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McGraw: Mirotic learning something new every day

Even though the Bulls lost their first two preseason games, they can take some comfort in the fact that most of the key players performed well in at least one of the contests.

Of course, no one played to the extremes of rookie Nikola Mirotic.

The 6-foot-10 forward was a sensation Monday against Washington, scoring a team-high 17 points while hitting 3 of 5 shots from 3-point range.

A night later at Detroit, Mirotic went scoreless with 5 turnovers and fouled out in just 14 minutes.

The Bulls were back at the Advocate Center on Wednesday afternoon to practice on what was originally scheduled to be an off-day, which gave Mirotic a chance to reflect. Asked what he learned from the tough game against the Pistons, Mirotic said, "Everything."

"This is for me different. I never play NBA. This is second game," he said. "So every day I learn something new on offense and defense. I learn to play with my teammates because now I'm starting to know how they play, what they do the best. Every day something new."

What made this two-game sequence odd is Mirotic is used to playing high-level basketball from his years with Real Madrid. On Monday, he looked like a polished, confident player who was prepared for the moment. In contrast, fellow rookie Doug McDermott, who is one year younger, seemed more like the nervous, college kid.

There's a learning curve for most every NBA rookie, though, so Mirotic will keep working and be happy Tuesday's game didn't count.

"I am working every day, lifting," he said. "It's tough for me because I never play before with guys like this, very strong. So I need to work hard and I need to be ready to play tough games. I think I will be ready when the season starts."

Foul trouble figures to be a cause for concern. While playing well offensively against the Wizards, Mirotic still collected 5 fouls in 22 minutes.

"Some of them were rookie fouls. They call everything," he said. "But I need to learn, I'm young. I need to do defense without hands, you know. Sometimes I try to steal the ball and they call me a foul. I need to believe my teammates are going to help me, too, so just try to play 1-on-1 and that's it."

Outside shooting is one of Mirotic's strengths. There was a feeling he passed up some shots he probably should have taken against the Pistons.

"Everyone wants him to shoot," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Just make the right play. In this league, it's critical to know when to shoot and when to pass. If you're passing up an open shot, you usually end up with a much tougher shot."

Mirotic already heard that message first hand.

"I saw somebody open. It was instinct, just pass the ball," he said. "So the coach, he told me I need to take the shots, so next game I will take it."

The Bulls were full of uneven performances in their two narrow preseason losses. Derrick Rose was better on Monday. Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler shot poorly against Washington, then combined to hit 15 of 19 attempts for 35 points a night later.

Thibodeau had the breakdown ready for why that happened.

"We obviously want to be an inside-out team," he said. "I thought our guards did a good job with penetration. I thought our bigs posted well and it got us high percentage shots. That's how we have to play. I think it's important for the team to understand what we have to do in order to be successful."

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