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Joakim Noah didn't even know what the procedure was called.

He wasn't sure exactly what the Bulls medical staff had done to him.

All he knew was that somebody had taken some blood out of his arm and put it into his foot and now he was wearing a black boot around his left leg.

As the Sun-Times pointed out, the procedure that Noah endured last Friday morning is actually called platelet-rich plasma therapy, or PRP, and is being used by athletes more and more over the last few years.

Having said that, there are still plenty of people within the medical field who have never even heard of the therapy, including Chicago-based physical therapist David Reavy. Reavy, who has spent several years putting NBA players' bodies back together as part of renowned trainer Tim Grover's ATTACK Athletics team wasn't familiar with the process when we discussed it during a Tuesday morning phone conversation.

However, he was well-versed when it came to discussing plantar fasciitis. He said that it's the most common injury basketball players deal with on a yearly basis, alongside knee problems.

But why has plantar fasciitis reared its ugly head this season with such prevalence, affecting Noah, Bulls rookie Taj Gibson and so many other players in the NBA?

"They're on the balls of their feet all the time, so they're always using that muscle," Reavy said. "Once they overuse that muscle, scar tissue forms. Adhesions form. Once you can't get that adhesion up then you start developing pain. You develop tightness before pain, so their feet are probably feeling stiff in the morning when they get out of bed."

That's for sure. Both Noah and Gibson have mentioned how difficult it has been for them to get up and walk in the morning. Over the past few weeks, Noah has appeared to be in tremendous pain walking to the bus after games.

"In the medical world, it's very hard to treat," Reavy said. "It's a very lingering issue."

Like any good therapist, Reavy is confident in his abilities. He believes he would only need a few sessions with Noah and Gibson to get back on track.

"Before I even look at the foot, I would address the pelvis first," he said. "I would find out if they have other issues -- back pain, knee pain, hip pain -- [and] address those issues first because those are bigger muscles. And then look at the foot."

Reavy figures that if Noah and Gibson could get the rest of their body aligned correctly, the plantar fasciitis would be much easier to treat.

"Your body is connected and intertwined with fascia," he explained. "If fascia is tight somewhere it's going to pull on another portion. The way I explain it to patients is that you have one string. Your whole body is one string. When you pull on one end, it's going to pull the opposite end."

The Bulls are just hoping that the new-age treatment they've chosen for Noah will get him back on the court quickly. The young center makes up one important string of the Bulls season that they can't afford to have break.

Tyrus Thomas said he had no problem putting his altercation with Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro and the ensuing one-game suspension behind him when he took the floor in the Chicago Bulls' 109-101 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Thomas told reporters after the game that it felt good to get back on the court, adding, “I’m always ready to play.”

The embattled Bulls forward, who has been the subject of many trade rumors this season, came off the bench and played 28 minutes -- the most playing time he’s seen since Jan. 21, when he played 36 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Asked about his extended playing time, Thomas was characteristically curt in his answer to reporters.

“The more you’re out there, the more you can do,” Thomas said.

Thomas hit four of his five shots for nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and notched a block and a steal.

Thomas told the Chicago Tribune before the game that he had "no regrets" about the incident that led to his one-game suspension.

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Vinny Del Negro has lost all confidence in Tyrus Thomas.

The Bulls coach didn't come right out and say that after Monday afternoon's practice, but he might as well have. It's been clear for a while that Thomas has fallen out of favor with the second-year coach and it is obvious that Thomas' frustrations are finally boiling over. As the Tribune first reported, Thomas went on a profanity-laced tirade aimed at Del Negro after Friday's game in Atlanta, which led to his team-imposed one-game suspension on Saturday night.

Monday's practice was the first time Thomas was back on the floor with his teammates since the incident, but it was clear nothing had really changed. "What happened, happened," Del Negro said. "It's over with. Hopefully, Tyrus learns from it and gets better. But, it's not the first thing that's happened with Tyrus. He's got to be smarter and he's got to be committed to the team. Today was a good practice -- not for him, but for everybody and now we've got to move on."

