All Bull - Chicago Bulls

Derrick Rose says he’s getting better every day and is hoping to play Tuesday when the Bulls visit his college home for a game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Speaking after practice Monday at the Berto Center, he almost seemed resigned to sitting out the next two games to help his sprained left wrist heal.

“Gar (general manager Gar Forman) was telling me don’t rush it,” Rose said. “If anything, wait for this weekend or this Friday’s game. I want to play definitely because it’s Memphis. But if they tell me to wait, I’ll wait.”

Even though he shoots with his right hand, Rose prefers to dribble with his left, especially when attacking the basket, which would make things difficult.

The Bulls have been reeling lately, with seven straight losses and more tough games on tap this week.

Following Sunday’s practice at the Berto Center, coach Vinny Del Negro offered a vision of a brighter future. And he wasn’t talking about next season.

“We’ve had some tough things happen to us,” Del Negro said. “Luckily, nothing’s major. There’s some hope we can get everyone back here in the next 4 days, 5 days, a week – I don’t know what it is yet. But as soon as we can get everyone together, we can get on the same page quickly again and get back to playing the way we’re capable of.”

Does he really mean everyone? Apparently so.

The lesson to be learned from Friday’s loss to Miami wasn’t about anger management.

The Bulls were probably overdue to let off a little steam, so the 4 technical fouls collected in their seventh straight loss won’t be a big deal –- as long as Kirk Hinrich isn’t suspended for mistreating an official. That probably won’t happen, but it’s possible.

What the Bulls need to do during these difficult, shorthanded times is get to know the bench. Sure, Brad Miller and Taj Gibson give the Bulls the best chance to win right now. But running those two big men into the ground won’t help the long-term cause at all.

Looking at Dwight Howard’s second injury-inducing foul in 29 days against Derrick Rose, I don’t think there is any chance the Orlando big man will be fined or suspended.

But both of those fouls are essentially the same. Howard never tried to block Rose’s shot on either play, though in the Feb. 10 game, Howard did take a swipe in a failed effort to keep Rose from getting a shot off after the collision.

The two plays in question were definitely, “I’m going to knock you on your butt to show I’m a bad man” fouls. Both times, Howard claimed he had no intention of injuring Rose, which may be true. But he had every intention of drilling Rose in mid-air.

Following both games, Howard bragged about his success as a road block.

The Bulls’ trip to Florida figures to be anything but a vacation.

Forward Luol Deng had an MRI, which confirmed a right calf strain. The Bulls said he’d travel with the team, but is unlikely to play in upcoming back-to-back games at Orlando and Miami.

Rookie power forward Taj Gibson is questionable because of recurring plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He played just 12 ½ minutes in Tuesday’s 132-108 loss to Utah and fouled out.

The ailing Bulls’ defense will be difficult to fix as long as center Joakim Noah remains sidelined with a sore left foot.

We’ve definitely seen how valuable Noah has been to the Bulls’ defense this season. Not only does he add height and athleticism to the front line, he’s also one of the league’s quickest big men moving side-to-side. That allows Noah to play excellent help defense and then recover quickly.

The Bulls just can’t keep up against good teams with Brad Miller, Chris Richard and their other plantar fasciitis sufferer, Taj Gibson.

The Bulls used to have a nice defensive complement in Tyrus Thomas, but he’s been traded to Charlotte and newcomer Hakim Warrick doesn’t come close to providing the same intimidating presence.

The Bulls turned in their best performance of a four-game losing streak on Saturday, but still didn’t come very close to stopping Dallas’ 11-game win streak.

With center Joakim Noah out for at least three weeks with a sore foot, it’s tough to tell when this skid will end. The Bulls host Utah on Tuesday, then go on the road for four straight at Orlando, Miami, Memphis and Dallas. When that’s over, they host Cleveland, then visit Philadelphia for what will be their fourth game in five nights.

Am I suggesting a 10- or 11-game losing streak is possible? It appears so, but sometimes the Bulls can surprise just when people are counting them out. The five-game road winning streak in late January is an example, but they were relatively healthy back then.

Not too many interesting leftovers from Thursday's 105-96 loss to Memphis. It's just hard to figure out how the Bulls could be so badly outplayed in the fourth quarter when they'd been off for two days and the Grizzlies played in New Orleans the previous night.

I think this was one of those games when the Bulls needed to sustain a lead in the fourth quarter, because Memphis has a very good starting lineup. The Bulls did lead 84-79 about two minutes in, but that didn't last long.

When it came down to a possession-by-possession ending, the Grizzlies were able to pound it inside to Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, while the Bulls had no chemistry going on offense.

As practice was going on at the Berto Center on Wednesday, the Bulls announced to reporters that center Joakim Noah will take three weeks off to rest plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

This decision doesn't come as much of a surprise. His performance last Friday against Portland showed how much the Bulls miss Noah's defense and rebounding. But it's been a struggle for him to stay on the court through constant pain.

Three weeks from today, the Bulls will have 12 games left in the regular season. There's no guarantee Noah will be ready to play then, but the plan is obviously to hold out for a while and hope he can gut it out for the playoffs -- assuming the Bulls can hang on to a spot.

Noah has missed nine games total with the foot injury.

Atlanta's 63-37 rebounding edge on Monday hammered home the message that the Bulls need another big man badly.

Coach Vinny Del Negro confirmed after Tuesday's practice that Chris Richard will return on Wednesday. He spent preseason with the Bulls, then was signed to a couple of 10-day contracts, but was released when the two trades left them with one too many players.

Veteran guard Lindsey Hunter will be released, but stay with the team in some capacity.

Not many regulars practices on Tuesday. Joakim Noah, Brad Miller, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Derrick Rose sat out. Nothing wrong with Hinrich and Miller, necessarily, but they were given extra rest. The Bulls are hoping Deng and Rose will be ready to play Thursday against Memphis.