Noah might get first start this season with Bulls
Joakim Noah may finally get his first start of the season on Saturday against Charlotte.
Coach Fred Hoiberg said Friday a decision hasn't been made yet about Noah starting, but it's possible the usual starting power forward, Nikola Mirotic, will miss the game due to a concussion.
Mirotic left Wednesday's win over Denver after taking an elbow to the face from guard Emmanuel Mudiay. Mirotic also needed stitches to close a gash. Hoiberg said Mirotic, who did not practice Friday, remains in league-mandated concussion protocol and his status for the Charlotte game is unknown.
Since Mirotic played less than five minutes on Wednesday, Noah and Pau Gasol got a chance to play together. Noah logged a season-high 35 minutes against the Nuggets, finishing with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Gasol had one of his best games as a Bull, with 26 points, 19 rebounds and 4 blocks.
"They were good (together)," Hoiberg said. "(Noah) is doing a good job making quick decisions. A lot of times if he gets a swing or a rebound, he'll push it downcourt. We're getting better at running with him. When he gets the ball at the top, when he makes a quick decision, good things generally happen, whether it's the dribble handoff to Doug (McDermott) or a backcut. Obviously Jo is a very good playmaker out there."
No bad news on Dunleavy:
Mike Dunleavy visited a back specialist and there was no unexpected news. He'll simply return to rehabbing his surgically repaired back and work on building up strength before resuming basketball activity.
Dunleavy, 35, had surgery just before the start of training camp. About three weeks ago, Dunleavy picked up his activity, but then had some soreness in his back and had to slow down. The veteran forward doesn't figure to return to the court until January.
"We'll take a cautious approach with Mike and I'm confident the guys filling in will continue to play well," Hoiberg said.
Meanwhile, guard Kirk Hinrich, who has missed two games with a hip pointer, returned to practice and should be available Saturday against Charlotte. Hinrich is shooting 53 percent from the field this season and has hit 9 of 13 shots from 3-point range.
Rose uses shooting coach:
After practice, Derrick Rose spent time working on his shooting mechanics with head coach Fred Hoiberg. Rose hit 3 of 17 shots Wednesday against Denver.
"Fred was one of the best shooters in the league when he played, and just trying to take tips from him," Rose said. "There's nothing wrong with learning from someone where that was his profession. His specialty was shooting 3s, so why not learn from him?"
Rose took only 2 shots from 3-point range against the Nuggets. Most of his attempts were on the run and relatively close to the basket.
"All but maybe two were really good looks," Hoiberg said. "He got himself in the paint. We watched his shots today on film and he was a little bit off balance. He's fine-tuning it. He's put a lot of work in before practice with Jim Boylen."