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We know Vinny Del Negro is no huge fan of the end of his bench, but he may have to do some introductions when the Bulls play the San Antonio Spurs Monday.

Hello, Aaron Gray, Jannero Pargo, you down there?

It seems doubtful Joakim Noah, suffering with plantar fasciitis, will play. Plus, Derrick Rose left Monday’s shootaround early because of flu symptoms that cost John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich a game each last week, and Brad Miller was having some knee issues from having banged up against Luis Scola in Saturday’s win over the Houston Rockets.

Of course, it’s difficult to tell given Miller’s lack of speed whether he’s suffering from some knee problems, anyway.

“We’ll just go with what we can go with,” said Del Negro. “Our body count’s a little low in terms of that but we’ll see. It’s part of the deal.”

Noah, though saying his foot problems seems no better, nevertheless, said he’d test it before the game and hoped to play. I’d be surprised if he did, and at this point you’d think the team would step in and sit him down for a bit given that the condition hasn’t eased much after therapy and a specialty massage arranged by the team Sunday for Noah and Taj Gibson, the latter also with the foot irritation.

Though I didn’t see Rose because he left for the bus before media was allowed in, I’d guess he’d try to play since he did go to shootaround. Del Negro said he expects Rose to play and labeled Noah 50-50.

An aside here: I’ve long thought this shootaround thing is a waste of time and outdated, and you see many more teams dropping it now in place of extra sleep. A number of teams, led by the Portland Trailblazers and Boston Celtics, have done sleep deprivation research and determined getting that getting more sleep is more conducive to having additional energy, especially on time zone changing trips.

It has something to do with the body’s circadian rhythms. I’m not sure what that is other than I was told it has nothing to do with music.

Though I rarely run fast breaks or dunk, I know when I am not feeling well or worn down nothing works better than sleep. And sleep deprivation is actually a form of torture. Where one time the shootaround made sense because players didn’t exercise or work out much, like the general public, that has changed, and many players even have their own workout and strength advisors and coaches. And you’d especially think with half the team limping around it could not have made that much sense to drag them down to the Spurs arena at a time half of them couldn’t even finish the shootaround. Of course, the Bulls did have all Sunday off, so perhaps that is not the perfect example.

OK, that’s my rant for the day, though that’s probably because I got up early and went, also, so I was a bit cranky.

“I’m just not moving right,” said Noah. “It’s frustrating. I’ve had it for a while. It just got worse. Coach Del Negro had someone come and check out our feet and give us a deep tissue massage. I’m trying to go. I’m limited. I can’t really move the way I want to.

“I’m going to try everyday (to play) until it gets better,” said Noah. “If I can play I will play. I’m going to take a pill, a shot, do whatever I have to do to play. I took the shot the last game and it didn’t help at all. There’s no point of trying to go when you know you only are hurting your team. We have a lot of depth on our team. Brad will be here and step up if I can’t make it. The goal is definitely to play tonight.

“I want to be out there regardless,” said Noah. “Sitting out games (to rest for later) is not me. I don’t like it. I know as soon as I can get out there and I’m not hurting the team I’ll be out there.”

Said Del Negro: “I want to see how (Noah) feels before the game and decide. I’ve had plantar fasciitis. It’s going to go and come. It’s going to feel better one day. It’s going to tighten up. It’s got to get him a lot of therapy, a lot or rest. That can linger and it’s difficult to get rid of during the season. Hopefully, the therapy will work. Taj has it, too. Everyone’s a little different with that. Some is more severe than others, depending on where it is on the foot. They (medical staff) says it’s up to him what he can take. That’s what plantar fasciitis is. But if he’s out there limping it doesn’t make a lot of sense (to play). We’ll play it by ear and see if he feels better. He went up and down (in shootaround). He looked a little better, but you could tell it was bothering him.”

Assuming Noah doesn’t play, the Bulls likely will play Brad Miller on Tim Duncan and Gibson on fellow rookie DuJuan Blair, who has been starting. If Rose cannot play, John Salmons likely shifts to backcourt with Kirk Hinrich at point guard. And, uh oh, hello Lindsey Hunter.