Blogs.Bulls.com

By Adam Fluck

For Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas, hearing his name amid trade rumors is nothing new. So he wasn’t surprised—or bothered—when his name was circulated this past week by Yahoo! Sports in a scenario that would send him and Jerome James to New York for Knicks forward Al Harrington.

“This is my fourth year here and this is my fourth time going through this,” Thomas said on Saturday. “I don’t even pay attention to it. Whatever happens is out of my control. Right now I’m a Chicago Bull. Like I said, I was supposedly going to be traded the last four years and it hasn’t happened. So I’m not worried about it.”

As for what Thomas can control, that’s rehabbing his broken left forearm, an injury he suffered during a weightlifting session on Nov. 6. 

“The arm feels great,” he said after working out and shooting prior to Saturday’s game. “It makes it a lot easier that it’s not my shooting arm because I can still shoot.”

The original diagnosis had Thomas on the sidelines for four to six weeks. Thomas said he will go back to the doctor this coming week to get a better idea of where things stand. Until then, he said he’s unable to target a specific date or game for which he hopes to return.

In the meantime, he’s keeping close tabs on his team—as he calls it, getting a “fan’s perspective.”

“It bothers me not to be on the floor, especially since we haven’t been playing well,” said Thomas. “Sometimes I beat myself up a little bit when I’m at home watching and wishing I could be there to help. But in due time, I’ll be back out there.”

Joakim and LeBron, the day after…

Even though there was still plenty of buzz about the exchange between LeBron James and Joakim Noah late in Friday’s Bulls loss in Cleveland, Noah didn’t seem too consumed about it on Saturday. His pregame focus was more on the Florida-Alabama SEC Championship game, which his No. 1 ranked Gators lost 32-13.

When Assistant Coach Pete Myers walked through the locker room and shouted “Roll Tide” in his direction, it was not appreciated by Noah, who quickly pointed out Myers went to Arkansas-Little Rock, not Alabama. Myers was born in Alabama, though—Mobile—and said that the book of Bear Bryant was like the Bible growing up in his house.

As for the dispute with LeBron, Noah has not been in touch with him since. During his pregame comments with reporters, Head Coach Vinny Del Negro said he had no problem with Noah’s actions and supported his passion.

“I was happy for Joakim, and thought it was the right thing,” said Del Negro. “Everyone was feeling the same thing, I think. We have to play better and not put ourselves in that situation.”

Del Negro was asked if he ever took such a stand against a lack of good sportsmanship.

“There are emotions involved and things are going to happen,” he said. “You’ve got to try and control that a little bit and put the focus on what you can control in terms of your contribution on the court. Sometimes guys get out of hand a little bit and that’s what you have to be careful with.  You don’t want anybody to get hurt, but you have to stand up and fight and be aggressive and do the right thing.”

Audio—Bulls Head Coach Vinny Del Negro discusses Kirk Hinrich’s thumb injury, Joakim Noah’s exchange of words with LeBron James, and Raptors forward Chris Bosh (12.05.09):