Bulls bring the effort in Toronto, but Cavs and Spurs are next

I noticed something interesting on the Raptors pregame show that the Bulls might want to copy.

Toronto has three studio hosts sitting somewhere inside the Air Canada Centre and about 20 minutes before tip-off, they threw it to the hallway outside the locker room, where Raptors guard Jason Kapono was standing with a microphone. The Raptors were milling about in their warmups, so it appeared they were about to head out onto the floor, though I don't think the shot was live.

Anyway, Kapono grabs teammate Roko Ukic and asks him a few questions, closing with whether the rumors are true that Ukic performed in a gypsy band with trained dancing bears in his home country (Croatia). If this question is at all offensive to anyone, Croatians or otherwise, I apologize, but I'm just sharing what I saw on TV.

This concept would work very well with the Bulls, I think. Nothing would help them get loose before a game than Joakim Noah interviewing Andres Nocioni in the hallway outside the locker room just before warmups. It could work with most any combination of players. Even the quiet guys like Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon can turn on the personality when the time comes.

Anyway, here's some more observations from Wednesday's win in T.O. (that's the nickname for Toronto, Ontario up here):

-- It seems as though Kirk Hinrich came back from his thumb injury with a little extra enthusiasm, which is understandable after not playing for two months. As the starters headed out for the opening tip, Hinrich waited at halfcourt and tried to pump everyone up. Another interesting moment came late in the third quarter when Hinrich decided to completely deny Roko Ukic the ball and succeeded, with Joey Graham ending the possession with a pass straight out of bounds. Hinrich, who turned 28 a couple weeks ago, seems like a seasoned veteran these days.

--Maybe Hinrich's return had a calming effect on Luol Deng, whose demeanor really perked up this week when he returned from a sprained ankle. Against the Raptors, Deng had a couple bad moments, but usually tried to fill whatever role was needed. Most of his 16 points came on drives to the basket of on offensive rebounds. At the end of the game, Andres Nocioni ran off the bench and tried to give Deng an exaggerated jump-and-bump that had both of them laughing as they left the court.

--As poorly as they've performed at times, these Bulls players genuinely do care and are trying to win. I think their biggest problem has been splintering as a team when opponents turn up the heat. Then the interior defense has been consistently weak.
One interesting aspect of the Toronto game was Nocioni guarding Chris Bosh for nearly the entire fourth quarter. Nocioni scored 8 points, while Bosh hit 1 of 6 shots. Those last 2 misses came after Vinny Del Negro sent Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas back in for defense in the final 1:15, so Del Negro pulled some of the right strings.

--Andrea Bargnani's career-high 31 points wasn't as egregious a defensive effort as some might think. The former No. 1 pick has been on fire the last three weeks and no one can explain why things clicked so suddenly for him. He really did look like the second coming of Dirk Nowitzki on Wednesday, scoring inside and out.

--More 17-point fourth quarters from Derrick Rose would be nice, but this game seemed to be another case of a team having no one at the rim who could stop him. Look at Rose's best games, they came against teams like Utah, Atlanta, Minnesota, teams without much size or skilled defenders in the post. Getting past his own man usually isn't a problem for Rose, it's finishing shots at the rim against the tall shot-blockers. I'm sure he'll develop a floater or shoot more pull-up jumpers over the next few years. He could probably average 25 and 10 or close to it someday.

--Whether the Bulls can repeat this kind of performance against Cleveland on Thursday or San Antonio on Saturday is anyone's guess. Maybe they're ready to pick up the pace with Hinrich and Deng back or maybe they're just not talented enough or lack the interior defense to get it done. We'll see.