Moving on was the mantra of the day at the Berto Center, but it was clear that Del Negro isn't any closer to suddenly giving Thomas more playing time. The LSU alum, who declined to speak to reporters after practice, has played more than 20 minutes in a game just once over the past week and a half.

Del Negro was asked if he believes that the young forward has gotten the point. It was apparent -- in so many words -- that Del Negro didn't think he had.

"You hope so," Del Negro said. "Everyone handles things differently. Hopefully ... that's been expressed several times. But, different guys take it in different ways. No one guy is bigger than the team, but we got to move on from there. We got a game [Tuesday] night, let's focus in on that. For me, that stuff is in the past. We got to move forward and get ready."

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose told the media that Thomas apologized to all his teammates right after the incident, but his most revealing answer came when he was asked if anyone on the team had tried to talk to Thomas about keeping his emotions in check.

"Everybody," Rose said. "Everybody talked to him. People handle stuff certain ways. It seems like he's on the right path, so we're just going to leave him that way."

Rose may be one of the only people left on the team who believes Thomas is on the right path, because his head coach certainly doesn't seem to agree. It would surprise absolutely no one if the Bulls moved Thomas before the trading deadline, and it was clear in almost every answer Del Negro gave that he is sick of dealing with the former fourth-overall draft choice.

"Tyrus has got to run the court. Play hard. Execute the game plan. Hit open 15-foot jumpers. Be committed to the team. Same thing everyone else does," Del Negro said, while discussing what Thomas needs to do to earn more playing time. "Everyone has a job on this team. Certain guys do different things better than others. Everyone knows their role, knows what they need to do and now they have to go out and do it. And the guys that go out on a consistent basis and are coachable and want to buy into the team and give us the best chance to win -- those are the guys that are going to be out there. It's a very simple process."

It's a process that Thomas has not done well with up to this point in his career. No matter what he does from here on out with the Bulls, it's clear that he will not be able to maximize the potential that the franchise thought it was getting when they drafted him.

When asked later if the lack of defense was the key reason Thomas wasn't seeing the floor, Del Negro rattled off one more not-so-veiled shot at his forward.

"There's not one particular thing [keeping Thomas on the bench]," Del Negro said. "Whether it's running the court or executing the plan or taking the proper shots or being a good teammate, whatever the case is, for Tyrus or anybody else. Tyrus has the ability to change games with his athletic ability. But there has to be some type of consistency that you know what you're going to get from him.”

Aside from the outbursts and the sometimes surly behavior, the biggest reason Thomas' Bulls career could be coming to an end is because he never found that consistency that Del Negro and so many others have been trying to get out of him.

Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng missed practice on Monday because of tendinitis in his right shoulder, but he is expected to play Tuesday night against the Indiana Pacers.

Deng has played in all 49 of the Bulls' games this season a year after missing 33 games and the playoffs because of a leg injury. He is their second-leading scorer, averaging 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in 38.2 minutes.

Well, that didn't last long.

After going on their best stretch of the season by winning five in a row on the road, the Chicago Bulls came back to Earth over the past week losing three of four.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein slid Vinny Del Negro's bunch down three spots to No. 16 in his weekly power rankings. "Although the Bulls miss January even more than Memphis does -- judging by the way their February started -- this team look likes playoff material again as long as [Joakim] Noah's mandated rest pays off after the All-Star break," Stein wrote.

Stein's point about Noah is valid. The success or failure of the rest of the Bulls season depends on whether their young center can bounce back from the plantar fasciitis in his left foot that has bothered him for weeks. If he does, the Bulls still have a chance to make some noise in the playoffs. If he doesn't then the team may not even reach the playoffs.

Check out the rest of Stein's rankings.

The Bulls' biggest cheerleader wasn't a Luv-A-Bull on Saturday night.

