Fredette just happy to play in present
Whether Jimmer Fredette has a long-term future with the Bulls remains to be seen, but he came through with a 17-point effort against Orlando while filling in for D.J. Augustin on Monday.
Augustin missed the game to be at his son's birth.
After the game, Fredette was asked how he's done with learning coach Tom Thibodeau's defense.
"You've just got to know terminologies and then once you get the terminologies down, trust your defense," he said. "Know that if they want you to keep it on the sideline, you better keep it on the sideline, because your guys are going to be there to help."
Fredette joined the Bulls on March 2. After waiting this long to get significant playing time, it can't be easy to play relaxed.
"You just try to shrink the moment, knowing you've got to go out there and help the team and not worry about yourself," he said. "Don't worry that you have to play unbelievable right now. You've just got to go out there and do whatever it takes to help the team win, because I feel like if you're out there helping the team win, that's going to show good things on its own."
Thibs won't slow down:
Taj Gibson offered some strong feelings when asked if he could imagine coach Tom Thibodeau resting starters against Charlotte on Wednesday.
"You should know that guy in the other room over there, he's never going to tell anybody to take any rest," Gibson said with a laugh. "He's old school. He doesn't believe in that. He just believes in pushing forward.
"It's like he said, 'The finish line is ahead. You've got to just run through it. You can't slow up. You can't try to trot through. You've got to run full steam ahead and whatever happens, happens.'"
Here's Thibodeau's offering on the regular season finale.
"I'm not changing. We're going down there and we're going to figure out how to win a game," he said.
Bull horns:
Former Bulls forward Luol Deng won the NBA's Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, which is given for service and dedication in the community. Deng has been very visible and involved in projects in his home country of South Sudan. … The Bulls could still end up in the No. 3 seed and Charlotte could be No. 6, but there's no chance they will play each other in the first round. A loss to the Bobcats would cement the No. 4 seed for the Bulls, while if Charlotte loses, the team is locked into the No. 7 seed.