Gibson insists circus road trip 'going to be fun'

Even with a 7-3 record, it's safe to say the Bulls still are unproven heading into the seven-game circus road trip.

The Bulls have not played a tough schedule and the only Western Conference opponent so far was Minnesota. This trip will be a challenge, with the Los Angeles Clippers, surprising Sacramento, Portland, Utah and Denver on the itinerary before heading East for a Boston-Brooklyn swing after Thanksgiving.

Following Saturday's lackluster loss to Indiana, the Bulls pushed the idea that a road trip will be good for them.

"I think it's going to be fun. You see how we play on the road. We love playing on the road," Taj Gibson said. "The way we play on the road, all we've got is ourselves. The kind of pace and kind of aggression we play with, I'm looking forward to it. We need this trip just to get away, focus on ourselves, focus on our craft, do a little more and we should be fine."

Added Jimmy Butler, "It's tough, but it's part of the job and I think it's going to be fun. We get to spend a lot of time around each other and who doesn't like playing on the road?"

Butler gets offensive:

After scoring a career-high 32 points on Saturday, Jimmy Butler ranks 16th in the league in scoring at 21.3 points per game.

Of the top 15 scorers, only one - New Orleans' Anthony Davis - has a higher field-goal percentage than Butler's .533.

Butler is also among the league leaders in free-throw attempts, averaging 7.8 per game.

"I just look to be aggressive," Butler said. "If that's taking an open shot, getting into the paint, to the line, I think that's what I have to do is be aggressive at my position."

Bulls in no rush:

The Bulls had no fast-break points in the first half of Saturday's loss to Indiana. They finished with 10. After the game, coach Tom Thibodeau didn't accept the notion they need to push the ball upcourt faster.

"The thing is, you've got to make them miss," Thibodeau said. "They shot a high percentage and they got a lot of second shots. So if we don't rebound and we don't make them miss, we can't run. We just played a low-energy game in every aspect, It's easy to say we've got to run. Yeah, we've got to run. We've got to make them miss and then we've got to run. You've got to rebound."

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