Raptors coach knows all too well what Bulls' Rose can do
TORONTO - Jay Triano knows Derrick Rose better than most opposing coaches. The Raptors' boss was an assistant for the U.S. Select squad that helped prepare the Olympic team last summer in Las Vegas.
Triano, who replaced Sam Mitchell as head coach Dec. 3, saw a preview of what Rose did Wednesday when he sliced and diced Toronto for 25 points and 10 assists.
"On the floor, he was just quiet coming in (to practices), slow coming in, but all of the sudden he gets out there in a game and knew how to score," Triano said before the game.
"He knew he was going against some pretty good point guards - Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, Chris Paul - and he was just finding a way to score every time down.
"Any time our select team stalled a little bit, which it could against that team, he was the bright light. Him and O.J. Mayo produced points very quickly."
Bad pass forgiven: The Bulls' 102-98 victory at Toronto probably shouldn't have gone down to the wire. The visitors had the ball and a 4-point lead with less than a minute remaining.
Then Andres Nocioni had a jumper rim out and Anthony Parker finished a driving lay- in to pull the Raptors within 100-98 with 29.6 seconds left.
Toronto had time to get the ball back with a defensive stop, but Will Solomon fouled Derrick Rose with 14.4 seconds on the clock.
That's when it appeared the Raptors had to foul and send the Bulls to the line, but Kirk Hinrich threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, giving Toronto a chance to tie or take the lead.
"That was my fault," Hinrich said. "I started leaning forward a little bit, started to lose my balance, and I thought Ben (Gordon) was going to pop (open). I should have just called timeout."
FT streak on hold: Toronto guard Jose Calderon didn't play against the Bulls because of a hamstring injury, so his streak of 79 consecutive free throws made remained intact. Calderon, who has yet to miss this season, owns the third-best streak in league history behind 97 by Minnesota's Micheal Williams and 81 by Denver's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.
According to Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro, he holds the San Antonio Spurs franchise record with 50 in a row and knows when it ended.
"In the Boston Garden," he said. "It didn't cost us the game, but I do remember it."
Bull horns: The Bulls grabbed 12 offensive rebounds in the first half, none in the second half. - Aaron Gray sported a black eye and needed four stitches to close a gash in the corner of the same eye after butting heads with Chris Bosh in the second quarter. - Bulls radio announcer Chuck Swirsky was given the John McLendon Award for contributions to Toronto basketball at halftime. Swirsky spent 10 years with the Raptors before joining the Bulls this season.