Bulls' glass attack has been underwhelming

The Bulls were on the wrong end of the glass in Monday's loss to Cleveland, losing the rebound battle 47-40.

With the addition of 7-foot Pau Gasol this summer, rebounding figured to be one of the Bulls' greatest strengths. So far, it has room to improve. The Bulls are plus-8 on the boards through seven preseason games, but minus-7 on the offensive glass.

"I think it will get better," Joakim Noah said Thursday at the Advocate Center. "Obviously, it's been a concern right now of ours, but I think it's going to be better and better."

Gasol leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game in the preseason, followed by Noah at 6.8 and Taj Gibson with 5.4. One pleasant surprise has been rookie Doug McDermott, next on the list at 4.9 rebounds.

"We have to finish our defense better," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. "Obviously, you're always concerned about that.

"The fight for the ball hasn't been there. That's all part of establishing a multiple-effort mentality. Part of that is your toughness and conditioning and discipline. Those are things we still have to work on."

Preseason almost over:

The Bulls finish the preseason Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at St. Louis. Minnesota will be an interesting team to watch this season after acquiring the last two No. 1 draft picks, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, from Cleveland in the Kevin Love trade.

Wiggins, Bennett and rookie Zach LaVine are said to be calling themselves the "Bounce Brothers," a high-flying answer to Golden State's sharpshooting "Splash Brothers."

Wiggins is doing reasonably well in the preseason, averaging 11.8 points and shooting 41 percent. Bennett (8.6 points) and LaVine (5.5 points) have been less effective.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said he expects everyone to play, besides Jimmy Butler (sprained left thumb). The regular-season opener is Wednesday at New York.

Butler update:

The injured Jimmy Butler was on the court when practice ended Thursday, but he did not participate in drills.

"Did he do anything? If you asked him, he would say yes," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He's doing his conditioning. He's running and lifting. The main thing is I don't want him to lose the feel for the ball. He's running around with a ball and doing form shooting. He'll be ready."

Butler has been the Bulls' top scorer during the preseason. He sprained his left thumb against Charlotte on Sunday and his status for the season opener is unknown.