Why Bulls' hopeful Powell won't ever forget France
On the surface, Roger Powell looks like the same guy who made a strong showing at Bulls training camp in 2008 and the guy whose heart and hustle helped carry Illinois to the 2005 NCAA title game.
But a scary accident last season in France left Powell with three metal plates in his face.
It happened in February, just after Powell left a Spanish team for Dijon Bourgogne in the top French league. He dove for a loose ball during a game and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"The (opposing) center, like 270 pounds, fell on top of me," Powell said Friday at the Berto Center. "All of his weight smashed my face on the court. I broke my orbital bone. I broke my cheek bone in two places. I ended up having surgery and they put three plates in there. It's pretty brutal, but I'm fortunate because it could have been a lot worse. I could have messed up my eye."
Powell was knocked unconscious, but remembers parts of what happened.
"The crazy thing was I was worried about my wife because she was pregnant," he said. "She saw the whole thing happen and they had to tend to her because she almost passed out."
Powell had to sit out completely for five months and waited even longer before returning to full-contact scrimmaging. None of that has stopped the Joliet native from believing he can make the Bulls' roster.
"This is actually the first competitive basketball I've played all summer," he said. "I'm focused on making this team. I've put all my eggs in one basket and I'm determined to make it."
Look back at '91: The Bulls will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the team's first NBA championship on March 12 during a home game against Utah. Among the players from that team expected to be on hand are Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, John Paxson and Stacey King.
The Bulls are wearing a 20th anniversary patch on the players' game jerseys, warmups and shooting shirts.
Loose quotes: Coach Tom Thibodeau on Kurt Thomas recalling the two three-hour, full-contact practices during training camp with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat in 1995: "Those were the good-old days."
The players union has since limited the training camp practices to a total of four hours per day, with only one contact session.
Derrick Rose on the lack of true rookies on the roster this season. Center Omer Asik is technically a rookie, but was drafted two years ago: "Taj (Gibson) and James (Johnson) are still getting the doughnuts, so you don't have to worry about that," Rose said.