Del Negro makes curious statement - aimed at Noah?
ATLANTA - Coach Vinny Del Negro made an interesting statement Saturday against the Hawks by sending rarely used Cedric Simmons into the game in the third quarter instead of Joakim Noah.
During 51/2 minutes on the floor in the first half, Noah didn't record a single statistic in the box score. He was also slow on defense at times, unable to provide defensive help or grab a rebound when a Hawks player headed toward the basket.
After the game, Del Negro wouldn't admit that the substitution was a message to Noah.
"I just thought Ced could give us some athleticism up front a little bit," Del Negro said.
Simmons ended up playing just four minutes, with all zeros in the box score, because for the second straight day, the Bulls couldn't afford to keep center Aaron Gray off the floor.
Gray followed up his double-double against Miami by posting 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists against the Hawks. But more impressive was helping limit Al Horford to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
Of course, one reason for Horford's quiet night was all of his teammates putting up good numbers. But the former Florida star did have 27 points and 17 rebounds when the Hawks beat the Bulls at the United Center on Nov. 11.
Thabo joins starters: With the Bulls now missing three starters - Luol Deng, Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich - Thabo Sefolosha got a second chance to be a starter. He replaced Deng at small forward Saturday against Atlanta and scored 14 points.
The 6-foot-7 Switzerland native started the first five games of the season at shooting guard but averaged about 4 points. When it was suggested Sefolosha didn't do enough to keep the job the first time around, Del Negro came to his player's defense.
"I don't know if that's fair," Del Negro said. "Thabo works hard. He's a professional and he's been putting in extra work. He's a young player trying to develop, but he does a lot of good things out there."
Deng walking it off: Luol Deng walked into Philips Arena on crutches, then claimed he didn't need them and felt optimistic about the state of his sprained left ankle, suffered in the third quarter against Miami on Friday.
"I was a little worried about it," he said. "But I did X-ray, MRI, CT scan just to make sure and it was fine, just a sprained ligament. It feels a lot better today, maybe because I know the results. I was a little worried."
Coach Vinny Del Negro is hoping to have forward Drew Gooden back from a sprained right ankle Monday at New Jersey, but that plan may be wishful thinking. Gooden said the ankle is still swollen and he's yet to do any running since the injury occurred Dec. 19 at Boston.