Celtics coach Doc Rivers says that the Bulls are a better team this season.

Last April, Chicago pushed higher-seeded Boston to seven games in the first round of the postseason.

"I think they're a better team," Rivers told the Daily Herald. "I think they're longer, I think they're a better defensive team. I think they fit. That's taking nothing from Ben, he was phenomenal in the playoffs last year. But so was Ray (Allen). We thought they had a UConn deal going to get each other off (scoring).

"I think now their team does fit. (John) Salmons is at two, probably what he is. (Luol) Deng gives them more length at three. (Kirk) Hinrich is playing one and two. I just think they're a better fit.

"And the fact that they had (Brad) Miller and Salmons this year in training camp. I thought that was lost on a lot of people last year. They had to kind of learn on the run. This year, they had the ability to work on things."

Brian Elfus, the agent for Tyrus Thomas, was at the United Center for Thursday's game.

He said there have been "amicable discussions" with the Bulls about a contract extension for Thomas, but the two sides are not close to reaching an agreement.

Chicago appears to prefer to maintain their cap space.

The first Thursday double-header of the season gave us a pair of hotly-contested games. Derrick Rose fought off an ankle injury to lead the Bulls to a win, while Carmelo Anthony pushed the Nuggets to their second straight victory.

- Chicago 92, San Antonio 85

Team FIC Differential: Bulls +22.9, Spurs -22.9

The Chicago Bulls (1-0) outscored the San Antonio Spurs (1-1) by nine points in the third quarter to open the 2009-10 season with a victory. Luol Deng led with 17 points and nine rebounds, Joakim Noah posted 10 points and 10 boards and Derrick Rose contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Chicago outrebounded San Antonio by eight while turning the ball over just nine times. Tim Duncan starred with 28 points and 16 rebounds, Manu Ginobili tallied 12 points and six boards and Matt Bonner put up seven points and five rebounds in defeat.

Game FIC Scores

Tim Duncan, San Antonio ? 28.3

Luol Deng, Chicago ? 15.3

Derrick Rose, Chicago ? 14.6

Joakim Noah, Chicago ? 13.5

- Denver 97, Portland 94

Team FIC Differential: Nuggets +0.7, Trail Blazers -0.7

The Denver Nuggets (2-0) used a strong fourth quarter to put away the Portland Trail Blazers (1-1) at the Rose Garden. Carmelo Anthony excelled with 41 points and six rebounds, Nene tallied seven points and 11 boards and Chauncey Billups turned in 22 points and six assists. Portland shot just 34% from the field and the two clubs combined to attempt 90 foul shots. Brandon Roy had 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting and LaMarcus Aldridge posted nine points and seven boards on Thursday evening.

Game FIC Scores

Carmelo Anthony, Denver ? 21.4

Brandon Roy, Portland ? 17.0

Rudolfo Fernandez, Portland ? 14.8

Chauncey Billups, Denver ? 13.5

? RealGM calculates the Floor Impact Counter using the following formula: (Points + .75 Defensive Rebounds + Offensive Rebounds + Steals + Assists + Blocks - .75 Field Goal Attempts - .375 Free Throw Attempts - Turnovers - .5 Personal Fouls)

( )'s indicate a negative FIC score.

It is also used to rank players and to determine their ?Reina Value.? Click here to view the player rankings with the Reina Value for the current season

Joakim Noah appears to be vastly stronger than he was when the Bulls were eliminated in last year's playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

"I felt like in that (playoff) series against Boston, that's one thing I needed to do better," said Noah, who estimated he added 10 pounds over the summer. "I felt like I was getting pushed around a little bit too much. It was important for me to lift a lot of weights. I feel stronger. I feel like I put on good weight, because I'm still running the floor well."

New Chicago general manager Gar Forman will travel frequently with the team as part of his attempt to grow a culture of accountability.

"The reasons are two-fold. First of all, I want to be around the team, I want to be around the players and I want to be around the coaching staff," Forman said. "But secondly ... personally, in the past my emphasis has been more in regards to the draft. We do have some flexibility, moving forward, as far as the free-agent market. So I want to see as many NBA games as possible, to be evaluating players around the league."

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose wants to be known as the best in the NBA at his position.

"I just want to be the best at my position," he told the Chicago Sun-Times of his main goal, "just compete every time I go out there and win games."

The Times expected that the All-Star team would be as high as Rose would go.

"That's one of my goals," Rose reiterated. "Hopefully, I can achieve it."

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose practiced for the second straight day on Monday, but still isn't back to 100 percent.

His ankle injury is still bothering him.

"I told you, I'm like an old man out there," Rose joked to the Associated Press. "I have to wait 20, 30 minutes into practice where I'm really loosened up. I have to stretch a lot."

Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro plans to keep an eye on Rose's ankle over the first few weeks of the season.

"His ankle was a little sore until he got it loose this morning, but then once he got it loose, he was fine," Del Negro said. "I think that will be a continual process for a while. He's out of condition a little bit -- the way we want to play and how we want him to play, get after the ball defensively. He's rusty, so these next two days hopefully he can build like he did today and get better."

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has picked up the options for the 2010-11 season for guard Derrick Rose and forward/center Joakim Noah. By exercising the respective player options, both players will be under contract with the Bulls for the 2010-11 season.

Rose, appeared in 81 games (80 starts) last year en route to being selected the 2008-09 T-Mobile NBA Rookie of the Year.  On the season, he averaged 16.8 ppg, a team-high 6.3 apg and 3.9 rpg in 37.0 mpg. The Chicago native shot .475 from the field and .788 from the free throw line.  He finished the 2008-09 campaign in the top three in several categories all-time among Bulls rookies, including total points (third with 1,361), scoring average (third) and assists (third with 512).

In two seasons with Chicago, Noah (6-11, 232) has appeared in 154 games (86 starts) and averaged 6.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.13 bpg in 22.5 mpg; he has shot .520 from the field and .684 from the line.

Bulls forward Luol Deng cleared a big hurdle when he remained healthy through the preseason.

He missed six months with a stress fracture of the lower right leg last season.

"My rhythm is coming back," Deng told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's not fully there. I was out for a long time, and I couldn't do much with the ball all summer and I wasn't on my feet.

"It's starting to feel better, though. From the first preseason game to now, I think my cutting, running the floor, playing defense, I just feel a lot better, a lot more comfortable doing it."

Deng averaged 10.8 points on 38.3 percent shooting in the preseason.

"His conditioning is better, and as he becomes more comfortable with everything, he'll continue to improve in a lot of areas," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "His effort's been good, he hasn't missed a practice, he's played hard and I think Luol will be fine."

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose practiced with his teammates on Sunday for the first time since injuring his ankle earlier this month.

In fact, for the first time in three weeks all of Chicago's active players were healthy enough to practice.

"Everyone practiced. Let's see how they feel in the morning, but we had a full group [Sunday] which was great to get that," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said.

Despite practicing, Rose admitted that he isn't close to 100 percent.

"That's far away still," he said. "Out there, it's still kind of stiff. I told Lindsey [Hunter] I know how they feel when they have to stretch now. Usually I'll just go out there and run, but now I really gotta take stretching into consideration."