In an attempt to breathe life back into the Bulls for Saturday night's game against Phoenix, coach Scott Skiles will shake up his starting lineup, he said Friday.

Skiles did not reveal the changes but said they could be drastic.

Considering the Bulls have a young starting corps--the average age of the current starters is 23.2--there aren't many changes that could be viewed as radical. The most major would be pulling guard Kirk Hinrich.

Hinrich has been a steadying force for the Bulls since his rookie season out of Kansas in 2003-04. He started all but 10 games he played his first year, all 77 games in which he appeared last season and 27 this season.

Like many of his teammates, though, Hinrich is slumping. In their current five-game losing streak, Hinrich is last among Bulls starters in field-goal percentage (.350) and points per game (8.4). He was not available for comment after practice Friday.

After the Bulls lost to Charlotte on Wednesday night, Skiles told his players their ensuing practices would determine the starting lineup.

"Coach said, `We've been too married to the guys we have out there,'" Ben Gordon said. "`Nobody's spot is solidified. Everybody's spot is in jeopardy.'"

Bulls coach Scott Skiles responded Thursday to Ben Gordon's displeasure over his role this season, putting the responsibility on Gordon.

"Anybody that's involved in the league in depth and watches us play knows that we have more things in our offense for Ben probably than any other team in the league has for any other player," Skiles said. "It's normally the guys who aren't playing well that are making those kinds of comments. So I don't put much stock in that."

 
Gordon's comments were summarized for Skiles after the Bulls' three-hour marathon practice.

Talking about his struggles in an article Wednesday, Gordon questioned whether the Bulls ran enough plays for him and said he is frustrated because he doesn't start games and often doesn't finish them. Ultimately, Gordon accepted responsibility for what he perceives as a reduced role.

"It's like you're in limbo ? but I can't put the blame on anyone else," Gordon said. "I have to find a way to be valuable enough to the team that I'm out there those times of games."

Ben Gordon is off to a slow start this season, averaging just 13.2 points on 37.9 percent shooting, and has appeared to be brooding a bit on the court and in the locker room. This has led to speculation that the former Sixth Man winner is unhappy with his playing time (26.9 minutes) and his role coming off the bench. Some have even suggested the Bulls, in need of a big man, might look to trade him.

Gordon hasn't said anything publicly to indicate he's disgruntled, and Bulls GM John Paxson told SI.com on Wednesday that his second-year star has not approached him with any concerns. Paxson also said he has no intention of trading Gordon.

Gordon's agent, meanwhile, says that while his client might get frustrated at times, he wants to stay in Chicago. "My typical response is, 'every player wants to play more.' If you ask any player, they'd say the same thing," Billy Ceisler told SI.com. "As far as this trade talk, I told John Paxson, '[Ben] is a selfless kid. He'll do everything in his power to help his team win. He did it in college.'"

Did the Bulls trash-talk themselves into a loss Wednesday to the Charlotte Bobcats? The Bobcats say yes.

"They said some things like, `We lost to the Bad News Bears.' That kind of got to us a little bit and motivated us," said Melvin Ely, the Chicagoan from Thornton High School who had a game- and season-high 20 points. "Anytime you win in this league, it's not luck. We lost that first game to them, but then when they got a loss (Dec. 20 in Chicago), don't go speaking about it. That motivated us a lot."

Given their three-game losing streak and overall lackluster play of late, the Bulls tried something different at practice Saturday --the coaches stayed away.

That left it up to the team's tri-captains -- Chris Duhon, Othella Harrington and Kirk Hinrich -- to run the morning workout at the Berto Center.

''The coaches felt like we were tuning them out or whatever,'' Hinrich said after the 90-minute session.

That's the thought coach Scott Skiles left Duhon with after the Bulls' 95-77 loss Friday at Memphis.

