Thomas, Noah impatient with own progress

With a limited number of healthy bodies available, the Bulls held a light practice Wednesday at the Berto Center.

This was the scene once practice ended:

• Guard Kirk Hinrich, the day after having surgery to repair a ligament in his thumb, wore a cast on his right arm as he chatted with teammates.

• Forward Drew Gooden, who missed the past two games with a sprained right ankle, jogged on the zero-gravity treadmill.

• Head coach Vinny Del Negro sat in a folding chair next to second-round draft pick Omer Asik, who is still under contract in Turkey, and assistant Pete Myers.

• The main attraction was a game of 3-on-3 pitting Joakim Noah, Thabo Sefolosha and Cedric Simmons against Tyrus Thomas, Aaron Gray and Demetris Nichols.

The main story lines this season for the Bulls have been the blossoming of rising star Derrick Rose, several key injuries, and a 3-5 start against a difficult schedule.

Another significant development is that the team's young big men haven't been very good.

Thomas went 1-for-8 from the field with 3 turnovers in Tuesday's 113-108 loss to Atlanta. The third-year forward is shooting a dismal 28.6 percent for the season while averaging 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Noah had a couple of decent games over the weekend but struggled against former Florida teammate Al Horford on Tuesday. Horford tallied a career-high 27 points to go with 17 rebounds. Noah is averaging 3.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in his second pro season.

Gray has had his ups and downs but was the most effective of the young big men against the Hawks, grabbing 10 rebounds in just under 18 minutes. He also collected 5 fouls, so he probably couldn't have played much more than he did.

Bulls fans who remember the slow development of Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler a few years back should have already accepted the fact that it can take big men longer to get comfortable with NBA competition.

Thomas sounded as though he's as impatient with his progress as fans and coaches.

"It will take time, but we need to hurry it up," Thomas said Wednesday. "I take ownership on a lot of it. I just have to find a way to get it going. Ain't no excuses, no youth, new offense, none of that b.s. I've just got to get it going. I haven't done a good job at all.

"I've got to figure out what it is I need to do to help the team get started, especially if I'm going to start games. I feel like if I start games, then it's my responsibility to help the team get off to a good start and I haven't been doing a good job of that at all."

Noah expressed many of the same feelings after the 3-on-3 showdown ended with a dunk by Gray, who then tacked on a short stream of trash talk. During the scrimmage, Noah drilled a number of 17-foot jumpers from the key.

"I know coach isn't expecting a lot of me offensively," Noah said. "But I feel like when I catch the ball inside, I have to be more aggressive and attack the basket a little bit more. I feel like I've been a little bit too tentative.

"Being a competitor, when you're playing against somebody from your college, of course you don't like him getting career highs, but it's part of the game."

Horford padded his point total by scoring a number of times after beating the Bulls defense down the court. Some of those plays could probably be blamed on the big men, while the full team shared in others.

"It was almost like they were cherry picking," Noah said. "As a big, you go and crash the glass. That's our job. If (your man is) already down (the floor), somebody has to pick him up until you get there.

"I feel like no excuses, though. They did a great job. I've just got to get better. Yeah, sometimes it is frustrating, but I'm trying to stay up and work hard."