What's another preseason loss?

One of the summer's best NBA moments, in my opinion, came when lottery night was whittled down to the final three. Standing on stage at NBA Entertainment studios were Chicago native Dwyane Wade, representing Miami; Bulls marketing chief Steve Schanwald and former Bull Fred Hoiberg, representing Minnesota. Through it all, Hoiberg clung to an enormous teddy bear.
I asked Hoiberg about that bear before Tuesday's Bulls-Wolves preseason tilt at the UC. He said he'd gotten to know a kid up there who had endured numerous surgeries. So before the lottery, Hoiberg called the kid and asked if he had any good luck charms to lend. He suggested the bear, which stuck with him through every surgery.
The Timberwolves weren't lucky that night, getting the No. 3 pick, but at least they're not 0-3 in preseason. Now here are some thoughts about Tuesday's result:

--In some ways, a starting backcourt of Kirk Hinrich and Larry Hughes makes sense. Derrick Rose is struggling a bit to catch up on defense and with a brutal early schedule on tap, why not shield the No. 1 draft pick from some of the November pitfalls?
--Even if he doesn't start, I'd say the fourth quarter should belong to Rose right away. That's his time to switch into full-attack mode. Also, I'm sure many fans noticed that after looking good in Tuesday's first quarter, Hughes finished the night 3 for 10 from the field for 8 points in 31 minutes.
--Coach Vinny Del Negro moved closer to a regular-season rotation in Tuesday's 96-86 loss. Luol Deng played a whopping 45 minutes, while Demetris Nichols, Cedric Simmons, Darius Washington, Roger Powell and Elton Brown did not see action at all.
--In case you missed it, the Bulls jumped to a 30-13 lead in the first quarter, then gave it all back before halftime. The starters were terrific early, but except for Drew Gooden, they seemed to take the rest of the night off. Deng, Hinrich, Hughes and Tyrus Thomas scored a combined 8 points in the second half despite playing 60 minutes between them. Deng never came out following intermission.
--Rose had 6 points, 4 assists and 1 turnover in the fourth quarter. His counterpart, 36-year-old Kevin Ollie, also had 6 points, which shouldn't happen.
--Center Aaron Gray didn't play much Tuesday and didn't do much, either. He didn't seem to match up well against the T-Wolves small front line.
--I usually refuse to vote for a second-year player for the Most Improved award. Isn't everyone supposed to get better in their second season? But I was impressed by Minnesotra's Corey Brewer, who showed zero offensive skills as a rookie, but had 15 points and 9 rebounds against the Bulls.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
The most humorous news this week was the Milwaukee Bucks trekking halfway across the world for a pair of exhibition games against Golden State in Guangzhou, China. Obviously, the league couldn't wait to bring Yi Jianlian back to his home country.
What? Yi was traded to New Jersey last summer? Well, at least Bucks rookie Joe Alexander was able to entertain the locals. Alexander was born in Taiwan and speaks fluent Mandarin.

Speaking of New Jersey, reports from NYC this week suggested the Nets' proposed Brooklyn arena has run into another delay. They still haven't broken ground on the massive project, so the team will almost certainly still be the NJ Nets when LeBron James becomes a free agent in 2010.

Eddy Curry has taken enough grief lately, so I won't even mention what happened when the Knicks center sat down on a rubber exercise ball at practice recently.