No-fun team? Hoiberg would like to see more ‘joyball’

“I don’t think our team is having a lot of fun right now. If you do that, you play with more of a swagger, you communicate more and you play better,” said coach Fred Hoiberg.

PHILADELPHIA — Coach Fred Hoiberg hasn’t had a lot of room for error.

He inherited a playoff team that the Bulls’ front office insisted was championship-caliber. So when there are bumps— fair or unfair — the spotlight shines on Hoiberg.

“I don’t look at it that way,’’ Hoiberg said Thursday. “You have to work on the things that are important.

“The challenge . . . everybody in this business has a challenge to try to get your team to have a chance to win. We try to put the game plan in, follow it and give ourselves an opportunity. This team, we talked a lot about keeping their spirits up. It’s having fun. I don’t think our team is having a lot of fun right now. If you do that, you play with more of a swagger, you communicate more and you play better.’’

But maybe this team is simply incapable of having fun.

Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol likely will be elsewhere next season, and Derrick Rose seems spooked by the ghosts of injuries past.

“I haven’t found it a challenge to coach these guys,’’ Hoiberg said.

“They’ve been engaged. If there were guys tuning out . . . but whenever we’re in a meeting or a film session, there’s 100 percent attention. That’s the thing you look for in your guys.’’

And despite the recent losses, the players seem to feel the same way.

“I think guys are listening,’’ Rose said. “We have good-hearted people here. We don’t have any knuckleheads or anything like that. It’s all about just incorporating that into the game. Everything he tells us in shootaround and everything he tells us before the game to prep us before the game, we just gotta incorporate that into the game on a more consistent basis.’’

The Gasol plan

The Bulls continue to be cautious with Gasol, leaving him back in Chicago on Thursday so that he could rest his shoulder and Achilles tendon in what was basically a scheduled rest day for the 35-year- old veteran.

As long as there is no soreness Friday, he is scheduled to play against the Mavericks.

| CHRIS SZAGOLA/AP Bulls guard Aaron Brooks, who had only two points, tries to get a shot off against Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor in the first half Thursday night.