The wife was able to procure tickets to Bulls’ 9th Annual Autograph Session and Open Practice on Sunday (the Jumbotron told me so ——>). The first thing that came to mind was the crazy things I could ask the players to sign: Joakim Noah (Sideshow Bob memorabilia),  Lindsey Hunter (AARP card), or Aaron Gray (I’d actually offer to sign his cast.)

We took a spin around the 100 level, seeing some lengthy lines, predictably so, for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and laughing at rookie James Johnson, who unintentionally ruined nearly every photograph of himself by donning a pair of inflatable balloon bull horns that obscured half of his face.

After this we decided to head down to court side to see overweight men in hoodies shoot airballs from 3-point land. Well that’s not what we headed down for, but that’s what we found. Luckily before heading up to the 200 and 300 levels to see some of the other players, two gentleman sauntered over and convened at the scorer’s table.

Steve Schanwald, Executive VP of Business Operations, was the lucky charm that secured the #1 pick in last year’s NBA Draft Lottery drawing. That pick wound up being Derrick Rose.

The man dressed in black is the bad luck charm presently stunting the Bulls’ development. I find it no coincidence that the three people dressed all in black for the practice were Vinny Del Negro, Aaron Gray (stress fracture out 6-8 weeks) and Jerome James (bad luck to any team’s salary cap).

Speaking of Jerome James, they actually gave him a table up in the 300 level, just down the hall from a table split by Chris Richard and Derrick Byars. I didn’t know whether to be proud that there were only 7 people in line for James’ signature and picture, or disappointed that 7 people actually stood in line for his signature. I guess the best way to look at it was that James only had 7 more people in line than the two unsigned camp invitees.

At least the two invitees dressed and practiced as two of the ten players that actually practiced. James must have pulled something while signing all of those signatures and sat out the practice. Actually, James sat on the scorer’s table and even that must have been too exhausting for him as he retreated to the locker room after about 10 minutes of watching his teammates jogging. But enough with the jokes.

The Bulls’ practice was tough to gauge because you had to wonder whether the practice was really just an exhibition run-through practice or if this is how the Bulls truly practice. Most everything was done at a snails pace, and no one really seemed to break a sweat. According to KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, Derrick Rose, Lindsey Hunter and John Salmons did not practice. This is only telling half the story. Salmons was indeed not in the building as his wife just gave birth to a baby girl over the weekend. That news was received with a warm round of applause. Lindsey Hunter appeared to be maneuvering for Pete Myers job as he was on the court but did not participate in any warmups or drills. Can he be listed as player/coach?

That leaves us with Derrick Rose. Unlike Johnson’s reports that he missed another practice, Rose was on the court and attempted to go through the initial warmup jogs up and down the length of the court. It was obvious he was still hampered by the injury that has plagued him this preseason, hesitant to lift his knees or sprint for fear of putting too much stress on his ankle. When Rose did play a few sessions of 3 on 1, 2 on 1 drills, he soon pulled himself out of the drill.

Del Negro, who was mic’d for the practice, was overheard to say something along the lines of “Oh he said that? Well I guess we’re down to ten.” To which he then directed Derrick Byars to stay on the court to play on both the black and white teams as they were down to only three guards.  As a result the ten individuals who did manage to practice were, as Vinny called them: Kirk, JP, Lou, Jo, and Tyrus (black team, starters); and Taj, James, Brad, Chris and Derrick (Byars) (the reserves).

What we observed on Sunday could explain Vinny’s reversal from his stance that Rose missing opening night was not a possibility, to Monday’s revelation that he could miss the opener due to his ankle injury.

What does this all mean? Well Bulls fans should not get up in arms over predictions of finishing at or near .500. Rose will not be rushed back. Tyrus will need to show he can stay healthy upon his return. Taj Gibson looks to have adapted quickly to the PF position where the Bulls do not ask him to react as much as his fellow rookie James Johnson who was running plays as Luol’s backup. There were numerous times where VDN would stop plays to instruct Johnson where he needed to be or what reads he needed to make. It certainly won’t help his development if he’s being asked to also fill in at the point and shooting guard positions in the early going. The Bulls should learn from the Bears’ mistakes in their handling of Earl Bennett. Give the rookie one position and let him learn it.

Regardless, the Bulls have another year under their belt and that extra experience should keep them in most games they play, even without some starters in the lineup. Barring some horrific start, once injuries heal and players find their places, these Bulls look like they’ll be fun to watch night in, night out.

Related Posts:

• Bulls Recap from Last Night (1)
• Derrick Rose Talks About Vinny, The Loss of Ben Gordon, And The Chicago Bulls (2)
• The Re-Agressivization of Derrick Rose [And Why Vinny Might Be to Blame] (0)
• Derrick Rose May Be Sitting Opening Night (5)
• Defense is X-Factor to Upcoming Bulls Season (4)
• Bulls Tie Up Series: Experiencing 100 Different Emotions on One Sunday Afternoon (6)
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Tags: Derrick Rose, Jerome James, Steve Schanwald, Vinny Del Negro