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CHICAGO -- When Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose first told reporters of his love for candy, he probably didn't envision those words turning into a sizable, colorful, motion-activated piece of furniture in his home.

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NEW YORK -- Short on size, the United States showed off a surplus of speed.

Danny Granger scored 22 points and the Americans sprinted past China 98-51 in a scrimmage Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

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If Jeff Van Gundy wants to back up his prediction that the Miami Heat will break the Chicago Bulls' record of 72 wins, there's a former Bulls star who's willing to take the bet.

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CHICAGO -- For new Chicago Bulls guard Keith Bogans, realism and optimism are conspiring to target the same goal.


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Chicago Bulls fans will see their new-look team up close for the first time in their preseason homer opener on Oct. 8 against the Washington Wizards and former Bull Kirk Hinrich.

The Bulls announced their eight-game preseason schedule which begins Oct. 5 in Milwaukee against the Bucks. The Bulls also host preseason games against the Toronto Raptors (Oct. 12), the Dallas Mavericks (Oct. 15) and the Indiana Pacers (Oct. 22), all at the United Center.

The Bulls open the regular season on the road Oct. 27 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

CHICAGO -- The Detroit Pistons may have toughened up the Bulls in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Jerry Krause wouldn't give the Bad Boys any undue credit for contributing to Scottie Pippen's basketball manhood or his Hall of Fame career.

"No, Michael [Jordan] made him a man," said the Bulls' former general manager, now a scout for the White Sox. "The Pistons didn't have anything to do with that. Michael made him a man and Doug [Collins] did a great job with him in his first year. And then when Phil [Jackson] brought the triangle [offense] in, it really helped him because he had all the physical skills to be great."

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CHICAGO -- For the first time in years, the Chicago Bulls' schedule is littered with marquee games that have national appeal. The full national television schedule will be released at a later date, but it's fair to say that the Bulls have ascended back to one of the NBA's featured franchises.

Let's take a look a few of the most anticipated games on the 2010-11 schedule which was released on Tuesday:

Oct. 27 at Oklahoma City Thunder: The Bulls' first game pits two of the NBA's youngest stars against each other in Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant. This also marks Tom Thibodeau's first regular season game as an NBA head coach as well as prized free-agent acquisition Carlos Boozer's first contest with the Bulls. It will be interesting to see just how fast Rose and Co. will be able to jell against one of the Western Conference's top teams in the Thunder.

Nov. 5 at Boston Celtics: Everyone remembers the great Bulls-Celtics playoff series in 2009, but this Boston team is much more dangerous, and even older with the additions of Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. Rose and Celtics guard Rajon Rondo are widely considered to be the top two point guards in the East, so there is certainly plenty of star power to go around in this game.

Nov. 13 vs. Washington Wizards: Former Bull Kirk Hinrich makes his return to the United Center and figures to be warmly received by the home fans. This also marks Rose's first game against John Wall, a rivalry that is expected to get much bigger over time.

Nov. 23 at Los Angeles Lakers: After playing the Lakers last season in Los Angeles, Bulls center Joakim Noah said it felt like his was a JV team playing against the varsity. After all the moves the organization made over the summer, it's doubtful he will feel quite the same way this time around.

Dec. 18 vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Vinny Del Negro makes his return to the United Center for the first time since being fired last May. How will he be greeted by the fans? But that will definitely be one of the most entertaining pre-game media sessions of the season as Del Negro will certainly be asked to recount what went wrong during his tenure with the Bulls and why his relationship with John Paxson and Gar Forman went south so quickly.

Dec. 25 at New York Knicks: Christmas day at Madison Square Garden. It's a dream scenario for Noah, who was born in the city. And it should also serve as a national showcase for Rose, who should be able to carve up the Knicks' frail defense once again.

Jan. 15 vs. Miami Heat: Every Bulls player, and fan, already has this game circled on their calendar. It's the first time LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will play at the United Center. The boo birds will be out in full force for this one as fans let James, Wade and Bosh have it for not choosing to come to the Bulls.

Feb. 9: at Utah Jazz: The Bulls should feel right at home playing in Salt Lake City considering they have almost a quarter of the Jazz's roster from last season in Boozer, Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver.

March 6 at Miami: The Bulls only trip to Miami comes at the end of a tough four game road trip which includes stops in Washington, Atlanta and Orlando.

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The Chicago Bulls will welcome Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat to the United Center on Jan. 15 and Feb. 24.

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Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen balanced each other out well on the court and within the dynamics of the team, according to long-time teammate John Paxson.

"Michael was very demanding as a teammate, which was good. You wouldn't want the greatest player in the game to be anything but that," the Bulls' executive vice president of basketball operations said Tuesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "He had expectations of you. That's not to say Scottie didn't, but I think the balance was, Scottie was very much an encouraging type of teammate.

"Scottie was the type of guy where if you missed two or three in a row, he was going to encourage you to keep shooting. He was going to tell you that I'm going to find you if you're open. I think the balance of the way the two of them dealt with teammates was a really healthy thing for us."

Jordan will present his former teammate at Pippen's Hall of Fame induction on Friday in Springfield, Mass. The duo won six NBA titles together, but it was Pippen's one full season without Jordan in Chicago that left an impression on Paxson.

