Rose stays home to heal as Bulls camp continues
Don't expect to see Derrick Rose or his fractured eye socket for a few days. The injured Bulls guard plans to stay home for a few days as his recovery begins.
Rose took an accidental elbow to the face early in Tuesday's first practice of training camp. He had surgery Wednesday and is expected to resume basketball activities in two weeks.
"He has a follow-up exam Friday," coach Fred Hoiberg said after practice at the Advocate Center. "They don't want him leaving his house at least until that time. He's very sensitive to light.
"He's been advised not to do any physical activity at all for two weeks to hopefully let that site heal. Hopefully after that two weeks is over we'll start getting him back into basketball activities. We don't know how long it'll take for him to get back into playing shape. They'll fit him for a mask, so he'll have that to deal with."
The Bulls open the regular season on Oct. 27 against Cleveland at the United Center. Their final preseason game is Oct. 23 against Dallas in Lincoln, Neb. Hoiberg is hoping Rose will be ready to play against the Cavaliers.
"Like I said, once everything heals up in these first couple weeks, he should be able to resume full activity," Hoiberg said. "So that'll give him a couple weeks to prepare and get himself ready. I think the big thing with this one is getting him back into basketball shape, making sure he's doing OK before we get him back out there in scrimmage and that type of thing."
Butler still shining:
A popular topic at Bulls training camp has been the strong play of Jimmy Butler. Here's coach Fred Hoiberg on the topic Thursday.
"I knew Jimmy was good, but he's been awesome," he said. "He's so strong right now. He's probably in the best shape of anybody out here. He's all over the floor offensively, defensively. There aren't a lot of two-way players in this league but he's definitely one of them."
McDermott eyes open spot:
Doug McDermott was asked Thursday if he's planning to start at small forward on opening night. The Bulls need a replacement for the injured Mike Dunleavy and the primary candidates figure to be McDermott or Tony Snell.
"That's obviously the goal," McDermott said. "But I'll do whatever the team wants. We've got a lot of guys who can fill in for Mike. I think I'll accept my role, whatever it is. I'll always be a team guy. We want to win a championship, so I'll do whatever it takes."
Gibson held back:
After having surgery on his left ankle in June, Taj Gibson is skipping some activities in training camp.
"Taj did not go through everything," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Right now he's just doing one workout a day. We're getting him in the morning, and he's doing a conditioning session at night. So he won't participate in the scrimmage, but (Friday) he'll be back at it. Hopefully after our last two-a-day (Friday) he'll have full activity just for the one practice."
Bulls add local guard:
The Bulls added a player on Thursday, 6-1 guard Stefhon Hannah. He's a 30-year-old Chicago native who attended Hyde Park High School. After leaving Missouri in 2008, Hannah has split his time between playing overseas and in the D-League.