Rose, Thomas excluded from overseas work
The Bulls limped through a second practice in London on Monday. Derrick Rose (sore right ankle and Achilles) and Tyrus Thomas (bruised hip) have sat out two straight days, and it's possible neither could play when the Bulls face Utah today at the O2 Arena.
"It's so early in the exhibition season, we don't need any nagging injuries to get worse," coach Vinny Del Negro told bulls.com. "This is a valuable time in terms of practice and getting ready for the regular season."
Rose celebrated his 21st birthday Sunday and was serenaded by the team's four rookies on the flight across the Atlantic.
After landing on Sunday morning, the Bulls checked into their hotel and held a 90-minute workout at the O2 Arena. Then it was time to check out Britain's dominant sport, soccer.
Luol Deng was able to check out his favorite team, Arsenal, drill the Blackburn Rovers 6-2. Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller, James Johnson and Taj Gibson joined Deng at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, according to bulls.com.
"Extremely exciting game to watch," Gibson said. "We got a taste of overseas, how they love their football."
Rose posed for photos at the Chelsea-Liverpool match with Utah's Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur. Some Bulls players attended a couple of NBA Cares events on Sunday and the team hosted a dinner for some sponsors who came along for the trip.
The exhibition game against the Jazz (1:30 p.m., NBA TV) is expected to draw a full house. Most of the attention in England is focused on Deng, whose family moved to London in 1993. He still considers it his hometown.
Deng was born in Sudan, then lived in Alexandria, Egypt, for a few years until his family was granted asylum in Great Britain. The Bulls forward talked about his early days in the city in The Times of London.
"When we moved to England, I didn't speak a single word of English," Deng said. "Many refugees would make their children learn English before sending them to school, but my parents didn't think it would be a good idea for me to stay at home every day in a new country. I went to school without understanding English.
"It was hard to communicate and make friends but whenever we played football (soccer), people wanted to pick me to be on their team. I noticed that I was closer to the guys when we were playing. It didn't matter if I spoke the language or not, they wanted to win and would pick me. When we won, we celebrated together. Sport helped me make friends."
John Salmons skipped the trip to London to be with his wife, who is ready to give birth to the couple's second child. Center Aaron Gray stayed home to begin recovery from a stress fracture in his left fibula.