It was center Joakim Noah.

The injured center, who sat out his second game in a row because of plantar fasciitis, was hopping up and down off the bench screaming words of encouragement to his teammates. All of this with a big black boot on his left ankle/foot.

After the game, the young big man described a medical procedure that doctors performed on him recently. A procedure in which they took blood out of his arm and injected into his ankle.

"I'm just hoping to recover as soon as possible," he said. "But they told me to stay in this boot as much as possible. I'm going to do the rehab. Try to get back on the court as fast as I can."

Noah admitted that he is having some difficulty sleeping with the large brace that wraps around his left leg.

"It's tough, he said. "It's very tough. But you got to do what you got to do."

Despite all the treatment, Noah still isn't sure when he will be back on the floor.

"It just feels numb," he said. "It just feels real numb right now. They said it's going to start hurting a little bit more [Sunday]. It's just numb right now because they put some numbing cream on it."

He is still targeting a return after the All-Star break.

"I hope so," he said. "That's definitely the goal. I'm going to work hard. Use the bike as much as possible. And try to be as ready as I can for when I come back."

The Chicago Bulls had every excuse to lose Saturday night's game against the Miami Heat.

That's why the fact that they won it shouldn't surprise you very much.

Playing for the fourth time in five nights and without starting center Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis) and forward Tyrus Thomas (suspension) the Bulls pulled it together and held on to knock off the Heat 95-91, snapping a three-game losing streak.

You could tell this win meant a little more to some of players, considering some of the circumstances the team was playing under. "[The win] shows we're out there hustling," Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said. "[Noah and Thomas] are guys we really miss and they affect the game so much with rebounding and blocking shots and scoring, too. For us to pull this one out, it means a lot."

If the Bulls have proven anything this season, especially in the last couple weeks, it's that you never know exactly what to expect when you watch them. Yes, Rose and Luol Deng played well, combining for 49 points, but even recent D-League call-up Chris Richard gave the Bulls 20 solid minutes in Noah's place.

"It was a big win for us," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We will be in a fight with Miami all year. There are several teams bunched together and we were able to take care of business [Saturday night]. We were a little short handed and some guys had to play extra minutes."

One of those guys was Brad Miller. He scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had five steals.

"It definitely shows a lot about our team," Miller said of the win. "With what we got done on the road and then to hit a little bit of a rough spot, it was great to come out and get this win tonight."

"Even though we were down, we kept fighting," Rose said. "They had the lead a couple of times, but we hung in there. We're just trying to play team basketball. In the locker room even before the game, you could tell that we came in focused. I also think Chris Richard came in and helped us tonight.”

It does seem ironic that Richard, Noah's former teammate at Florida, came in and gave the Bulls a lift since he’s only been on the team for two days.

"Everything happens for a reason," Richard said. "I feel like I got a little bit better in this whole thing. I grew as a person and as a basketball player [in the D-League]. Everything happens for a reason. We'll wait and see what outcome comes from this."

There's no telling what Richard will do from here, but you can bet the team is happy to snap this skid before the All-Star break.

Can they keep it up now?

Come on, it's the Bulls -- you already know the answer.

Line of the night: Rose, when asked if he gets his days crossed up with the hectic NBA schedule:

"That always happens. People always laugh at me, all my friends laugh at me because it could be a Saturday and it feels like a Monday. I'll be like, ‘What day is it?’ They'll be like, ‘Man, it's Saturday. We got stuff to do.’ I'm like, ‘Man, I'm going to go home.’ They get mad at me sometimes and say I'm forgetful and stuff like that, but you really don't know what days it is when you don't keep in touch with it."

I've said this numerous times over the past few months, but it's worth reiterating as I watch Dwyane Wade play at the United Center:

I don't think he is coming back to Chicago to play for the Bulls this summer.

