Boylen plots strategy for busy January
The next few weeks figure to determine whether the Bulls can stay in contention for eighth place in the East.
During January, they'll play 17 games in 30 days, starting Jan. 2 at home against Utah. For three straight weeks, the Bulls will have games on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Coach Jim Boylen said Friday that he's been working on the best approach to keeping the players fresh during this busy stretch.
"I've been studying it. Do you take the 31st off when you have two games in between?" Boylen said. "Do we get creative with our shootarounds and meet at the arena more? Our off days on the road, do we take them off?
"There's a lot that goes into it. And it's important to me to manage this team appropriately. We want to run, we have a very active defense, so those things can drain you. Is there a situation where we use our timeouts more strategically? Is there a situation where we play more guys? It's part of this process but 17 games in a month is tough, it's tough."
In addition to the hectic schedule, the opponents also get tough this month. The Bulls will see Boston and Philadelphia for the first time this season, return to Milwaukee for a second time, and see Western Conference contenders Utah and Dallas.
"Obviously, we've got some good teams coming up, but we'll take them one at a time and we'll prepare for them like we do anybody else," Boylen said. "I don't go into a game saying, 'Well, this team is better than us,' or 'This team's not.' We want to play our basketball, play good basketball, prepare for the things we can control and keep growing."
Sato settles in:
Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky was asked for his thoughts Friday on why the team has played better this month.
"I think we just know our tendencies better," he said. "We're used to playing with each other. I can speak for myself, being with this lineup for a little bit more that I know guys' tendencies. I think we are running our plays a little better with a better pace, with better details.
"I think defensively, we're just real solid, especially in December, our pick-and-roll defense has been great. We still need to work on our transition defense. Defensive rebounding, I think that's where we're struggling most, but I think we're just progressing to answer your first question."
Satoransky has been rolling recently, averaging 17.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in the past three games, while shooting 62% from the field.
Injury report:
Lauri Markkanen missed Friday's practice due to a stomach virus. Cristiano Felicio was out for the second straight day with an illness. There's still no timetable to Chandler Hutchison's return from a shoulder injury, though he continued to do some noncontact work.