No holiday surprises from Bulls this year

There were no holiday surprises Thursday at the Berto Center:

Vinny Del Negro is still the coach, John Salmons and Brad Miller will stay out of the starting lineup and Tyrus Thomas remains on schedule to make his return from a broken arm on Saturday when the Bulls host New Orleans.

The lineup change is the biggest news for now. Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson were brought in at the start of the third quarter during Tuesday’s loss at New York and Del Negro plans to stick with that lineup.

Salmons (13.4 ppg, 38.2 percent shooting) hasn’t been very good this season and his turnovers have taken a jump in recent games. But Hinrich (8.5 ppg, 36.2 percent shooting) hasn’t exactly been on the top of his game offensively, either. So I asked Del Negro why Hinrich makes the team better, in his view.

“I just think it’s another ballhandler out there, another pick-and-roll guy,” Del Negro said. “Kirk’s one of our best defenders, if not our best defender. We can play with a little more thrust, a little more pace with Kirk.

“Where we’re at now warrants some type of change. It’s not engraved in stone right now and it’s probably not a permanent thing. But for right now, I feel that’s the direction we need to go.”

A little while later, Del Negro gave some more insight on why he’s sitting Salmons.

“He puts in the work, his attitude’s been good,” Del Negro said. “You just can’t let the frustration seep in. It’s a long season, you’re going to have your bumps in the road. But you’ve got to keep fighting through it and find ways to not just worry about your shot, but defend, take charges, make the right pass, get up and make plays off the dribble. There’s more to the game than just making shots.”

LINEUP REACTION
Salmons was his usual quiet self following Thursday’s practice.

“It’s not fun, you never want to be demoted,” he said. “But I’ve been down before, I’ve got to deal with it. I haven’t been playing well, but I’ve been doing my best and that’s all I can really do is continue to work.”

Luol Deng offered his take on the lineup change.

“I think it will help,” he said. “You never want to see a lineup change. Most of the time when there’s a lineup change, it just shows that the team’s struggling or individuals are struggling. What it does, I think, is pick up energy.”

Deng also shared the news that Thomas looked great in practice.

HOLIDAY CHEER
Here’s the message Del Negro left with the players as they take Christmas Day off before returning for Saturday’s shootaround:

“Really, it’s a time to reflect and understand how fortunate I am and the players are, just to be in the NBA and be able to do something we love,” he said. “Everybody be safe and enjoy the holiday with the family and realize there are a lot of things going on in this world that are a lot more difficult than basketball.”