Time for Bulls to kick it up a notch
Rose expected to be back this week; Taj still has ups, downs
All of a sudden, welcoming LeBron James and the rest of the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers for the regular- season opener Oct. 27 doesn’t feel that far away.
And the Bulls will need every day of the two- plus weeks left before the games start meaning something to get ready.
Backup big man Taj Gibson ( offseason ankle surgery) has been up- and- down in his recovery and has yet to play in a preseason game, and small forward Mike Dunleavy ( back surgery) might be out until at least December.
Then there’s guard Derrick Rose, who should be able to resume basketball activity Thursday. Rose suffered a broken orbital bone under his left eye when he took an elbow to the face from Gibson on Sept. 29. He had surgery the next day andwas given a two- week timetable to return to the court.
Rose was expected back at the Advocate Center last week to sit next to new coach Fred Hoiberg and do some on- the- job- training by watching practices. But swelling near the eye forced Rose to stay at his residence and Hoiberg to do some serious home- schooling.
The hope is that Rose will be able to rejoin his teammates this week and start getting back into basketball shape, but expectations should be guarded.
As for Gibson, he has been practicing, but the Bulls are taking a cautious approach to him playing in preseason games.
‘‘ Every day, my body’s been up- and- down,’’ Gibson said. ‘‘ For every good day I have, I may be sore another two days. But the training staff says it’s good for my body. I haven’t run or done any athletic things in, like, three months, so for me to catch lobs and dunk now, it feels good. But I have to get my body back used to it.
‘‘ I’m banging with the rook, Bobby [ Portis], then I’m going against Niko [ Mirotic], then maybe I get a little physical with Joakim [ Noah]. Every day is real physical. My wind is up- and- down running. It’s fun. But every night it’s all about seeing the training staff and getting realigned.’’ NOTE: When general manager
Gar Forman said on media day that Bulls fans were going to love first- round pick Bobby Portis, he wasn’t exaggerating.
The 6- 11 Portis hasn’t disappointed through the first three preseason games, playing with an edge the Bulls need and proving to be a relentless rebounder. He is averaging 12.7 rebounds during the preseason and scored 12 points in the Bulls’ victory Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
So whom does Portis credit for playing big brother to him?
‘‘[ Center] Joakim [ Noah], for sure,’’ Portis said. ‘‘ He’s like the big brother I never had. He’s been there pushing me, reminding me everything I do should be hard and tenacious.
‘‘ I kind of feed off of his energy, and both of us try and bring the team up a little bit.’’