DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Luol Deng doesn't mind that people always have big expectations of him. He's just still a little frustrated that people seem to question his toughness.

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Luol Deng is off to a good start for the Bulls, averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulls' sixth-year forward admitted that on Wednesday, just a night after scoring 24 points and grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds in an 83-81 victory over Milwaukee.

"I'm not frustrated when people hold high standards [for me]," Deng said after practice. "My only frustration came when people questioned my injury. That's the only time that I really felt like it wasn't fair. Because I knew I was injured. And I couldn't really -- I'm not the kind of guy that's going to come out in the paper and say anything about it. And I knew in time it would tell, but that was the worst feeling, just people thinking that I was faking it for some reason."

Deng, who has missed chunks of the past two seasons -- including the end of last season due to a stress fracture in his leg, doesn't believe all the negativity surrounding his injuries has changed him.

"Honestly, I play as hard as I can, and I work on my game," he said. "I said it before, when I practice, when I stay healthy, I have a better rhythm going into the game. When I have injuries, and I start taking time off, I'm a rhythm guy, it really affects my game."

After he signed a $71 million contract extension last summer, Deng's inability to stay on the floor has drawn the ire of some fans, and the Bulls forward admitted he feels like he's under a little more of a microscope than most players.

"I think so at times," he said. "The only difference is I think people that know basketball kind of understand that there's different players in this league. There's guys that come out every night and score. There's guys that change the game different ways. Everybody has their different role.

"I really see myself as, there's nights when I'm going to have 12 points, but I'm going to have a lot of deflections, change the game some other ways. I come out to score, but I look at doing other things. I'm very unselfish. I don't just try to come out and score 22 points every game. I never felt like that was my game. When I start doing that, I start struggling. I think I just got to play with an energy and try to affect the game in different ways."

Deng has been doing that this season. He is averaging almost 18 points and 11 rebounds through four games this season.

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