Good Bulls news

here was plenty of good news surrounding Bulls guard Derrick Rose on Monday.

Most important, he participated in a full practice at the Phoenix Suns' facility and reported no problems with the sore left foot that kept him on the bench for the last 6:42 of Saturday's victory over the Suns.

Granted, the opponents were nothing special. The Clippers are short-handed, the Kings are awful and the Suns have won just three of their last 10 games. All 3 victories were decisive, though, and it's obvious the Bulls are playing far better.

Three weeks ago, this team was reeling. The low point probably came when the Bulls botched 3 fast-break layins by refusing the share the ball and ended up losing in overtime to Oklahoma City.

The return of Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng from injury is probably the biggest reason for the improved play, but it's also clear that Del Negro and the coaching staff are getting through to these players.

The coaches didn't click right away and that might be understandable. Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff had volumes of experience on their resumes, but Harris was used to working with a championship contender in Dallas. His intricate offense was no match for a rookie point guard and big men who were already struggling to pass NBA 101.

Bickerstaff hadn't been an assistant in more than 20 years and no one could be certain what Del Negro needed to know in order to do his job well.

mild sauce wrote:3 wins are 3 wins, no matter how you look at it.