Rose doing his best to pass all tests

Derrick Rose helped make the dribble drive motion offense famous last season at Memphis.

The trend in college basketball, which was given a multi-page spread in Sports Illustrated, is predicated on the ballhandler beating his man off the dribble.

Not surprisingly, Rose says he's done many of the same things during Bulls practice.

"It's kind of like my Memphis offense," he said. "We have the same basic rules: Try to beat your guy and then open it up for other people. We have a lot of set plays we can run instead of just beating our guy. We can play a half-court game as well as an up-tempo game."

Learning the offense has been a challenge for Rose, no different from coach Vinny Del Negro's incessant quizzes.

"He quizzes you every time you come into the locker room, so you have to know your stuff," Rose said with a laugh. "He asked us today on the board how we can be committed to the team. He had a bunch of rules on there and told us to read it.

"In my head, I'm like, 'If he asks me, I'm going to forget.' So I'm happy he didn't ask me today. I'm going to study a little bit more."

Another task is still in store for Rose. Fetching the morning doughnuts, which caused Joakim Noah some problems during his rookie season.

"Not now, but the talk is coming around," Rose said. "People are talking about they're hungry, so I know it's coming."

Friends in arms: Bulls forward Drew Gooden will keep a close eye on what happens to Milwaukee Brewers pitcher CC Sabathia in free agency this winter. The two were friends and rivals growing up near Oakland, Calif., then both played professionally in Cleveland for a few years.

"That's a good guy," Gooden said. "I've known CC since we were teenagers. He went to Vallejo High School and I went to El Cerrito High School. We played basketball against each other. He's a year older than me, so we never really played baseball against each other. But we were in the same leagues."

Bulls take stadium tour: In advance of Thursday's preseason opener against Dallas, the Bulls will practice at the United Center this afternoon.

"I want to get down there more and get a feel for the arena with the team," first-year coach Vinny Del Negro said. "It's a different atmosphere, obviously. So it will be good to get down there."

Later in the day, the entire team will make an appearance at Water Tower Place on North Michigan Avenue from 3:30-4:30.