Bulls must 'keep on battling'

Monday's loss to Atlanta began a stretch in which the Bulls play nine straight games against teams at or above .500.

Needless to say, the Bulls could fall quickly in the standings if they don't play well while center Joakim Noah rests his sore left foot.

"No question, it's difficult - but there's nothing easy for us," coach Vinny Del Negro said before Thursday's game. "We're just not built like that right now where we can just roll the ball out, give it to someone and make it happen. Everyone's got to do their job. Everyone's got to play well.

"There's no question - talent, size - with Jo out there, we're a different team. Every team's got to fight through it. We've just got to keep on battling."

Coming out of the all-star break, the Bulls played seven of eight against losing teams and went 6-2.

"People are going to go out there and play, no matter if they're the last team," Derrick Rose said. "The Nets beat us this year, so it doesn't matter who's out there on the court. They don't want to lose any games, just like us."

Legendary locker: The home dressing room at the United Center includes 16 lockers and Lindsey Hunter didn't leave, which meant the only available stall for newcomer Chris Richard was Michael Jordan's old spot.

The Jordan memorial locker, situated next to the training- room entrance, hasn't had a regular occupant since Viktor Khryapa. Before that, Jay Williams gave it a try during his lone season with the Bulls. So it's easy to see why players tend to stay away from it.

"It is just temporary," Richard said with a laugh. "I don't have any shoes to fill. Just a few minutes and we'll move along."

Besides, Richard didn't choose the Jordan locker. It chose him. Richard even paid homage to Jordan's film career by asking if any bottles of Michael's Secret Stuff from "Space Jam" were lying around.

And, yes, Richard knew it was really just water. Bugs Bunny fooled everyone with that trick.

Injury update: Joakim Noah has had two sessions of shock-wave therapy on his ailing left foot. The treatment reportedly has worked well for St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols in the past. - Luol Deng started and scored 23 points against Memphis. He skipped Monday's loss to Atlanta with a sore knee. - Kirk Hinrich turned his ankle twice and left the game with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Bull horns: Guard Devin Brown was inactive for Thursday's game. The Bulls most likely made forward Joe Alexander active in case Luol Deng had problems with his sore knee, but Alexander did not play. - The Bulls will host a food drive at Saturday's game against Dallas to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository.