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Bulls coach Thibodeau making no promises about Fredette

While shooting around after Wednesday's practice, Jimmer Fredette made 19 of 20 3-point attempts from the left wing. The night before against San Antonio, he had his longest run since joining the Bulls and scored 5 points in eight minutes.

There have been plenty of times this season when the Bulls could have used an offensive jolt. So once Fredette gets comfortable with the plays and defensive schemes, is there a chance he'll play more? Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is making no promises.

"The one thing we really like is the way he can shoot," he said. "He's got a skill he can do as well as anyone in the league. We love his approach, his attitude. He's been terrific.

"You never know. It can change tomorrow. We're certainly not afraid to put him in the game. But we have Kirk (Hinrich) and D.J. (Augustin) playing ahead of him right now and they've played well. So you have to go on performance. If there's foul trouble or an injury, he'll get a chance."

Carmelo talks Phil:

New York's Carmelo Anthony talked a little Wednesday about his upcoming free-agency and the pending arrival of Phil Jackson to run the Knicks' basketball operations.

"I don't think it'll have any effect on me, just as far as what I'm thinking or my decision or anything like that," Anthony said, according to espn.com. "Like I said, I haven't talked to Phil yet, just to get his insight on a lot of things - what's his plan, what's his future plan - because everything's in his hands now."

Spurs didn't forget:

While wiping the floor with the Bulls on Tuesday, San Antonio certainly appeared ready to make another championship run. Before the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had an interesting take on how much last year's near-miss against Miami is on the players' minds.

"I'm sure it's there," Popovich said. "It would be foolish to say we don't even think about it. It's just another loss - it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to say that. It was a devastating loss. When you feel like there's a championship in your hand and you let it go, that's pretty tough.

"We dealt with it from Day One - showed film, showed the things we could have done throughout (the series). We knew we had a great year. I think if people are competitive and have the character, they just come back and try again. That's really what we're doing."

Bulls horns:

Former Bulls center Omer Asik is playing again for Houston after missing 33 games due to injury. "Omer, he's a starter that's coming off the bench," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You're not going to get much better than those two, you look at (Dwight) Howard and Omer, you have two great defensive centers. You have that type of length, it can cover up for a lot of things." … Be aware that Thursday's game against the Rockets is a 6 p.m. start for national TV.

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