Hoiberg on board with potential D-League addition
When he coached Iowa State, Fred Hoiberg lived much closer to a D-League franchise — the Des Moines-based Iowa Energy — than any NBA team.
If everything goes according to plan, the Bulls are expected to own and operate their own D-League team that will play at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates beginning next season.
“I think it's good. I like the D-League. I think it serves some really good purposes,” Hoiberg said Sunday. “For guys like Cris (Felicio), who we've got under contract now, and also Bobby (Portis), to get something that's local, it's a great opportunity to get your guys some good reps, keep them fresh and also keep them around so they're with the team for practices and games.”
Assistant coach Jim Boylen experienced a similar scenario the past two years when he worked for San Antonio. The Spurs' D-League team plays a few miles down the road in Austin.
“I think the D-League is a great building block for our league,” Boylen said. “When I was in San Antonio, we used the D-League extensively to help develop our team. I think one year Cory Joseph started games in the D-League and played games in the Finals. That's awesome for what the D-League stands for.”
The Bulls haven't sent many players on D-League assignments over the years. They had a bad experience with that in 2006 when forward Martynas Andriuskevicius was punched by a D-League teammate in practice and suffered a serious head injury.
Rose learns from miss:
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said he's already had a discussion with Derrick Rose about attacking the basket in a late-game situation instead of settling for a long jumper. Rose ran the clock down and missed a 20-footer at the end of the fourth quarter against Detroit on Friday. The Bulls lost in overtime.
“He knew as soon as he shot it. He came over, ‘My bad, I should have attacked.' He said it at that moment in the game,” Hoiberg said Sunday. “He knew. I didn't have to talk to him much about it. We did talk a little bit after. He's made a lot of huge plays in his career and he'll make some big ones in the future.
“The defender was backing off him a little bit and he decided to take a shot. Yeah, we want to attack in that situation. We talked about it and hopefully will handle it better next time.”
Griffin back at UC:
Before Sunday's game, Orlando assistant coach Adrian Griffin caught up with Bulls guard Jimmy Butler in the hallway. Griffin was an important influence on Butler's development when he was on Tom Thibodeau's staff with the Bulls.
Griffin played for new Magic coach Scott Skiles with the Bulls, then Skiles gave Griffin his first coaching job in Milwaukee before the Bulls hired him away.
“He kind of solidified the bench (as a Bulls player) and you could tell right away he was good with the young guys and he was coaching-type material,” Skiles said. “I probably won't have him very long. He's already interviewed for head jobs, so at some point he's probably going to leave. I understand that, too, and I'll do everything to help him. He's definitely qualified to do that.”
Bulls horns:
After going 0-for-6 from the foul line in the first three games, Joakim Noah hit 2 in a row during Sunday's first quarter. ... Kirk Hinrich missed the game with a toe injury, which coach Fred Hoiberg doesn't think is serious. … Orlando coach Scott Skiles on returning to Chicago, where he coached from 2003-2007: “I played for five teams and coached four, so I'm up to about a third of the league. At some point, it's just another game.”