Thomas eyes NBA's top defensive honor - someday
The Bulls' Tyrus Thomas had 8 blocked shots in Saturday's loss to Minnesota, which is believed to be the second-best performance in the NBA this season behind the 10 blocks by Orlando's Dwight Howard against Oklahoma City on Nov. 12.
Since he joined the Bulls three years ago, it's been obvious that Thomas has the physical skills to be one of the league's best defenders. He's thinking along the same lines and mentioned that being named NBA defensive player of the year is one of his goals.
"I actually would love to be that one day," Thomas said following Monday's practice. "I've just got to keep working hard and keep being consistent."
A lack of consistency might be Thomas' greatest drawback. He didn't block any shots in the three games prior to Saturday, but he is averaging 2.1 blocks as a starter, which would rank fourth in the league.
"I like to do it," he said. "That's something I take pride in, because everybody can't get up and block a shot. You get 1 or 2 blocks, now you can stay on the floor and still get in the mind of your opponent. You can give him a little hesitation fake or something and they're thinking they've got to alter their shot, so it helps you.
"I've become more disciplined at not trying to block every shot like I used to. Because it kind of puts my teammates in bad situations if I don't get it."
He'd also like to avoid falling for any more Ben Wallace pump fakes when Cleveland is back in town next week.
"He pumps two or three times, you've got to go for one of them," Thomas said with a smile.
Kings of the road: The Bulls are 0-1 so far in their stretch of playing the NBA's four worst teams in consecutive home games. Next up is Sacramento, which has shooting guard Kevin Martin back after missing 22 games with an ankle injury.
He's still coming off the bench, and when Martin scored 45 points at Indiana on Saturday, it was the league's highest-scoring game by a reserve in nearly four years, according to the Sacramento Bee. Portland's Darius Miles scored 47 off the bench in 2005.
Second-year Kings center Spencer Hawes, chosen one pick after Joakim Noah in the 2007 draft, is averaging 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Hinrich eyes practice: Kirk Hinrich, out since Nov. 9 with a torn ligament in his right thumb, is planning to join a full-contact practice either Wednesday or Thursday.
"That's the plan," he said. "I'm not catching passes yet, but I've been handling the ball and shooting."
Bull horns: A few weeks after admitting he missed his mullet, Andres Nocioni had his hair cut even shorter. "I look younger," he said while checking out the new close-cropped look in a mirror. ... Center Aaron Gray emerged from the training room with an ice bag strapped to his back but did not miss any of Monday's practice.