Bulls' Hoiberg sought advice from ex-rival over all-star break

The Bulls have been struggling lately, so during the all-star break, coach Fred Hoiberg sought counsel from a former college rival.

"I spent a couple days in Lawrence, Kan. during the all-star break to visit our daughter (Paige) and spent some time talking to (Kansas coach) Bill Self, which was great," Hoiberg said before Friday's game. "Coaches who have been in this a long time have had struggles. You just bounce ideas off them, ask questions about how they dealt with different situations and build on it."

Hoiberg mentioned he has several friends in the business he relies on for help, including former Bulls coach Tim Floyd.

"I spend a lot of time in traffic in this city, so I do make a lot of calls to former coaches," Hoiberg said.

Hinrich not forgotten:

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg sounded like he missed Kirk Hinrich already when talking about the offense before Friday's game. Hinrich was traded to Atlanta on Thursday.

"Kirk did a good job of getting us in the offense and getting us organized," Hoiberg said. "I had a talk with Aaron (Brooks) this afternoon. We need more movement. We need to get that ball moving. Get it on the second side, shift the defense and then go into some type of ball screen. We're at times over the course of the game, too stagnant."

Bulls miss confidence:

According to Bulls radio statistician Jeff Mangurten, Derrick Rose had 14 chances for assists in Thursday's loss at Cleveland and his teammates made just 2 of the 14 resulting shots.

"It's human nature a little bit when you're missing shots and struggling that you'll lose a little bit of confidence," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "But you can gain it back in a hurry. That's what we talked to our guys about. I met with Doug (McDermott) just after our little walk-through and just told him how much I believe in him. I told him how much we need him out there and to step up and shoot those shots with confidence."

Raptors are rolling:

The last time the Bulls played the Raptors, Jimmy Butler delivered his 40-point second half and the Bulls won 115-113 in Toronto on Jan. 3. The Raptors lost their following game, but have since gone 14-2.

Toronto coach Dwane Casey explained the surge before Friday's game, botching a cliché in the process.

"We're not a perfect team by any means," Casey said. "We've got to cross our i's and dot our t's and I've been preaching that all year. I think one of our identities is when we play hard, play smart, play together, we have some success. When we don't, we're ugly."

Bull horns:

New acquisition Justin Holiday was at the United Center on Friday, but wasn't available to play because the physicals had yet to completed. Holiday will wear No. 7, so maybe he'll turn out to be a mix of Ben Gordon and Toni Kukoc. … Kirk Hinrich leaves the Bulls ranked third on the team's all-time list of games played, behind Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. … The Raptors spent the past two days in Chicago, holding both post-break practices here.