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Chicago Bulls Preseason Game No. 5: Pregame Notes vs. Detroit

By Michael Whitlow

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The NBA’s regular season begins in just 13 days. (Get excited!) The Chicago Bulls hit the the halfway mark of preseason on Monday night at home, and will now host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Here are some pregames notes and thoughts before tip-off.

For the Chicago Bulls during this preseason, it’s been a tale of ups and downs. The Bulls have rained down threes from everywhere on the floor during their first four games of preseason, but have had a hard time stopping teams.

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On Wednesday night, the Bulls host the Detroit Pistons; their long-time division rivals to the northeast of the Windy City. During the four meetings last season, the Bulls and Pistons split the four regular season match-ups, winning both games in Chicago.

Before the ball is tipped on Wednesday, here are some pregame notes, including an update on Derrick Rose‘s health status as the regular season opener approaches.

Fred Hoiberg wants to go big on Wednesday night

The experiment didn’t work last year for the Bulls with Nikola Mirotic at the small forward position, and the struggles with Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah on the floor together were well-documented in the chaotic 2014-15 season for the Bulls.

With no update on Tony Snell — who rolled his ankle late on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans — and Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg wanting to mix things up and try different things this preseason, Wednesday will be another experiment for the Bulls.

Also, Taj Gibson will make his preseason debut after having offseason ankle surgery. Kirk Hinrich will sit with a minor foot issue, per Hoiberg.

Brace yourselves, #MaskedRose is coming

Also related to the Derrick Rose situation:

"The opening night projection for a Derrick Rose return is a bit murky at this point, as the Bulls are taking a cautious approach to his recovery with Fred Hoiberg essentially ruling him out for the rest of the preseason.“Most likely (out for the preseason),” Hoiberg said.Rose was at the Advocate Center, preparing to be fitted for a mask and even took a couple free throws, according to Hoiberg, but the Bulls aren’t rushing him back after he underwent orbital bone surgery Sept 30.In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rose sit out the first handful of games, as the Bulls start the season with a three-game in four-night stretch starting Oct. 27 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is in two weeks.(Vincent Goodwill, CSNChicago.com)"

Will Derrick Rose play on Opening Night against Cleveland? It appears that there’s a good chance that it doesn’t happen. The opener is 13 days from now and Rose has yet to be cleared for contact since the facial surgery back in late September.

The key for the Bulls to develop a gameplan and chemistry heading into the regular season without Rose, and then work him back into the rotation when he’s fully healthy and ready to go this year.

The opposition

There’s three things you should keep your eye on when it comes the Detroit Pistons:

  1. Get to know the name Stanley Johnson; the eighth overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft.
  2. Former San Antonio Spurs center Aron Baynes is expected to make his debut on Wednesday night against the Bulls.
  3. Per the Detroit Bad Boys — the SB Nation blog of the Detroit Pistons — they expect Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy to run out a lineup of Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, former Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova and Andre Drummond.

Next: Derrick Rose to 'most likely' miss the entire preseason after facial surgery

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