All Bull - Chicago Bulls

Maybe this prolonged saga of Derrick Rose’s injured right ankle is finally coming to an end. Rose participated in about 40 minutes of Thursday’s practice and declared himself ready to play.

“I was kind of mad they took me off early,” Rose said. “I felt way better. I could have practiced the whole practice, but they told me they don't want me sore tomorrow, so I practiced for like 30 or 40 minutes then they took me right off.”

Rose said he went up and down he floor with teammates in a drill where they had to call out and run about 16 plays. Then he did some extra shooting after practice and seemed to knock down more 3-pointers than 2-pointers.

Here’s the daily Derrick Rose ankle update:

He showed some progress during Wednesday’s early morning practice. He ran again and made some cuts on his sore right ankle for the first time since suffering the injury on Oct. 2.

“I did a lot of cutting drills and high skips -- I couldn’t do that at first,” he said. “So every day it’s improving.”

Rose also described what he needs to overcome before returning to practice.

“It hurts. I can’t push off right. I’m not that explosive. I can’t jump that high now,” he said. “Layups, it kind of hurts when I come down. I’ve just got to take my time and let it heal right before I go out there and hurt it again.”

Monday’s 101-98 loss to Orlando had some strong entertainment value for a preseason game. Most of the starters were on the floor at the end of the game and the Bulls couldn’t hold a 3-point lead during the final 1:25.

While Orlando essentially had its starting lineup on the floor late in the game – minus Rashard Lewis, who didn’t play at all – the Bulls used some interesting combinations.

John Salmons was the Bulls’ leading scorer with 19 points and played well. But since he’d already logged 30 minutes, coach Vinny Del Negro decided to leave him on the bench late in the game.

Based on the pregame lineups, Taj Gibson will continue to start at power forward tonight against Orlando. That’s a little surprising, since Tyrus Thomas came off a hip injury to produce 22 points and 13 rebounds last Friday against Minnesota.

Was Thomas surprised he’s not starting?
“A little bit, but he’s the guy who makes decisions,” Thomas said before the game, referring to coach Vinny Del Negro.

“I don’t even think it should be questionable, from what I’ve contributed to the team last season and what I did throughout camp. But like I said, he’s the guy making the decisions. Whatever decision he makes, I still have to go out and play.”

Yesterday, I pointed out that Tyrus Thomas didn’t actually predict he’d average 20 points and 10 rebounds this season during a post-practice interview. Then after erupting for 22 points and 13 boards in just 25 minutes of action against Minnesota on Friday, Thomas essentially did predict 20 points per game.

“If I come out and do what I have to do, it’s possible and not to go out on a limb, but it’s likely,” Thomas said after the Bulls’ 94-90 victory over the Timberwolves at the United Center.

Thomas’ thoughts are in the right place, because he’s talking about being active on the boards and playing with energy. If he keeps that up, he’ll score plenty of points.

Here are some other notes from preseason game No. 6, beginning with another Thomas quote:

There are reports going around that Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas suggested he’s capable of averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds.

That’s not exactly true. What happened at Thursday’s practice was a reporter asked Thomas is he envisions himself as a 20-10 player. At the same time, Derrick Rose walked past and gave Thomas a hard time for not wearing a shirt during the interview. But it did seem as though Thomas heard the question correctly.

“Yeah, I feel that’s something I can do,” he answered. “I have to figure out my role on the team first as far as the offensive end, figuring out where I'm going to get my shots. On the defensive end, definitely 10.”

Not that this counts as earth-shattering news in preseason, but Tyrus Thomas (bruised hip) and Brad Miller (stomach flu) returned to practice Thursday at the Berto Center and both are expected to play in Friday's rematch with Minnesota at the United Center.

Derrick Rose (sore right ankle) worked up a sweat, but is still feeling sore. He's doubtful for Friday's game. The Bulls' final two preseason contests are next week against Orlando and Washington, both at the UC.

Coach Vinny Del Negro is no doubt hoping to play those last two with a full squad. Rose and Thomas haven't been on the court since the preseason opener at Indiana on Oct. 2.

Luol Deng dislocated his pinkie in Wednesday's win at Minnesota, but is not expected to miss any time.

You’d have to say the Bulls have played fairly well in preseason so far, posting a 4-1 record with Derrick Rose playing just one game because of an ankle injury.

But preseason doesn’t mean much to begin with and the Bulls haven’t been playing the most difficult teams in the league. Minnesota, Wednesday’s opponent, seems to be angling for a couple of nice lottery picks until first-round draft choice Ricky Rubio arrives from Europe.

Besides the Timberwolves, who visit the United Center on Friday, the Bulls have split a pair of games with Milwaukee, and knocked off Indiana and Utah. The only loss was the “jet lag” game in Green Bay last weekend, two days after returning home from London.

Thoughts from the Bulls’ 87-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday at the United Center. Preseason is officially halfway over.

--Obviously, the story of this game was 20 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks by Joakim Noah. He doesn’t do that if Andrew Bogut is playing for the Bucks, but it was nice to see Noah stand head and shoulders above Milwaukee’s other big men – mainly aging veteran Kurt Thomas, 6-9 Hakim Warrick and the still-athletic Dan Gadzuric.

Noah scored most of his point by being active around the basket, getting tips and layups. He also ran the floor consistently.

Derrick Rose showed up at Saturday's preseason game in Green Bay wearing a walking boot, which he acquired after arriving home from London a couple days ago.

He's not playing against the Bucks, but it's starting to seem likely that Rose's sore right ankle will take at least another week or two to heal.

"It's going to take a while, but I'm being patient with it and just hoping and praying I can do something to make it better," Rose said before Saturday's contest. "It's a tendon that runs behind the bone in my ankle. There's fluid in my ankle, so I'm just waiting for that to leave."

Rose turned the ankle in the Oct. 2 game at Indiana, but kept playing.

"I just wanted to win the game," he said. "I knew it was something serious when later on that night I really couldn't walk."