Dec. 28--After back-to-back better efforts on the road, the Bulls return home Monday for three straight home games starting with a physical Raptors team.
The Bulls allowed 16 offensive rebounds and 30 second-chance points in Saturday's loss to the Mavericks. That continued their odd rebounding numbers. The Bulls lead the NBA in both overall rebounds, which is good, and offensive rebounds allowed, which obviously is bad.
And while the Raptors aren't a dominant offensive rebounding team, they do play a physical style that has given the Bulls problems this season.
"I've been really impressed with watching this team," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "They bring it every night. They're extremely physical. That was one thing I felt was the difference in the game in Dallas. We didn't rebound the ball. They had nine offensive rebounds in the third quarter and scored 30 on second-chance points. That's just way too many.
"This (Raptors) team is very physical and provides a big challenge for us on the glass. (DeMar) DeRozan is playing at an All-Star level. (Kyle) Lowry is having a tremendous year. Their role players are playing great. (Terrence) Ross is shooting the heck out of the ball -- 21 3-pointers in his last five games. So we're going to have to bring it. I know they will."
The Bulls have dropped two straight home games and haven't fully taken advantage of a soft schedule stretch that featured just four road games all month.
Hoiberg is hopeful the aggression with which Derrick Rose played on the two-game trip continues.
"He did a great job getting us into early offense. He was attacking, getting into the paint," Hoiberg said. "And good things happen when he gets that ball into the paint, whether it's for him scoring or whether we can kick it out to our shooters. It started with him. You can tell he's getting his legs where he wants them. Hopefully that's the Derrick Rose we'll see from here on out. We're a pretty good team when we can attack with that type of pace."
