I would have to say, is my confidence level and knowing that I put so much into my craft,’’ Rose said at a promotional event Sunday at the United Center. ‘‘I’m working hard. I think I’m one of the hardest workers in the NBA, if …