Hinrich says having game snowed out was ‘weird’
If nothing else, the Bulls should be well-rested when they take the floor against Washington on Saturday.
Their game at Indiana was snowed out Wednesday, the first time a Bulls game has been canceled due to weather since 1986. A new date has yet to be set.
The Bulls were conducting a walk-through at the team hotel when the news broke.
“It was weird. We were ready to get the big pregame speech, start walking through,” Kirk Hinrich said. “Then about halfway through the walk-through, somebody whispered, ‘The game’s postponed.’
“It was definitely weird. It’s never happened. I was kind of surprised.”
About three hours later, the Bulls were able to leave the hotel and fly home. The natural question is if the weather was good enough for the Bulls to fly out of Indianapolis, why couldn’t they play the game? The NBA said it was out of concern for the local fans headed to the arena.
“It’s very unusual to have a game postponed, but the league does a great job with that, so they didn’t want to jeopardize anyone’s safety,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So they made the right decision, I think.”
Slump stays intact:A snowstorm couldn#146;t bury the fact that the Bulls are in the midst of a bad stretch #151; consecutive losses by double-digit points for the first time in coach Tom Thibodeau#146;s three seasons on the job.Both defeats were even worse than the final score indicated. They trailed Atlanta by 26 points and Houston by 35 in the third quarter.#147;Obviously, we#146;re upset,#148; Kirk Hinrich said. #147;Any time you give an effort like that, that type of performance, you#146;re disappointed. Having the (Indiana) game postponed, we have to kind of keep that taste in our mouth for a couple extra days. Give the teams that beat us credit, but it#146;s things that can be corrected, defense and rebounding, doing a better job of playing with some pace on offense.#148;Thibodeau wants the Bulls to keep looking ahead, not rehashing a couple of poor performances.#147;The big thing is not to look at the group of games, just get ready for Washington, to concentrate on our improvement,#148; he said. #147;We#146;ve had a couple bad games and we have to bounce back. We have to understand what it takes to win and if we#146;re doing the right things, the results will take care of themselves.#148;Deng#146;s ankle a problem:Luol Deng sat out most of Friday#146;s practice, the result of a sprained ankle he suffered during Tuesday#146;s loss to Houston. He#146;ll be a game-time decision on Saturday. #133; The Bulls#146; next two games are at home against the team with the league#146;s worst record, Washington (3-23), and Charlotte (7-22), which has lost 17 straight.