In first action of preseason, Bulls' center provides fun highlight

Usually, the Bulls' open scrimmage for season ticketholders doesn't provide any significant news.

But on Saturday at the United Center, they may have discovered a new weapon. Center Joakim Noah, wearing protective goggles for the first time, launched one of his physics-defying, sideways-spinning jump shots and drained a 3-pointer.

After the ball dropped through the net, Noah pointed in the direction of coach Vinny Del Negro and assistant Del Harris. Noah said later he wasn't imploring the coaches to let him expand his shooting range in a real game.

"My teammates wanted me to shoot, probably because they thought I was going to miss," Noah said. "My release was just so on-point."

The scrimmage was Noah's first action since getting poked in the eye on the second day of training camp. About three minutes in, he looked as though he was about to pass out, but he managed to remain on his feet the entire scrimmage.

"The warmups felt great, but once I ran up and down the court like three times ... I'm in such bad shape right now," Noah said. "I really have to get back after it, because I haven't done anything in like 10 days. It's unbelievable how fast you lose it."

Noah was back on the floor, but the Bulls still had trouble fielding a full team. Drew Gooden sat out Friday's preseason loss to Indiana with a sore back and didn't participate in the scrimmage. Center Aaron Gray, who has averaged 13.5 points and 10 rebounds in two preseason games, stayed on the bench with a sore ankle.

Luol Deng skipped the scrimmage after getting elbowed below his right eye by Gray on Friday. Guard Ben Gordon is hoping to return Monday from a jammed right big toe, while Michael Ruffin thinks he'll need a few more days to come back from a sprained ankle.

The Bulls dropped to 0-2 in preseason with Friday's 102-95 loss to the Pacers in Fort Wayne, Ind. The team seemed out of sync during the losses, but some players took encouragement from Friday's third quarter, when the Bulls outscored Indiana 32-19.

"We've got a completely new coaching staff," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "We have new philosophies. For those few years, we had all these habits. Now we're trying to break them and do our new schemes."

Del Negro made it clear that these early preseason games are not the top priority by conducting full practices in the morning before both contests.

"It was almost like four games," Deng said. "We want to win, but it's all about what we do and how we do it out there. Sometimes it takes a little bit of playing together in a new system. (Friday) in the third quarter, we made improvement."

The Bulls will not practice today, their first day off since training camp began on Sept. 30.