Bulls give practice court another long workout

Bulls training camp, the first under coach Vinny Del Negro, has been characterized by long practices and few breaks.

Wednesday was no exception as the team spent about an hour watching video from the previous night's 96-86 loss to Minnesota, then spent nearly three hours practicing on the court.

"We're 0-3 in exhibitions," forward Drew Gooden said. "We've got to work."

So far in preseason, the Bulls have played a couple of decent quarters, but no good games.

They jumped to a 30-13 lead in the first quarter against Minnesota. During those opening 12 minutes, the Bulls shot 60 percent from the field, forced 5 turnovers and scored 9 fastbreak points.

"Our offense flows when we get stops," forward Luol Deng said.

The rest of the game was typical of the Bulls' preseason performances. They've averaged 21.7 turnovers in three games and are allowing opponents to shoot better than 46 percent from the field.

Except for rookie Derrick Rose, the Bulls have essentially the same players that finished last season. But with so much to learn from the new coaching staff, Del Negro has sometimes conducted long practices on game days.

"We have so many young guys, sometimes you have to spend a lot more time on things than you would a veteran team," Del Negro said. "That can be a little bit difficult at times, but that's the type of players we have here now.

"Obviously, they're great guys; they've worked hard. There's no complaint with their work ethic. Hopefully the switch will go off and we'll start to be more productive. When that is, I don't know. But it won't be for lack of effort."

Hughes in, then out: The starting backcourt of Larry Hughes and Kirk Hinrich might be over already. Hughes suffered a bruised knuckle during the Minnesota game and wasn't able to practice Wednesday.

For the first time in preseason, rookie Derrick Rose did not start, but he did play the entire fourth quarter.

The Bulls' next action is back-to-back games this weekend against the Utah Jazz - Friday at Champaign's Assembly Hall and Saturday at the United Center.

"We've had so many injuries, it's been hard to get a consistent rotation," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We'll just go with the guys who compete the hardest and give us the best chance."

Guard Ben Gordon, the team's top scorer for the last three seasons, still hasn't returned from a sore toe. Michael Ruffin, Cedric Simmons and Demetris Nichols also skipped Wednesday's workout with ankle or foot injuries.

Bull horns: Luol Deng on playing 45 of 48 minutes against Minnesota: "I just asked the coach if he could keep me in the game. I didn't know it was going to be 45 minutes. Every time I saw someone running to half-court, I thought they were coming in for me, but that wasn't the case." ... The Bulls held their annual bowling party for team sponsors on Wednesday in Deerfield. ... Drew Gooden is averaging 15.5 points and shooting 72 percent so far in preseason.