Cyst in ankle slows down Bulls' Korver

Bulls guard Kyle Korver has been slowed by a cyst on his left ankle. During the first four preseason games, Korver shot 54 percent from the field and averaged 13.8 points. In the last two contests, he connected on just 2 of 11 shots.

“He's laboring a little bit, coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Overall, offensively I think he's been terrific. Defensively, he's still got work to do.

Korver is optimistic he won't need surgery to remove the cyst and believes he is making progress.

“I got a cortisone shot about four days ago, he said. “They're hoping that kind of takes it away. I think we're going to give it a little more time. It's feeling better gradually, but it's not there yet.

Omer meets Dwight:

With forward Taj Gibson sitting out to rest a sore ankle and Carlos Boozer already sidelined by a broken hand, the Bulls were short on interior help against Orlando on Saturday.

Rookie Omer Asik started at center and picked up 3 fouls in his first four minutes on the court, which left veteran Kurt Thomas to pick up the slack.

“The physicality upfront with Howard is tough, because he was able to draw fouls and I thought that made Omer tentative, coach Tom Thibodeau said. “They also had (Marcin) Gortat out there, who's a physical guy. We want to play physical without fouling.

“One foul (on Asik) I thought was a tough call, but the others were fouls. He's got to correct that. We want him to play physical without fouling. I think he's learning in each game. I think he'll get better at it.

Gibson went full speed at Monday's practice and expects to play Wednesday when the Bulls visit Toronto.

“We tried to warn (Asik) about Dwight Howard, Gibson said. “It was good for him. We'd rather have him in those situations early. It's all about getting better and we know we're going to need him down the line.

No roster reduction:

The Bulls have 16 players on the roster and at least one has to go by next Monday, but coach Tom Thibodeau is in no hurry to make a move.

“All the guys that are here right now deserve to be here and I think they're all capable of being on an NBA roster, he said. “We're going to wait a little while. These guys have functioned well in practice and I value practice greatly, so I don't want to cut anybody right now. These guys are all very close.

Basically, there are two open spots on the final roster and Kyle Weaver, John Lucas III and Roger Powell are trying to grab one of them. Most likely, the Bulls will end up keeping 14 players, but it could be one more or one less.

Bull horns:

Bulls players greeted fans Monday at Water Tower Place. Speaking of shopping malls, the Bulls have opened a kiosk as Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg. … Taj Gibson on the 40-point loss in Orlando on Saturday: “Getting beat like that was embarrassing. Even if we had a back-to-back, there are no excuses. Guys need to put forth the effort every game.