Hoiberg willing to change Chicago Bulls lineup

Doug McDermott made the first start of his NBA career in Thursday's 104-98 victory over Oklahoma City at the United Center, but something about the timing of the decision doesn't add up.

Coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters Friday the choice to start McDermott was made about an hour before tipoff, but McDermott said he found out at shootaround and his mother was able to fly in from Nebraska to attend the game.

"I actually told my parents because they're coming to the game Saturday and my mom came a couple days early," McDermott said. "She hopped on a flight right away so it was pretty cool, I guess, my first career start.

"It's a fun experience, to hear that name called (during introductions), so much tradition with the organization."

It doesn't really matter when McDermott found out he was starting. It was interesting to see Hoiberg willing to make changes to the lineup this early in the season. McDermott started at small forward in place of Tony Snell and didn't have a major impact, finishing with 9 points.

After the game, Hoiberg talked about how the Thunder presented a good chance to make the switch, since McDermott could guard defensive-oriented starter Andre Roberson.

"(The lineup) probably will be an evolving thing," Hoiberg said. "It really wasn't anything that we were not pleased with, it was just a rotation thing and we wanted to have a secondary defender with (Kevin) Durant in case Jimmy (Butler) got in foul trouble, which happened."

The Bulls often played with a small backcourt on Thursday, using Derrick Rose and Aaron Brooks together for long stretches. They finished the game with E'Twaun Moore on the floor with Rose.

The finishing lineup will also be subject to change. Against OKC, Hoiberg went with Taj Gibson instead of Nikola Mirotic. Joakim Noah didn't start or finish Thursday, but Hoiberg felt the backup center was the Bulls' best player.

"It's about finding the right combinations and it's different guys on different nights," Hoiberg said. "You're not always going to see the same five at the end of the game because we have the ability to play a lot of different guys down the stretch."

Balanced scoring had been a trademark of the Bulls early this season, but Thursday's game was a different story. Rose finished with 29 points, Butler had 26 and the third-leading scorer was all the way down to Pau Gasol with 11 points.

Asked if McDermott will remain a starter on Saturday against Minnesota, Hoiberg said that decision will be made overnight. McDermott's role does change, since there are more scorers in the Bulls' starting lineup. His job had been to bring offense from the bench.

"The first group I feel like I space the floor a little bit more, the second group I feel like I'm a little more aware of where I'll get my shots," McDermott said Friday at the Advocate Center. "Today I worked with the first five again and we put in a couple sets to clear things up and get me moving more and all of us moving instead of standing around. I think it'll get us to a much better start (against Minnesota)."

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