--The Bulls were full of fond memories of former teammate Ben Gordon, who visited the United Center as an opposing player for the first time on Wednesday. Gordon, the No. 3 pick of the 2004 draft, led the Bulls in scoring the past four seasons before jumping to Detroit as a free agent last summer. "Ben was probably the best scorer I ever played with," G Derrick Rose said. "For him to be in another jersey kind of hurts. But it's the NBA, you're not going to play with the same people every year." Added center Joakim Noah, "I think he deserves all the respect in the world. He's one of the best scorers that ever wore the jersey. We wouldn't have been in the position we were in last year if it wasn't for that guy hitting big shot after big shot. He's just an unbelievable talent."
--Post defense was a problem for the Bulls during the 1-5 circus road trip, which featured big games from the Lakers' Pau Gasol, Portland's Greg Oden, Utah's Carlos Boozer and finally Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut. After the loss to the Bucks, C Joakim Noah blamed himself for Bogut's 22 points and 15 rebounds.
"I have to do a better job of guarding my player," Noah said after the game. "I feel like the bigs are getting their way offensively against us. My post defense is suspect right now."
Coach Vinny Del Negro didn't quite agree, arguing that the Bulls need to give Noah more help near the basket.
"I think he's done a tremendous job overall," he said. "I thought he got worn down a little bit on the West Coast trip. Other guys have to help him out. It's a team defense, it's not one-on-one."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Honestly, I didn't like it. I thought when (Ben Gordon) was here, he played hard and he really committed to the game. I know he's not here (anymore), but there's a lot more to it. When he came in, I thought they were going to cheer for him. I was a little disappointed about that." -- F Luol Deng, on the negative reception given former teammate Ben Gordon on Wednesday at the United Center.
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