Jan. 08--Fred Hoiberg further revealed plans for his rotation when Joakim Noah returns from his shoulder injury, which is on track for some point next week when the Bulls play their only stretch of four games in five nights.
Hoiberg previously disclosed rookie Bobby Portis' strong play warrants continued minutes. On Thursday, the Bulls coach said Nikola Mirotic would remain starting at small forward.
"That will open up minutes for Jo," Hoiberg said. "We'll go back to playing four bigs again and work our way through the game depending on different matchups and whether we need an offensive or defensive group out there.
"But (Portis) is too important for us right now to go back to the way it was."
That's an allusion to before Portis got his chance. The four bigs Hoiberg referred to obviously are Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson as starters and now Noah and Portis playing together as reserves. Noah, who "most likely" won't travel to Atlanta on Saturday, may take his first contact since the injury in half-court work Friday.
"Jo with his role as a playmaker with that second group, being our second leading assist player, you can run things through Jo," Hoiberg said. "Bobby is versatile enough that he can score from the outside if Jo gets by his man, even in dribble-handoff type actions."
Mirotic's move to small forward has squeezed Doug McDermott's minutes. But the rotation has been fluid all season and will continue to be for awhile. Hoiberg cited how Aaron Brooks helped win the home game against the Raptors and E'Twaun Moore played well in the home victory over the Knicks and the road victory against the Raptors and then neither played versus the Bucks because of matchups.
"We have a lot of guys who can play," Hoiberg said. "I knew it'd be tough."
Tough day: Assistant coach Jay Larranaga coached the Celtics after Brad Stevens traveled to Indiana to visit a former Butler University player of his, the team announced. Multiple outlets reported Stevens is visiting Andrew Smith, who played for Stevens from 2009-13 and is battling cancer.
Hoiberg, whose relationship with Stevens dates to their shared college coaching days, talked about the bond that begins with recruiting.
"It's not just the four years they're at school with you. It lasts a lifetime," Hoiberg said. "They become family members."
Layups: The contracts of Cameron Bairstow and Cristiano Felicio will become fully guaranteed Jan. 10 since Thursday's deadline for players to be waived and clear waivers passed with no action. ... Jimmy Butler moved to fifth in backcourt voting in latest All-Star returns, just more than 50,000 votes behind second-place (and a starting berth) Kyrie Irving. Derrick Rose is seventh. Pau Gasol is fifth in frontcourt voting.