Jordan retired following the 1992-93 season, leaving Pippen, the sidekick, as the No. 1 option. Pippen responded with a memorable season, averaging 22 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists and winning the All-Star Game MVP. He led the Bulls to a 55-27 record in the regular season and entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the East.

The Bulls lost to the New York Knicks in Game 7 of an Eastern Conference semifinal, which included Pippen's infamous refusal to play the final 1.8 seconds of Game 3 because coach Phil Jackson called for then-rookie Toni Kukoc to take the final shot, which he made to win the game.

Despite that controversial moment, Paxson said Pippen's season proved a lot to his teammates.

"He had a phenomenal year," Paxson said. "I think the thing that stood out the most to me that year was that statistically, things didn't change much for Scottie from what his years were with Michael. You could always pencil Scottie in for between 20 and 23 points a game, he would have the eight, nine rebounds, the five, six, seven assists. And it didn't deviate [without Jordan] which to me that spoke volumes, and I think to those of us who were teammates, it showed what kind of a teammate he was. He wasn't out there to try to prove to people that he could score 30. For Scottie it was about winning. And we won 55 games that year, mostly because of him."

Chicago Bulls executive vice president John Paxson said Scottie Pippen, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday, would make a good coach someday.

"I think Scottie is smart enough and dedicated enough to the game that I think at some point he's going to want to get into coaching," Paxson said Tuesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "My personal feeling is that Scottie Pippen will be an excellent basketball coach."

Asked if Pippen's coaching career could start with the Bulls, who have an opening on their staff under new coach Tom Thibodeau, Paxson said: "You never know. Right now obviously at some point he's going to have to get into the profession. A lot of guys take different routes. It's all about what kind of timeline he would have. All I'm saying is I think he's just a very, very smart guy and that if he ever does want to get into coaching, I think he would be very good."

DETROIT -- A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Tracy McGrady has agreed to terms of a one-year contract with the Detroit Pistons.

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Nick Friedell spent some time with Joakim Noah over the weekend in New York and asked the Chicago Bulls center about a variety of topics including:

The status of his left foot after battling plantar fasciitis last season: "I'm very confident, but it's still something that ... it's no joke and [the injury] put a lot of things in perspective for me. Injuries are something that are very serious and something that I want to limit, so I understand that it's going to be a long season this year, and I think we're going to do real special things. To do that, I know that I have to be 100 percent. I think we're going to be OK, though."

First impressions of new coach Tom Thibodeau: "I think Coach Thibs is going to be great. At first I talked to him, and I know we have a lot of friends in common. [University of Florida] Coach [Billy] Donovan is somebody who really admires what Coach Thibs brings to the table. Even during the Boston/Bulls [playoff] series [in 2009] I thought Coach Donovan came to see me play, but he was actually learning and watching tape with Coach Thibodeau, which was kind of messed up I think, but I still love Coach Donovan. He's my guy. No, Coach Thibs is definitely somebody who knows the game, who's been around the game for a long time, and I think he really knows what he's talking about. Defensively, I think everybody knows what he brings to the table. And from what we've talked about, offensively, he's going to help us a lot. Everything I've read and everything I've heard coming from him, he's very passionate about the game. Like I said, I think it's going to be a helluva a season."

Playing the Knicks on Christmas Day in his native New York:"Oh man, that's going to be great. I hope we don't have a game the next [day] so we can get a W against the Knicks and chill out so I can spend some time with my family out here. That would be the best, but who knows? We know we're playing New York Dec. 25, and I'm going to be hyped."

Summer report: "I thought it was really important that I stayed off of basketball as much as possible. I didn't touch a basketball for the first month and a half. I went to Hawaii, brought my whole family out there, rented a little house -- beautiful -- overlooking the ocean, had a blast. Jumping off of waterfalls, all kinds of [stuff]. It was paradise. I'm not going to lie. Then after that I decided it was time to go see the older generation of the family. You never know how long you're going to have the older generation of the family, so I went to go see my grandparents in Sweden. Had a blast in Sweden, and then I went to Africa, got some good energy in Africa, spent some time with my grandfather out there, brought my sister with me. It was just good times. Just flowing down rivers and did a lot of good things for the kids out there, and I'm really proud of that. I have a house out there, and I'm really happy to go back to Cameroon. It gives me power and kind of puts things in perspective for me. It's pretty poor, but the people are real happy, and it always feels good to see my people out there in Cameroon. Then I just came back to Chicago and started grinding it out, really working hard, a lot of lifting weights, working on my jump shot, working on my hooks.

"And I was just in Chicago during the whole free agency thing, and I think we did pretty well. I'm really happy with our team, and I think we're going to surprise a lot of people. We're ready. I think the organization did a great job just getting good pieces, and I think we're going to be competing against the best of them and it will be exciting for those games. "

When Michael Jordan presents Scottie Pippen during his Hall of Fame induction this weekend, it's a safe bet the Chicago Bulls' record-setting, 72-win season of 1995-96 will find its way into the speech.

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CHICAGO -- Michael Jordan will present Scottie Pippen when his longtime Chicago Bulls running mate enters the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday in Springfield, Mass., according to the Bulls' website.

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