Sefolosha provides spark for Bulls
Thabo Sefolosha grew up in Switzerland, but he understands March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.
"I used to watch that when I was in Europe," he said. "I'm probably going to make a bracket."
At one point in his life, Sefolosha was planning to attend college in the United States. He drew interest from one California college whose name he can't recall but was probably headed to South Florida through a connection with the coach.
As it turned out, Sefolosha got an opportunity to play professionally in France and ruined his NCAA eligibility by collecting a paycheck.
Sefolosha eventually found his way to the NBA, so all was well that ended well -- sort of like his season with the Bulls.
In November, Sefolosha barely got on the court after a couple of turnover-laden appearances. Then Tuesday against Utah, when the 6-foot-7 guard returned from six games off with a groin injury, coach Jim Boylan credited him with turning up the intensity once he checked in.
Somehow, Sefolosha went from one of the Bulls' biggest disappointments to one of their best hopes for the future in the span of four months.
"That's the NBA," he said. "You go so fast. You get one, two games and play well in those games, from there you keep rolling and coach puts you on the court. Now I'm happy that I have a bigger role on this team.
"I wasn't really getting too down from not playing. I was just working hard and waiting for my chance. I knew it would come at some point."
Sefolosha isn't a lock-down defender by any means, but he uses his long arms to deflect balls and causes plenty of problems on defense.
He's probably one of the best rebounding guards in the league and can outreach most any player his size to grab the ball out of the air.
"His rebounding is really key for us," Boylan said. "It puts another guy out there who's aggressively working the defensive boards, and most times whoever he's covering is getting back on defense, so he kind of has a free ride going in there and can really attack the glass. He's got great timing."
One area where Sefolosha could improve is attacking the basket. He handles the ball well enough to get into the lane but tends to pass it off whenever anyone steps in his path.
Of course, Sefolosha comes across as sort of a cultured European. His mother is a painter and his father a musician. Maybe he needs a little of that "I want to dunk on your head" attitude that Andres Nocioni seemed to discover in Argentina.
"That's kind of true," Sefolosha said. "I've still got to work on that. I'm afraid of getting the charge sometimes. I don't know exactly how the ref's going to call it. I just have to adjust my game and be more aggressive and try to finish at the basket harder. I definitely have to improve on that."
Sefolosha skipped Wednesday's practice to rest his groin injury but was back on the court Thursday and is ready to try to build on his performance against Utah, when he scored 11 points in 14 minutes.
"I don't think (the injury) can get much worse," he said. "If the coach needs me to be on the court a little bit more, I think it won't be a problem. I'm ready for whatever."