There are a litany of reasons, but as Bulls play-by-play man Chuck Swirsky and I discussed on the air before Saturday night's contest, Wade's situation is too good in Miami for him to go and play anywhere else ... including his hometown.

My guess is that the Heat sign a big-time free agent (Chris Bosh springs to mind) and the dream of him playing in Chicago will evaporate quickly in this summer's free agent signing fiasco.

Having said that, obviously a lot can change in the next few months. In the meantime, I was part of a small group of reporters who spoke to Wade on Saturday morning after the Heat's shootaround. While he didn't divulge any of his plans regarding this summer, he did have plenty of nice things to say about the Bulls' newest All-Star, Derrick Rose.

Here are a few of the questions he fielded:

How many times do you think you'll be asked if you're coming to Chicago Saturday night?

Dwyane Wade: I don't know. I'm sure by everybody from Chicago will ask me that, though.

Is it any different preparing for a road game where you know pretty much everybody in attendance is going to cheer you like crazy?

DW: No, they don't cheer me ... maybe in the beginning of the game. They go against me after that. When I go to Milwaukee, they do they same thing. They start [cheering, but] then they go against you afterward. At the end of the day, they go for their home team. In the beginning of the game, they say your name -- it's all good. But after that, [there's] not too many cheers.

Do you think you'll hear a few more tonight though, given what may or may not happen this summer?

DW: I don't know. We'll see.

Your coach [Erik Spoelstra] called Derrick Rose a smaller version of LeBron James.

DW: Derrick is figuring out that ... he's real good. He's really starting to figure out how good he is. The reason [Spoelstra] said it is because from the beginning of the year, he's so fast. He's so athletic. His penetration is some of the best. That's what makes LeBron so good. When he gets the ball in transition he can go 1-on-5 and get to the basket and get to the foul line. And D-Rose is starting to get that same kind of confidence in his one on one ability.

Are you surprised at all that he made the All Star team?

DW: No, not at all. He's phenomenal, man. You [could] see it last year as a rookie. [He was] really having a great year. You could tell that he was going to be one of the great point guards. In this league, once you figure it out, once you figure out what your niche is and how good you can be, it goes a long way.

Are you looking forward to playing with him in the All Star Game?

DW: I am. I'm looking forward to playing with him and [Rajon] Rondo and guys like that. Especially point guards that are going to pass the ball to us veteran guys. [Smiles] No, but I'm always looking forward to seeing guys in their first All-Star [Game]. I'm proud of Derrick, from Chicago, to see another guy from Chicago in the All-Star Game. For me, is great. It will be good times.

Do you plan to give him any pointers about his game?

DW: I don't have to help him out. He's an All-Star. He don't need any help from me. He's doing good. The only thing he's got to continue to do is to continue to stay hungry and get better. As he continues to become a big name in this league, it's going to get tougher on him. Defensive schemes are going to get tougher, but he's got to continue to learn how to be ahead of the game. From what I know from him from how good he got from one year to the next, if he wants to continue to do that, he'll get ahead of the learning curve.

Chicago Bulls veteran guard Lindsey Hunter didn't get into specifics about Tyrus Thomas' one-game suspension, but Hunter, now in his 17th season, spoke in general terms about his teammate.

"As human beings we all get frustrated with everything in life in different situations, but you can't act out in your frustrations," Hunter said before Saturday's game against the Miami Heat. "At some point, you have to grow up and be a man about it, or a woman about it. Life is full of trials and tribulations. If you get frustrated every time you have [a problem] then you're going to live a pretty frustrated life."

Asked whether Thomas still has some growing up to do, Hunter said, "Of, course. We all do. We all have areas in our life we need to grow up in. As long as you realize it and you constantly work on those things, eventually you conquer your own demons. I think that's a battle within [Thomas] has to work on."

Hunter said Thomas, the fourth overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft, still has a chance to become a great player in the NBA.

"He has a really high ceiling," Hunter said. "He has the potential to be as good as he wants to be and it's just a matter of him taking initiative to realize what he is, what he brings to the table, slowing himself down and put his game in a box."

