McGraw: Again, no timetable on Rose's return
There's no estimate for when Derrick Rose will be back in action. It could be Monday when the circus road trip tips off against the Los Angeles Clippers, or it could take longer.
Rose, coming off a pair of sprained ankles, suffered a left hamstring strain in the final minutes of Thursday's win at Toronto.
"It's day to day. He's a lot better today than he was yesterday," coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters at shootaround. "We'll see how it goes."
As usual, Thibodeau was in no mood for questions about people doubting Rose's versatility. Rose has missed five of 10 games this season.
"Look, he was out for 2½ years," Thibodeau said. "So you're coming back, you're playing in a physical game. So there's going to be some times where he gets banged up a little bit. Sprained ankle is sprained ankle. It could happen at any time. It could have happened his MVP year. It probably did happen.
"But when you're out that long, you're not used to that. … If he needs time, we're going to give him time. We've just got to be patient. It's going to work out. He'll be fine."
Hibbert credits Noah:
Indiana center Roy Hibbert had a rough ending to last season, finishing with a baffling spring slump.
He's off to a much better start this year - 14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks through Friday - and he credited Joakim Noah for some inspiration, even while admitting Noah is an unfriendly rival.
Just as Noah helped lead the Bulls to a pair of playoff trips while Derrick Rose was hurt, Hibbert wants to pick up the Pacers while Paul George recovers from his broken leg.
"I always looked at how - maybe I didn't like the guy as much - but I saw how Joakim Noah kept things going for a year-and-a-half while D-Rose was out. I really respect that," Hibbert told the Indy Star News. "I would love to have a game where I had 10 assists where I'm in the post and I'm able to facilitate different things, and Joakim was doing that.
"He would get a triple-double off of points, rebounds and assists. He may score 10 points, but he'd had 13 rebounds, 8 or 9 assists and 3 blocks."
Circus moves in:
The Bulls will waste no time getting the circus road trip started. The first game is Monday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
There are plenty of challenges ahead. After the Clippers, the Bulls go back-to-back against surprising Sacramento and Portland, then visit the high altitudes of Utah and Denver. The trip concludes after Thanksgiving with a Boston-Brooklyn swing.
Pau Gasol was asked about his pending introduction to the circus trip.
"I had those long road trips with the Lakers," he said. "They call them the Grammy trips or the Oscars trips. It's not the circus. But, yeah, it's going to be a good time for us to spend a good amount of time on the road together and, again, be tested.
"We've been doing well on the road, but let's see if we can continue to do well and continue with the right attitude on the road. It's all about toughness and determination."