Pau Gasol’s torrid start to the season will take a backseat to his strained calf as he sits out the 2nd game on the Bulls’ long road trip.  Derrick Rose will be sidelined again due to a strained left hamstring in what is becoming a cat and mouse start to the season.  One day Rose is fine, the next he’s not.

Rose is needed if the Bulls are going to make a deep playoff run this season.  The team really hasn’t found out how good they can be, and missing Rose is a problem.  It takes manpower to fill in his minutes, and those minutes are valuable.  Jimmy Butler, Kirk Hinrich, and Taj Gibson have to fill in the gaps and one can’t forget to include Joakim Noah.  Perhaps the good news is that Nikola Mirotic showed some great offensive moves in adding 12 points vs the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night.  Mirotic might get more playing time and rookie Doug McDermott hasn’t been seen on the floor recently.  It may be prudent to use him on this long trip.

It’s early in the season.  The Bulls are road warriors, taking on all comers.  But without a full lineup and a healthy D Rose, that road loss will come one of these days.