Skiles: I haven't played Noc enough

Here's one strange occurrence from the Bulls' weekend in Los Angeles:

When rookie Joakim Noah entered the game late in a blowout victory over the Clippers, he was cheered.

When Noah took the floor late in a lopsided loss to the Lakers a day later in the same building, he was booed -- though not as loudly as actor Mel Gibson, who sat courtside Sunday and made a videoboard appearance.

Here's something else that's difficult to understand: Why do the Bulls seem to be aiming for iron instead of the center of the rim?

Sunday's 106-78 loss to the Lakers marked the sixth time in nine games the Bulls have shot less than 40 percent from the field. Not coincidentally, the Bulls are 2-1 when they exceed the 40 percent barrier and 0-6 when they don't.

The offense was handicapped by the loss of forward Luol Deng, who sat out the Lakers game with a sore back and may not play tonight against Denver.

The Bulls kept pace with the Lakers for a while, trailing by 3 points with two minutes left in the third quarter before being outscored 43-18 the rest of the way.

Coach Scott Skiles didn't mince words when he suggested after the game that it's time for the Bulls to awaken from their shooting slumber.

"Guys have got to make shots," he said. "This is the highest level. This is the pros. Even pro athletes' confidence can come and go a little bit, of course. To constantly be talking about it every day, that's not productive.

"If you can't do it, you'd better get in the gym and figure it out and get your head screwed on or whatever the problem is and make shots."

Skiles added that it's difficult to judge individual players when the team as a whole has been so rancid. So here's a third-party assessment.

Andres Nocioni might be the one player who has met expectations. In the last four games, he has averaged 18.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and shot 45 percent from the field.

"Even nights when he doesn't play well, he always has intensity," Skiles said. "We haven't played him enough. That's probably my fault."

Deng (14.6 ppg, .455 FG percentage) and Ben Gordon (19.8 ppg, .392 FG percentage) are off to slow starts but aren't too far from their levels of last season.

Everyone else has been bad, particularly guard Kirk Hinrich, who's shooting percentage dipped to .327 with Sunday's 3-for-11 effort.

Center Ben Wallace had a big game against the Clippers but is averaging just 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 points.

The Bulls haven't gotten many big efforts off the bench. Joe Smith had some good games early but has leveled off. Tyrus Thomas hasn't done much since a strong performance against Detroit on Nov. 8. Backup guard Chris Duhon is shooting 32.7 percent from the field, same as Hinrich.

Thabo Sefolosha showed signs of life for the first time against the Lakers, scoring 9 points in 25 minutes. But he's shooting below 30 percent.

The Bulls rank last in the NBA in both overall field-goal percentage (.388) and 3-point percentage (.272).

"When we get off the page and don't play as well, we always look back and say, 'What made us successful in the past?' " Hinrich said after Sunday's loss. "We're not doing that this year."

Tonight's tipoff

Bulls vs. Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center

When: 8 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Radio: WMVP 1000-AM

Update: The Nuggets (7-3) average a league-best 109 points per game, while both Carmelo Anthony (25.5 ppg) and Allen Iverson (24.8 ppg) are among the top eight NBA scorers. Marcus Camby ranks second in rebounds (14.5) and blocks (3.3).

Mile High history: The Bulls have dropped seven of their last eight games in Denver, the last win in 2005-06.

Next: New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, noon Saturday