(670 The Score) Big man Tristan Thompson wasn’t a member of the Bulls on Jan. 21, but he nonetheless harbors ill will toward Bucks guard Grayson Allen regarding the events of that evening.
Like the rest of the Bulls, Thompson is irked by Allen’s flagrant-2 foul on Chicago guard Alex Caruso that resulted in Caruso fracturing his right wrist on a hard fall to the floor. Caruso hasn’t played since that night and underwent surgery a few days later.
As Allen and the Bucks prepare to visit the United Center on Friday evening for the teams' first meeting since Jan. 21, the Bulls haven’t forgotten about what happened.
“Shit – take one of my dawgs out like that, we gonna have issues,” Thompson said. “So, we got to set the tone. That’s what Bulls basketball is about – setting the tone. What he did affected one of our guys, and I don’t think anyone should forget about that. So I’m pretty sure the United Center is going to be rocking tomorrow. I think guys have it in the back of their head. If guys are going to play chippy, let’s play chippy. I like it. I like a little blood and sweat. I enjoy it. It’s the regular season. It’s all right. You got to set the tone.”
While Thompson was straightforward in his comments about Allen after the Bulls’ 130-124 loss to the Hawks on Thursday evening, coach Billy Donovan was his usual diplomatic self. He expects his Bulls to handle the situation with professionalism, and he simply wants a win as Chicago is riding a three-game losing streak.
“For me, however many weeks or a month ago or whatever it is that it happened, it happened,” Donovan said. “Like, we’re not getting that back. We’re not getting back what happened. We got to go out, and we’re going to have to compete and play against one of the best teams in the league. So like for us, I think we’ve got a lot more things that we should be focused on as a team. Like, we got to get much, much more focused on the little things that we need to do. I would expect our guys to be professional, and they’ll handle themselves the right way. That play is over and done with. It’s gone. We need to play better basketball.”
Caruso recently began shooting with his injured right wrist, which still needs to be strengthened before he’s cleared for contact and could return to game action. The Bulls’ hope is he can return in the latter half of March.
“Everybody is disappointed that Alex has had to sit out for this period of time, but I think we got to keep our mindset and focus on things that are going to help us get better,” Donovan said. “I don’t know how much that’s going to help us get better, but we are going to be really, really good on both ends of the floor against a really good team.”
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.