Del Negro tweaks Bulls lineup for Saturday game against New Orleans

No, the Bulls didn't change coaches Thursday, although the expectation was reasonable since they've done it twice before on Christmas Eve.

Coach Vinny Del Negro is planning to change the starting lineup when the Bulls host New Orleans on Saturday. Guard Kirk Hinrich and forward Taj Gibson are in and John Salmons and Brad Miller are out, for now.

"Where we're at now warrants some type of change," Del Negro said following practice at the Berto Center. "It's not engraved in stone right now and it's probably not a permanent thing. But for right now I feel that's the direction we need to go."

This week began in bewildering fashion for the Bulls as they squandered a 35-point lead and lost at home to Sacramento.

The following night in New York, they tried the opposite strategy - trimming a 22-point halftime deficit to 1 - but still ended up losing to the Knicks.

Hinrich and Gibson joined the lineup for the start of the third quarter in New York, and the Bulls' play improved. But this team has struggled to put together four solid quarters all season.

Salmons has been a disappointment, averaging 13.4 points and shooting 38.2 percent from the field, and his turnovers have taken a jump in recent games. But Hinrich (8.5 ppg, 36.2 percent shooting) hasn't exactly been on top of his game offensively, either.

So how does Hinrich improve the Bulls' chances?

"I just think it's another ballhandler out there, another pick-and-roll guy," Del Negro said. "Kirk's one of our best defenders, if not our best defender. We can play with a little more thrust, a little more pace with Kirk."

During the last four games, Miller has scored a grand total of 2 points in 80 minutes of action, hitting 1 of 15 shots in the process.

More than bad shots: As usual, John Salmons was out on the court shooting 3-pointers at the end of Thursday's practice. He's one of the team's hardest workers, but he hasn't been able to match his career-best performance from last season.

"He puts in the work; his attitude's been good," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "You just can't let the frustration seep in.

"It's a long season; you're going to have your bumps in the road. But you've got to keep fighting through it and find ways to not just worry about your shot, but defend, take charges, make the right pass, get up and make plays off the dribble. There's more to the game than just making shots."

The soft-spoken Salmons agreed that maybe he's let the shooting slump get him down.

"That could be part of the problem, I'm trying to think about it too much instead of just playing basketball," he said. "It's not fun. You never want to be demoted. But I've been down before. I've got to deal with it."

Thomas set to return: Tyrus Thomas practiced full speed Thursday and remains on target to play Saturday against New Orleans for the first time since breaking his left arm in a weight-room accident Nov. 6.

"I practiced well today. I don't see me needing (transition time)," Thomas said. "I'm not as sharp as I want to be, (but) I ain't out of shape at all."

Forward Luol Deng gave his assessment of Thomas' return.

"We missed him a lot," Deng said. "He looked great in practice today. His legs are rested, so that's going to be huge for us as soon as he gets his wind up. But he looked really good today. His jumper was good."