Hunter stopped short of saying the suspension will serve as a wake-up call for Thomas.

"We all struggle with different things," Hunter said. "Maybe it's a different process for him than it is for somebody else. We all do things in our own time and our own way. Maybe this will help him understand that he needs to get beyond some things."

Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas has been suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.

Thomas, who earlier in the season was sidelined seven weeks with a broken left forearm, will miss Saturday's contest against the Miami Heat at the United Center.

The team did not give specifics on the reason for the suspension.

Continue reading this story.

The news that Joakim Noah is being shut down until after the All-Star break shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

Over the past two weeks, the plantar fasciitis in his left foot has been bothering him so badly that he has been having a hard time walking, let alone running up and down the floor.

"We got together with Joakim and our medical staff, and we were all in agreement that this was the best course of action," Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman told me on Friday morning. "Without some rest it wasn't going to get any better. It's obviously affecting him. He'll rest, get treatment and we'll re-evaluate it right after the All-Star Game. And hopefully at that point he's getting better."

But even the organization still isn't sure if that will do the trick. The usual course of action with an injury like this is to rest it for about six weeks. Noah is hopeful to be playing again in just over two. Nobody knows if that will be enough time.

"You don't know," Forman said. "You just don't know. But we were convinced it wasn't going to get better if he continued to try to play through it."

The Bulls will call up Noah's former teammate at the University of Florida, Chris Richard, from the developmental league to take Noah's place on the active roster. He was with the Bulls in training camp and will give them a beefy presence on the bench, but it is unclear whether he will play any meaningful minutes.

"It certainly hurts us," Forman said of Noah's injury. "Joakim is having a terrific year. He's a presence defensively with his length and activity. Obviously, he's a terrific rebounder. It's going to hurt us, but at the same time it's going to be a chance for other guys to step up."

Specifically, one guy should finally get the extended chance he's been waiting for all season: Tyrus Thomas.

The fourth-year forward has been trying to find minutes in Vinny Del Negro's rotation ever since he got back to the Bulls (broken forearm) after Christmas. He has the ability to provide the energy that Noah usually did. But that's a big if considering that his biggest problem all season has been consistency.

If Thomas is serious about taking the next step in his maturation process as a player he will take this opportunity and run with it. He has the ability and athleticism to be a stopgap until Noah returns. It will be interesting to see how he responds to the challenge.

In the meantime, the Bulls are just hoping that a little rest will get Noah back on track. It was clear to Forman and Co. that they couldn't continue to keep him in the lineup.

"Obviously he missed the Houston game, and then you could see at the tail end of the trip that it was affecting him some," Forman said of Noah's injury. "You could tell it was affecting him again in a couple games this week."

If Noah doesn't return to being the same player that he was earlier in the season, then any thoughts the Bulls had about making noise in the playoffs this year go out the window.

In the grand scheme of things though, the Bulls were smart to pull the plug on their young center. The Bulls know that they need to keep an eye on the future. Without a healthy Noah, that future, no matter what happens in free agency, doesn't look nearly as bright.

Marc Stein elevated the Bulls to No. 13 in his power rankings this week adding this note about the team's recent play:

"The Bulls have taken flak for their Circus Road Trip ineptitude since MJ retired, but they just got some historic revenge by becoming the first teameverto win five straight roadies against teams with winning records."

Let that sink in again.

The Bulls, yes the same Bulls who lost a game after leading by 35 points earlier this season are the first team in NBA history to win five games in a row against teams with winning records.

Forget for a second that they only scored 82 points on Tuesday night against the Clippers. Almost a week later, I still can't believe the Bulls actually played so well at the end of that trip.

Do you think this is the highest they will get in the power rankings this season?

To see the rest of Stein's Power Rankings check this out.

Welcome back to the mailbag everybody!

