Bulls preseason progress report

The Bulls took a day off from practice, perhaps to stay fresh for the team's annual bowling party Wednesday night.

So with the eight-game preseason schedule halfway over, this is a good time to evaluate what has happened so far. Two weeks remain until the Bulls open the regular season with a game at Oklahoma City, also known as the NBA's Young Talent Showcase.

It has been a bit frustrating, after the Bulls signed their best low-post scoring threat since Artis Gilmore only to have to wait another month to see Carlos Boozer in action.

But there are plenty of other newcomers on the floor. Here's a rundown of what has gone well.

ŸCenter Omer Asik is a player.

Since drafting Toni Kukoc in 1990, the Bulls haven't had great success with international big men (see Dragan Tarlac, Dalibor Bagaric, Martynas Andriuskevicius).

So when the team billed Asik as the equivalent of a 2010 lottery pick two years ago, some reporters might have been slightly skeptical.

Well, the early signs have been promising. The 7-foot Asik, who started for Turkey at the FIBA World Championships last month, has been tall, mobile and ready for NBA competition.

In the last two games, Asik has averaged 9 points and 9 rebounds in limited minutes. His free-throw shooting (41 percent) has room to improve, but overall the Bulls have reason to be very encouraged.

“He's hungry to become a big-time player in this league, teammate Joakim Noah said of Asik. “As long as he stays humble and hungry and driven, I think it's going to get a little scary when he's right.

ŸThe new motion offense is working well.

Last year the joke around the league was the Bulls would run a screen-and-roll for Derrick Rose on about 95 percent of their possessions.

Such a criticism might be unfair to former coach Vinny Del Negro, but it's safe to say coach Tom Thibodeau's motion offense has promoted ball movement and player movement during the preseason.

In wins over Toronto and Washington, the Bulls averaged 27 assists. As a comparison, the highest assist total in the NBA during the preseason is 30 by Philadelphia.

The way the Bulls are set up, it's not important that Rose averages 10 assists, because he should be the team's leading scorer. Noah led the way with 8 assists against the Raptors.

“Everybody's loving the offense, Rose said. “It's great. If I don't have the ball, I'm always moving. Everybody is moving, so that it's hard to guard. We're looking pretty good right now.

ŸKyle Korver and C.J. Watson have brought instant offense from the bench.

Through three games, Korver was the Bulls' leading scorer at 16.3 points. He had 6 points against Toronto, but Watson came alive, hitting 5 of 7 shots for 12 points.

The Bulls have looked good shooting the 3-pointer in their own building. They've gone 14-for-26 from behind the arc in the last two games, while Keith Bogans is 7-for-10 from long range in preseason.

ŸRose seems ready to take another step forward.

The 3-point shot he supposedly worked on all summer hasn't come around (1-for-8), but Rose has been very aggressive and looked like he could score whenever he wanted against Toronto.

So far this preseason, he's averaging 17.8 points and shooting 47.7 percent.

Overall, the Bulls have beaten a couple of teams that figure to miss the playoffs (Toronto and Washington) and lost two road games to better teams (Milwaukee and Dallas), although they did outplay the Mavs with the starters on the floor.

Thibodeau complained Tuesday that the Bulls need to get their defensive field-goal percentage down.

They're at .457 for the preseason, but the Raptors shot 48 percent. The Bulls also are shooting a miserable 65 percent from the foul line.

So there is good, bad and a missing starter at power forward. But the preseason will never paint a complete picture, anyway.