No help yet for Rose; Bulls rookie still lone point guard
The Bulls had yet to decide Monday whether to fill the roster spot of Kirk Hinrich, who is scheduled to undergo surgery today to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Without Hinrich, who was injured Friday in the victory over Phoenix and is expected to miss up to three months, the Bulls could use another pure point guard to back up rookie Derrick Rose.
''We're looking at things but nothing's jumped off the page,'' coach Vinny Del Negro said of the team's survey of free-agent or trade options. ''We'll just take it one day at a time, see what's available, see how our team does and go from there.''
(Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
The story line: The Hawks have surprised with a 5-0 start, given that they last had a winning record in 1999. The Bulls will try to slow Joe Johnson (25.2 ppg). The Bulls' Larry Hughes (shoulder) and Drew Gooden (ankle) are questionable to return to the lineup in the third game of a five-game homestand.
Brian Hanley
Larry Hughes, who has yet to play a regular-season game due to a dislocated shoulder, was not optimistic Monday he would be available to return to the lineup tonight when the Bulls (3-4) host the 5-0 Atlanta Hawks.
''I don't think so,'' Hughes said. ''We'll see how I feel [today], get another practice under my belt and go from there. But definitely look at [returning] later on this week.''
Hughes, who was injured in an Oct. 22 preseason game at Minnesota, took part in contact drills Monday and will work out with the team this morning. The veteran guard said he wasn't worried whether he will start when he returns.
''My role on this team is to play basketball,'' he said. ''I'm not set in doing one thing; I'm going to play the minutes I'm out there.''
The 6-5 Hughes had shown some chemistry starting alongside Rose in a couple games before being injured and believed the pairing would work.
''I think so, he's a point guard and I'm an off guard,'' Hughes said. ''He can finish around the basket and I can handle the ball. I think we have size, so we're able to do different things. I just have to be patient with myself. I've been out three weeks, so it's a matter of getting back in a groove. I've been staying mentally in it and I've also been able to shoot the last week and a half. That's probably going to help me, too.''
With no new help on the way tonight, Del Negro has to choose between 6-3 Ben Gordon and 6-7 Thabo Sefolosha to start against Joe Johnson, Atlanta's 6-7, 240-pound shooting star. Johnson was tied Monday with Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki for eighth among the league leaders in scoring at 25.2 points per game.
''Joe Johnson's a tough cover no matter if you [defend with] a big guy [or] small guy,'' Del Negro said. ''The ball goes through him a lot. He's a very good player. I know him well from Phoenix. He's played very well. He's a handful.''
Gordon has been a handful too. He has averaged almost 28 points over the last three games, 20 points for the season, and is shooting 49.5 percent from the field.
''I've been in better rhythms,'' Gordon said. ''We're only seven games in. I'm just trying to continue to stay aggressive and score when the team needs me. Hopefully, I can keep it up. I've just been getting some good looks in the game and really been concentrating and shooting the ball well.''
Gordon wasn't worried about who would get the starting nod tonight against Johnson.
''Whoever starts, [Johnson] is not going to play 48 minutes,'' Gordon said. ''So whoever's out there is going to have to play him some of the time anyway. He kills everybody, so I don't know how tall a [defender] is has to with anything. We just have to try to play team defense. He's a great player, but I think we have to make him play both ends of the floor.''