CHICAGO -- The run of relative good health has continued for the Chicago Bulls, despite coach Tom Thibodeau’s intense preseason regimen.
The latest scare came in practice Saturday when forward Nikola Mirotic took a finger to the eye, but he participated in shootaround Sunday and is expected to play his full complement of minutes in Sunday night's matchup with the Charlotte Hornets.
Forward Mike Dunleavy twice has been slowed by a sore knee and did not play Thursday, but Thibodeau did not list the veteran among the ailing Sunday morning. Even Joakim Noah said he is rounding into form after being slowed early in training camp.
“Yeah, I feel a lot better than I did two weeks ago,” Noah said. “It’s a work in progress, but overall I’m very happy. I have no swelling in my knee and I can keep building.”
Thibodeau already has taken away a planned off-day for the team this preseason and put his squad through a two-hour practice that afternoon instead. And while extra practice time gets his team closer to where he wants it to be, a heavy workload at this time of the year can also expose the roster to injury.
Instead, the Bulls have ended up with the best of both worlds: good health and extra court time in order to mesh four newcomers -- Aaron Brooks, Pau Gasol, Doug McDermott and Mirotic -- into the mix with returning players.
The rookie McDermott started in Thursday’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks, but Thibodeau has not named the Creighton product as one of the five that will take the court when the season begins Oct. 29 at New York.
“There are still (things to be determined), because you haven’t seen guys play together for an extended period of time,” Thibodeau said after shootaround Sunday morning. “But yeah, the guys who have been here before, you have an idea of what they can do together because they have been here, but there are a lot of new guys.
“You have the two rookies, you have Aaron, you have Pau. That’s a lot. We have to be ready. When that first game comes, everyone’s game has to be sharp. You have to be on top of it. There are no shortcuts in preparation. There are not. I have never seen that before. The work has to be done.”