Desperate times call for desperate measures.

With both of the Bulls' small forwards, Eddie Robinson and Ron Artest, out with injuries, coach Tim Floyd may try to compensate by using more zone defenses. This season is the first since the shot clock was introduced in 1954 that zones will be legal in the NBA.

"Thank goodness for zone defenses," Floyd said. "It could happen because of the matchups. Tyson (Chandler) at 7-foot-1 guarding Latrell Sprewell at 6-5 might be tough. Marcus Fizer guarding Vince Carter might be tough. A.J. Guyton at 6-1 guarding a 6-6 Allan Houston might be tough. Fred Hoiberg guarding Glenn Robinson might be tough.

"So we're going to have to be creative. We're going to have to go about it in different ways. Zones provide a means for tackling this in a team manner."

The Bulls have shown brief moments of zone defense in each of their four home preseason games. It has been addressed more frequently in practice the last few days.

"I hate playing zone because your man-to-man gets worse every time you hop into a zone," Floyd said. "A lot of standing, you don't rebound out of them as well. But you have to survive, also. We may play it more minutes than what we'd like, but we're still going to be basically a man-to-man team I would hope."