Bulls Mirotic describes abdominal ordeal; return still unclear
Nikola Mirotic provided a rundown of his twin abdominal surgeries. He had his appendix removed on Jan. 27, just as the Bulls were about to depart for the ice show road trip.
A few days later, he was back in surgery for a hematoma removal. The experience was not pleasant.
"They told me after first surgery, don't worry, next day you can go home," Mirotic said at the Advocate Center. "But I was not feeling good. So I stayed one more night. After two days, I went home and I had all night a high fever. I was still in pain.
"The next morning, they make me come back and they find some hematoma inside my stomach and told me they need to do a second surgery. I stay almost a week there. I lost 17, 18 pounds. Now I'm trying to get that weight back."
Mirotic rode the exercise bike Wednesday. He's been running in the pool and lifting weights, but it's not clear yet when the second-year forward will be ready to resume basketball activities. He figures to be out a few more weeks.
"I recovered some pounds. But it's still early. Now, finally I can walk and do some stuff in the pool and weight room. I don't know how many days, weeks. But as soon as I can. That's what I want and what the team wants. … I know I'm going to be back before playoffs."
Gibson believes:
Taj Gibson said Wednesday his foot is doing fine and he'll be ready for the upcoming set of back-to-back games. Gibson left last Wednesday's loss to Atlanta because of a left foot strain.
Gibson's fingers were apparently working fine as well during the break.
"I believe in this team," Gibson said. "I texted Coach (Fred Hoiberg). Coach and I were texting before the break and I told him that I believe in him. I believe he's a great coach and I believe in his system. It just takes time. It takes guys being healthy and willing to muster up things.
"We've proven that we've been able to beat the good teams in this league, but we just have to be a lot more cautious and be able to muster up wins in consecutive games. … I told him, 'I believe in you coach, I appreciate everything you've done for this team, and I'm going to ride with you.' That's what we need."
Bulls get loud:
Coach Fred Hoiberg tried to ramp up the action in the two practices following all-star break. Wednesday's workout at the Advocate Center featured referees and a loud scrimmage.
Hoiberg said they stuck with a recent tradition of the coaches staying silent and asking the players do all the talking during scrimmages. Lack of communication on defense has been mentioned often as a source of the Bulls' problems.
"We've had two good days of practice," Hoiberg said. "They've done the little things. It's getting that carried over to the games and being consistent. You look at our numbers. Going into the new year, we're fourth in defense and you drop to 20th.
"Does Jo (Noah's) injury have something to do with that? Sure it does, and certain guys being in and out of the lineup, that's contributed to that. That's such a big gap, from where we were to where we are now. Giving up 95 in our wins, giving 109 in our losses. It's the little things, being more consistent the last 30 games."