Impact rookie? Del Negro lived it with Duncan, Spurs

Vinny Del Negro may be a first-time coach, but he's walked in the shoes of the current Bulls when it comes to a rookie joining a team and almost immediately becoming its best player.

Del Negro was on the San Antonio Spurs in 1997-98, when Tim Duncan arrived. With very few changes to the overall roster, the Spurs improved by 36 wins during Duncan's rookie season.

The only new player on the Bulls' active roster is No. 1 draft pick Derrick Rose, who is well on his way to becoming a star. The Bulls won't make the same kind of jump San Antonio did, because that Spurs team also got David Robinson back from injury. But the Bulls should be a playoff contender this year.

"With Tim, we had such a veteran team, and Tim's demeanor and his approach (was so good)," Del Negro said. "I think the same thing here. Guys that have been here understand Derrick has special tools we need to use and special gifts we need to feed off of."

During the two Bulls victories on the circus road trip, at Golden State and Utah, Rose put the team on his shoulders down the stretch. Against the Warriors, he scored 8 straight points until leaving with an injury with 1:13 remaining. At Utah, he scored 8 in a row before Larry Hughes knocked down the winning jumper at the buzzer.

"We want him to keep doing what he's doing, staying aggressive offensively," forward Drew Gooden said. "The defensive stuff is going to come with him as he learns personnel and plays against guys over the years. But we need him to do that. That's big for us."

For the past four seasons, guard Ben Gordon was used to being Mr. Fourth Quarter for the Bulls. He didn't score at all, however, during the fourth quarter of the Utah or Golden State games. On Saturday at the Berto Center, Gordon didn't have a problem with Rose stepping forward during crunch time.

"We need that to win games," Gordon said. "I think it's always good when you have more than one person at the end of games who can hit big shots and make big plays. In Utah, it was him and Larry at the end. To me, that's an easy adjustment, because I know I'm going to get my share of shots in the fourth quarter."

The Bulls still have plenty of room to improve offensively. When they keep the ball moving, the points seem to flow. But here's an example of what they need to avoid:

In the loss to San Antonio on Wednesday, Gordon had a hot hand. By the 5:37 mark of the third quarter, he'd scored 23 points, hit 9 of 13 shots from the field and the Bulls led by 9. Then, he never scored again and took his final 3 shots well into the fourth quarter.

"That's just team awareness and guys recognizing what's going on in the game," Gordon said. "Whoever's hot, you always want to milk him. That's kind of the universal rule in basketball. Not just me, but if Drew has it going, we have to feed off of him. If Luol (Deng) has it going, Larry, we have to continue to milk those guys.

"It's very easy. Everybody in the stands can tell, people at home watching the game can tell, so the people on the court should definitely have no problem figuring out who's got it going and getting them shots."

The Bulls have one final stop on the road trip, today in Philadelphia, before returning home for a rematch with the Sixers on Tuesday.