New Bull Warrick finally practices
He's already played three games for the Bulls, but Tuesday was the first official practice for power forward Hakim Warrick with his new team.
The Bulls acquired four new players in two deals at the trade deadline. Warrick and shooting guard Flip Murray are playing significant minutes. Acie Law and Joe Alexander have stayed mostly on the bench.
"Going out there and playing games, things are just coming to you fast," Warrick said. "You get a chance to slow things down in practice. You can take your time and get a chance to get some things straight and iron out some mistakes we've been making in the game."
One adjustment Warrick had to make was more switching on defense. He said Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles doesn't like his players switching on screens.
"It's going to take a little while," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "You're not going to get everything accomplished in one practice. Just get a few things to understand the terminology and cut down on the mistakes is always a positive."
Bulls north: Hakim Warrick felt like he already had ties to the Bulls. He spent the early part of the season in Milwaukee, playing for ex-Bulls coaches Scott Skiles and Jim Boylan. The trainer and strength coach for the Bucks are also former Bulls staffers.
"The little joke around here is that's their minor-league team, since they have all the same staff and everyone's familiar with this area," Warrick said. "It was a good thing to just drive right down here. It was a good thing I didn't get shipped to Portland or somewhere far. It worked out well for me."
Tribute night: Comcast SportsNet will air special programming Friday to honor Johnny "Red" Kerr and Norm Van Lier during the telecast of the Bulls-Portland game at the United Center. The night will mark the one-year anniversary of the passing of the two Bulls legends.
Bull horns: While Taj Gibson conducted a post-practice interview Tuesday, he was drowned out a few times by loud laughter coming from a group that included Derrick Rose, newcomers Joe Alexander and Acie Law, and player development coach Randy Brown. Team chemistry in progress, perhaps. - Washington forward Josh Howard is out for the year with a torn ACL. He was injured in the first quarter of Monday's game against the Bulls, landing awkwardly after catching a pass in front of Flip Murray. ... Through Monday's games, the Bulls were tied with Oklahoma City for the league lead in defensive field-goal percentage.