Bulls-Bucks preseason rundown

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.

--The Taj Gibson story continues to be the biggest surprise of preseason. The No. 26 pick of the draft is now averaging 14.0 points and shooting 56.4 percent. He finally missed a mid-range jumper late in Tuesday’s game, but knocked about three or four in a row before that.

One thing that’s noticeable about Gibson is he has long arms and good lateral quickness for a big man, but isn’t much of a leaper. Whether that will hold him back against better competition during the regular season remains to be seen. Foul trouble is another issue. But he had a couple of nice blocks against the Bucks.

--Neither Luol Deng (3 for 10) nor John Salmons (2 for 8) played very well Tuesday. That’s a concern, obviously, because the Bulls need consistent scoring from both players. But there’s probably no point in worrying about what happens with the other starters when Derrick Rose doesn’t play. If Rose is injured for a significant amount of time this season, the Bulls will be closer to the lottery than playoffs, anyway.

--James Johnson did little in the first three quarters, but knocked down 3 straight long jumpers in the fourth and added a monster dunk off an offensive rebound. Still tough to tell what the Bulls will get from Johnson this season, but he’s a heck of an athlete.

--The Bulls finished with 14 turnovers, compared to 27 in Saturday’s loss to the Bucks in Green Bay. Milwaukee shot just 36.5 percent in Tuesday’s contest.

--A couple of thoughts on the Bucks: Rookie point guard Brandon Jennings is pretty much what was advertised. He’s got great quickness, but an erratic shot. He’s now shooting 28.8 percent in preseason.

I thought Carlos Delfino looked good in the Green Bay game. He spent last season in Russia after playing for Toronto in 2007-08 and it seemed as though he might be a smart pickup for the Bucks. On Tuesday, though, he scored just 2 points in 20 minutes.

Milwaukee’s leading scorer in preseason is power forward Hakim Warrick (17.2 points). He joined the Bucks after being set free by Memphis this summer. Why the Grizzlies chose to add Zach Randolph for $16 million instead of keeping Warrick for one-fourth the price is beyond me.

--There are fresh decorations outside the locker room at the United Center – 10 large posters of Bulls legends. On one side of the door are the 1970’s all-stars: Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Norm Van Lier and Artis Gilmore. On the other side is a condensed version of the championship era stars: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and John Paxson.

At the very least, Bill Cartwright should join the wall. The Blackhawks have similar legends posters on the other side of the hallway.