Rose: We can finally get some cheers now
The circus is gone and the Bulls finally returned to the United Center on Tuesday for their first home game in 17 days.
Rookie Derrick Rose didn't find it awkward to return to the arena after such a long absence.
"It feels good. We can finally get some cheers now," he said.
Rose has made a point of not getting caught up in the notorious game-night traffic on the Edens Expressway. Even on a Tuesday with no weather issues it was still nearly an hour trip from Lake-Cook Road to the Kennedy junction.
"I left like three hours early, so I made it down here at a decent time," he said. "I've never stayed at the hotel (in the afternoon). I always go to one of my friend's houses, sit there and play with his little brother, play the video games all day, then come here and shoot early."
Mo knows point guards: Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks, himself a Chicago-bred point guard, offered more praise for Derrick Rose before Tuesday's game.
"If we do something different to him, I don't know if it's really going to effect the way he runs his team," Cheeks said. "He has a quiet confidence about him that translates into his team. Magic Johnson probably did (as a rookie) and Isiah (Thomas), but those are the great, great players. (Rose) played one year in college, so I think it's pretty impressive what he's doing."
Skiles is watching: Here's what Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles thinks about his former team, which visits the Bradley Center tonight.
"As the season goes on, I think they're going to get better and better," Skiles said in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "They just spread the floor, and (Derrick Rose) penetrates and kicks to people. He's so quick and athletic, and he makes good decisions. He can go all the way to the rim himself; he can pull up and shoot and he can kick to people."
The Bucks (7-12) have dropped four in a row.
Bulls choose day trip: First-year coach Vinny Del Negro chose to hold shootaround at the Berto Center today, then bus to Milwaukee for tonight's game. Ex-coach Scott Skiles, who now leads the Bucks, preferred to go up the night before and treat it like a normal road trip.
"I just thought it would be better," Del Negro said. "We've been on the road so much and had a tough schedule. It's not a long drive. Just drive up there tomorrow, get some rest in the afternoon and then play the game. They've done it both ways and had success and haven't had success both ways."
Season for giving: Luol Deng and Cedric Simmons will take 15 kids from the Martin Luther King Boys & Girls Club shopping at Dick's Sporting Goods in Glenview on Thursday. ... The Bulls and Tyson Foods donated 90,000 pounds of frozen poultry to restock food banks around the nation, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository.