DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Vinny Del Negro and his Chicago Bulls are ready to get this season underway with Thursday night's opener against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Luol Deng said facing the San Antonio Spurs is a good test to start the season.

"Ready to go," Del Negro declared after the Thursday morning shootaround. "I think the guys are excited to get it going. It's been a long preseason, and the last few days we've been beating each other up. I think the guys are ready to get going."

Luol Deng echoed his coach's sentiments. "I think we're ready," Deng said. "It's good that we're finally starting. I think everybody's excited."

The Bulls forward hopes that the team can play under control in the opener.

"It's the first game, so you know energy's gonna be there, but I think [we must remember] focus," Deng said. "I'm not talking about just the first three quarters, I'm talking about focus throughout the whole game. I know it's early in the season, but we look at [the Spurs] as one of the best teams in the NBA. Out of the gate, it's a good test for us."

The starting five: Del Negro announced that his starting five would be: Derrick Rose, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

Rose's minutes: Del Negro admitted that Rose's minutes would be limited, but he was hopeful that he would play over 25.

"We'll see how Derrick feels out there," the Bulls coach said. "We've got back-to-back games. We want to start off on a good note, so we'll see how he feels and get our rotations down. It will be the first time in a long time we'll have our whole team together."

Rookies' big night: Rookies James Johnson and Taj Gibson will be playing in their first NBA regular season game, but neither man seems particularly nervous. "It's not nerves, it's more anxious [feelings]," Johnson told me on Wednesday. "I feel like if I get put in and my number's called ... I'm ready. If not, then I'm going to keep helping the team out in practice."

Gibson, who figures to be one of the first guys off the bench, is confident that he will be able to do the job. "Just go out there and play hard and work my minutes."

Johnson's uncle will be in attendance to watch his nephew's first regular-season game. The Wake Forest alum said that his family isn't giving him any tips as to what he should be doing out on the floor.

"They just want to come watch me play," he said. "They haven't really talked to me about how to play or what to do. They were never in this predicament so they really just let me [form] my own opinions, just as long as I don't do the bad things off the court. They don't care what I do on the court." Coaching vs. playing: Del Negro admitted on Wednesday that the way he feels as a coach and the way he feels as a player are a little different, especially as opening night creeps closer.

"Playing, I think, was little bit easier because you could do something about it," the second-year coach said. "Coaching, you're relying on your players to go out there and execute, which is fine, but it's just a different feeling.

"As a player, you know exactly what your role is, how you're gonna be effective when you study pregame stuff. As a coach, sometimes you're making adjustments on the fly a little bit more, depending on foul trouble and injuries, and things of that nature. It's just a different feeling."

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