Aside from Tuesday night's clunker against the Clippers, the Bulls are playing their best basketball of the season. Will it last? With this team, who knows?

Let's get right to the questions ...

With the five-game winning streak on the West Coast trip, has VDN saved his job for the rest of the season?

Justin (Binghamton, NY)

Justin,

At this point, I would be stunned if Vinny Del Negro isn't the coach at the end of the season. Through all of the speculation surrounding his job, he has kept his team together and gotten them to play well. The recent five-game winning streak is a testament to that. It still doesn't sound as if the Bulls are ready to commit to him past this season, but his job certainly appears to be safe for the time being.

With the recent acquisition of Devin Brown, if the Bulls are serious about being players in the 2010 free agent pool, shouldn't they aggressively try and trade John Salmons and anyone else that may put a wrench in their cap?

Andre (Chicago, IL)

Andre,

I think they're doing that right now. I'm sure the Bulls are exploring all their options, but it will be extremely difficult for them to unload Salmons because of the player option he has in his contract for next year. I do think the Bulls will end up making a move or two before the deadline though. They have too much riding on this summer's free agent class not to clear out as much space as they can.

Did the Clippers really provide such a huge match-up nightmare for the Bulls, or did the Bulls just not bring their game [Tuesday] night?

Joe Jao (Buffalo Grove, IL)

Joe,

It was a combination. The Clippers obviously give the Bulls a lot of trouble because of all their length. As everybody knows, the Bulls have ony lost two games in the past two weeks and both were to the Clippers. Having said that, the Bulls looked awful Tuesday night. They were flat and never got anything going. The players all said they would bounce back and that the first game at home after a long road trip is tough, but it had to be disheartening for Del Negro to see his team play so badly after playing with so much energy over the back end of that road trip.

Are the Bulls looking to trade for Amare Stoudemire and if so, who are they willing to trade to Phoenix for him ?

Antoine Porche (Palmdale/Calif.)

Antoine,

Like everything else, I'm sure the Bulls have looked into trading for Stoudemire. But, even if the Bulls could do this deal and not give back much in return, I still think they would need another piece or two to make them a title contender. Stoudemire is a great player but as Charles Barkley said recently, are you really going to give a max contract to a player who isn't even the best on your team? Stoudemire doesn't seem to be interested in playing much defense and you've got to wonder if his numbers would be the same if he played outside of Phoenix. If I'm the Bulls, I'm not sure I'd mortgage the future and give a giant contract to Amare.

Hey, as a Chicago native and a huge fan of the Bulls past and present, I need to know. With Rose becoming who we thought he would become and Deng being consistent and Tyrus [Thomas], Taj [Gibson], and [Joakim] Noah killing blocks and boards, shouldn't the Bulls try to make a move for a 2 guard before the deadline so they can make a lot of noise in the playoffs and raise the attention of this summer's free agents? Kirk [Hinrich] is good, but not worth what he gets paid and they just need anyone who can hit an open shot. Derrick [Rose] would have been a starter if Kirk and [John] Salmons and [Jannero] Pargo could just hit the open "J" that Rose provides them with. He would have a crazy number of assists per a game and the Bulls would have a better ppg right?

Zach (Las Vegas NV)

Zach,

There's no question the Bulls are missing a pure jump shooter, a la Ben Gordon. It's been a weakness since the season began. Still, I'm not sure if Rose would have been a starter no matter who would have been in the lineup with him up to this point. Derrick struggled at the beginning of the season, in large part because he still wasn't healthy. That ankle tendon injury bothered him and over the past month he finally looks like the explosive player he became last year.

I do think the Bulls should look to add another 2 guard, and I think the Devin Brown acquisition will help in the next few months because he can hit an open jumper. But unless you can get an absolute superstar back in a deal, I don't think you should make it. The only deals the Bulls should be concerned with are the ones which give them the most cap flexibility. No matter what deal the Bulls make in the next few weeks, it won't be enough to win them a championship this season.

