Bulls 94, Timberwolves 90: Welcome back, Tyrus

Tyrus Thomas played in his first preseason game since the opener, and while it wasn't as welcome of a sight as seeing Derrick Rose back would be, it was darned close.

Tyrus came off the bench and immediately made an impact, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 25 minutes, ironically on the same day reports came out with Tyrus saying he could be a '20 and 10' player this year. Oh, how we laughed. And rightfully so, to the point where a subsequent report came out saying Thomas never said he'd average 20 points to keep us from laughing. He's not going to average that, but he looked very good and played the type of game he can always bring.

I actually don't think he made a jump shot in the entire game. It was all offensive rebounds, dives to the basket, trolling the baseline, a backdoor cut or two...with the TWolves too slow to react, leaving the option of covering their head as Thomas dunked (or fouling him).

And I don't mean in the sense that he can't do more and should stick to only this type of play. But that this should be merely the floor of what he can do in terms of running and rebounding. He has such unique gifts at that position, being able to get a steal and lead a fast break on one possession, deliver a perfect inbounds pass in another, another including a great catch on a pass that was behind him as he drove...add the jumper and the face-up drives (a post up game, even?), and then he'll have that breakout season at last. 

Then unfortunately he limped a bit as he came out of the game for the last time. Hopefully it's nothing, because I don't want any Tyrus tease this season be because of a lack of minutes.

Nobody else really distinguished themselves in the game. We already know by now that Taj Gibson will play hard, but we've also found out that aggression means a lot of fouling. Hinrich shot terribly and Deng barely shot at all, and as a team the Bulls were only 2-8 from three.

And I think we're all sick of seeing Jannero Pargo by now, but with Rose and Salmons out, Pargo had to play a lot, as throwing Lindsey Hunter out there is senior abuse at this point. So while I get that he has to play, does the end of every quarter have to be an isolation for him? It's preseason, we already know how that play works, Pargo will wiggle free and likely fire up a miss (they did try using Hinrich in the 2nd Q, resulting in a turnover). Maybe use Deng for one, or even...Thomas?