Bulls address slow starts by making Valentine a starter
The Bulls devised a two-pronged plan for avoiding another slow start on Friday against Charlotte.
For starters, they added Denzel Valentine to the starting lineup. He joined Jerian Grant, Justin Holiday, Lauri Markkanen and Robin Lopez. Heading into Friday, Valentine was averaging 10.1 points and shooting 38 percent from the field.
"Just get another playmaker out there; another guy that can knock down a shot, get as much scoring as possible to get off to a better start," coach Fred Hoiberg said before the game. "(He's) good in his role coming off the bench. We need him out there right away to get off to a better start."
The Bulls did get off to a decent start Friday against Charlotte. Midway through the first quarter, they had hit 7 of 12 shots and led 17-15. They trailed 27-26 at the end of one as Valentine scored 5 points.
In the previous two games, the Bulls fell behind Oklahoma City 27-7 and San Antonio 37-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Another method Hoiberg tried was holding the morning shootaround at the United Center, instead of the Advocate Center practice facility. The most recent slow starts came on the road, so shootaround location wasn't necessarily a symptom.
"We're just not playing with a lot of confidence right now," Hoiberg said. "This game, it's a funny thing. You're out there playing with confidence, it's an easy thing. When you're out there and lacking confidence it's a tough, tough game to play. We need to go out there and hopefully get off to a good start to breed some confidence."
Setback for Rose:
Former Bulls guard Derrick Rose is struggling again with injury issues. Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said Rose would be out at least two more weeks with an ankle injury and would wear a boot to immobilize the left ankle.
Rose suffered a sprained ankle on Oct. 20 and returned about a week later, but never fully recovered and now hasn't played since Nov. 7. Rose is averaging 14.3 points and 1.7 assists in seven games for the Cavaliers, who visit the United Center on Dec. 4.
"It's been the same for the last week and a half or something like that," Rose said in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. "Hopefully this boot takes some of the pressure off, so that I could have some progress."
Nwaba ready for return:
Bulls guard David Nwaba, out with a sprained right ankle, participated in Friday's shootaround and is expected to join practice on Saturday. Nwaba said if all goes well, he should be ready to play Sunday when the Bulls' West Coast road trip begins in Phoenix. Nwaba started three straight games before turning his ankle against New Orleans on Nov. 4.
"David's a guy we miss," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We miss his energy, his live body."
Bulls horns:
Coach Fred Hoiberg was asked if he envied the Houston Rockets scoring 90 points in the first half at Phoenix on Thursday. "I did. Crazy. I'd pay to get 90 in a game," he said. … Former Bulls guard Shannon Brown, who turns 32 in less than two weeks, is on the Wisconsin Herd roster and played against the Windy City Bulls on Friday in Milwaukee.