If they make a few smart moves though, they could be in contention for a title next year.

Thanks for all the questions, everybody. Send in some more! Talk to everybody next week.

The first statement Vinny Del Negro uttered during his postgame press conference might have summed up the Bulls effort better than anything on Tuesday night.

"We were sluggish from the get go," the frustrated Bulls head coach said.

Del Negro's commentary was spot on. The same cannot be said for his team's energy level.

The Bulls' five game winning streak came to a screeching halt as the Clippers knocked them off 90-82. What has to be more disconcerting to the second-year coach, though, is that after playing so well and with so much life over the past two weeks, the Bulls delivered a clunker in their first home performance of the month.

"We didn't come with the right energy," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "It happens. But we just got to get back on the grind."

That was the prevailing thought circulating around the locker room after the game. After all, many teams throughout professional sports struggle in the first game back at home after a long road trip. It's just that many teams don't bookend a five game winning streak over solid Western Conference teams with losses to the Clippers.

"These games right here are very hard," Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said of the first game back after a trip. "[We're] just learning from them -- just coming back. I was definitely off my time. My rhythm wasn't there. Hopefully, [when] we play [Wednesday] we get to redeem ourselves."

The Bulls came into Tuesday night's contest averaging almost 105 points over there last eight games, so to follow that up by scoring just 82 has to give Del Negro the type of queasy feeling that he probably felt throughout the first two months of the season. Especially after Rose admitted that the Clippers really didn't do anything defensively that confused the team.

"We were just turning the ball over ourselves," he said. "Just making bad plays. Making bad decisions. Hopefully, [Wednesday] when we walk through we just pull things together, talk through stuff and get back on track."

The Bulls just got things back on track, though. They had people believing that they had finally turned the corner and that better things were on the way. Yes, it's just one game, but if the Bulls play the same way against the Sixers on Wednesday night people will start believing the same thing they did before Del Negro's bunch went on the surprising five game tear.

The only consistency of the 2009-2010 Bulls is that they are inconsistent.

"We're not panicking or anything," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "We've been playing well. Just one game we haven't played well. We play [Wednesday], just bounce right back. We're disappointed to give it away [Tuesday]. But we play [Wednesday]."

If anyone tells you that they know for sure how the Bulls will play against the Sixers, they're lying.

Noah still hurting: Joakim Noah has been dealing with plantar fasciitis on and off for a while now, but it seems to be bugging him more now than ever before. The young center is really laboring up and down the floor at the moment and it's clear that he is dealing with a lot of pain on a nightly basis.

"Not great," was his response when asked how his foot was feeling.

He says he'll be ready to go against the Sixers, but this issue isn't going anywhere for the Bulls. It's something they will have to watch for the rest of the year.

Rose, on how disappointing it was for his team to play so poorly at home after playing so well on the road: "It's disappointing a little bit, he said. "But, it's the NBA. We play [Wednesday]. I think we've got four in five nights, so it's all right for us to lose this one and win the next three."

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson are game-time decisions for Tuesday night's game against the Clippers.

Both players have missed the last two days of practice due to plantar fasciitis, and Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro wants to see how they warm up before the game before making a final decision about their playing status.

"Their feet are bothering them, for sure" Del Negro said after Tuesday morning's shootaround. "But it's good to get them a couple days rest. They needed it. They need more, but the schedule's not going to permit for that."

For their part, both Noah and Gibson sounded as if they would play on Tuesday night.

"I feel better," Noah said. I've been doing a lot of rehab. And a lot of things with the trainers here. I'll be ready to go [Tuesday] night."

Gibson sounded just as confident.

"It's just mind over matter," he said of the injury. "Just being tough. And understand that I have a job to do. Just go out there and play hard. I know Coach [Del Negro] understands because he's had it before. I've been playing with it since summer league so it has no real effect on my game. I'm just going to go out there and play hard. After the game I'll just get treatment on it."