Point guard Derrick Rose is so disgusted with his play, he could pull his hair out. Check that. He apparently will take the opposite approach. ''I probably won't get a haircut,'' he said Wednesday after practice at USC's Galen Center. ''I might get a lineup, but I'm not touching my hair until I get back on track. I'm just trying to change something; there has to be something that I'm doing wrong.'' Roughly 15 hours after another subpar effort -- 10 points on 2-for-12 shooting -- in the Bulls' 101-87 victory at Sacramento on Tuesday, Rose was still obviously upset.
Through 10 games, he's averaging 13.4 points and 5.5 assists with a field-goal percentage of .438. Rose was expected to step up his offensive game this season, but those numbers are significantly lower than the 16.8 points, 6.3 assists and .475 field-goal percentage he compiled as a rookie.
''We're winning right now, so I don't care anything about my game,'' he said. ''But if we weren't winning -- I'm playing terrible. I'm not going to the hole the way I used to. It seems like, to me, I'm not that aggressive.
''But it's gonna change [tonight]. I know that I'm gonna have to be aggressive from now on.''
The Bulls certainly will need him to be at his best to beat the Los Angeles Lakers tonight at the Staples Center, but coach Vinny Del Negro isn't making too much of Rose's struggles.
''I just think he has to gain a little confidence in his ankle,'' Del Negro said. ''He doesn't have that explosion that he had, and he's trying to get that back with his conditioning. I think he's a little tentative right now, but the thing is you just have to keep playing, keep on playing through it, have good practices and transfer it to the games.
''Derrick's gonna be fine.''
Rose concedes the right ankle injury that caused him to miss most of the preseason is a contributing factor but isn't ready to say it's the only factor.
''The injury had something to do with it, but I just have to fight through it,'' he said. ''We're winning, so I'm not complaining. But I'm not playing like my regular self.''
Against the Kings, Rose mostly settled for jump shots and drove to the basket only on a couple of occasions. Someone asked him Wednesday when he last played that passively.
''I don't remember the first,'' he said. ''This is the first time I feel like I'm not being aggressive.''
TONIGHT
Bulls AT Lakers
The facts: 9:30, TNT, 1000-AM.
The story line: The Bulls look to win their second straight on the circus trip, but it won't be easy. After sitting the first 11 games, Lakers center/forward Pau Gasol (hamstring) is expected to return tonight.
John Jackson
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