''Scott mentioned something to me about it,'' Duhon said. ''It's a valid point. There are times when the coaches kind of seem like they're always on the players and players just stop responding just because they feel as if they can do nothing right. It kind of messes with your head a bit. So when you hear it from the guys -- that our agenda is to win and we're trying to help each other and be there for each other -- it relaxes you a little bit.''

Not having the coaches present also allowed the players to talk about the troubles they have had in a 12-14 season. That included X's and O's. Hinrich noted that the team's weak-side defense has not been what it should be.

Yet, more importantly, the players had an opportunity to vent their frustrations.

''We got together as a group -- just a little airing out -- and let everybody say what they had to say,'' said Duhon, who gave his teammates notice on the flight from Memphis that they would have a team meeting Saturday. ''So everybody had a night to think about it. You kind of have these things with the coaches at times, and sometimes players can hold back and not say what they really want to say. But once you're amongst the guys, you can get everything out.''

''It was time for the players to speak up and say how they felt about the team and where we are going,'' Harrington said. ''Get it all off our chests. The most frustrating part is, going into the season, I thought we'd be leaps and bounds far better than we were last year in terms of defense. Right now, we're just not.''

Most NBA players are jeered on the road and cheered at home.

Not so lately for young Bulls forward Tyson Chandler, whose six-year, $63 million contract does not correspond with his meager production (4.6 points per game, 8.3 rebounds) thus far.
 
"Sometimes you just have to get yourself focused and tune other things out," Chandler said of the discerning United Center fans. "Fans come and they expect the same thing. When they don't get it, sometimes they react that way. That's not something I focus on."

Chandler did not see action until the second quarter Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. He had two points at intermission.

Chandler admitted the contract he signed last summer has added personal pressure to perform.

"It always adds a little pressure whenever the expectations grow. But mentally I have to get over that and get out there and just play my game," Chandler said. "If I do that, I will be fine for my team. For some reason I haven't been doing that lately."

Many teams, including the Bulls, are keeping an eye on Miami's Michael Doleac. Doleac is a 6-foot-11-inch backup center who isn't in line for a lot of playing time in Miami behind Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning. In his eighth season, he has played in only three games.

Doleac would give the Bulls more size and he has a nice shooting touch, although he isn't quick. He has career averages of 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.

Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor had an MRI exam on his sprained right ankle Tuesday in Charlotte and did not accompany the team to Chicago.

The Bobcats prevailed 105-92 in Chicago.

Okafor, averaging 12.9 points and a team-high 10.1 rebounds, was injured late in the third quarter of Monday's overtime victory over Sacramento when he collided with the Kings' Francisco Garcia while going for a rebound. He rolled around momentarily, grasping his leg, and was unable to put pressure on it as he left.

The results of the MRI were not immediately available.

"I don't have the courage to inquire right now," Charlotte coach Bernie Bickerstaff said before Tuesday's game.

Besides Okafor, starting guard Kareem Rush (sprained left index finger), forward Melvin Ely (flu-like symptoms) and center Jake Voskuhl (sprained right ankle) stayed home. Rush, second on the team with 13.5 points per game, aggravated an injury that has bothered him on and off for about a month during Monday's game.

The Bulls were without leading scorer Luol Deng, who bruised his right knee in Saturday's victory over Boston. An MRI taken Monday was negative.

Tyson Chandler said he believes his health problems are behind him. Chandler takes medication for a hiatal hernia and recently began using an inhaler before practices and games for exercise-induced asthma.

"I can definitely tell the difference between when I'm using it [the inhaler] and when I wasn't," he said.

Of equal importance, Chandler's mind is free from preoccupation.

"When you're constantly thinking about what's going on, it kind of weighs you down," he said. "You start concentrating on that instead of concentrating on getting better in the game."

The Bulls might be without their leading scorer Tuesday night when Charlotte visits. Luol Deng didn't sound optimistic Monday about playing.

The starting forward injured his right knee in the first quarter of the Bulls' victory over the Celtics on Saturday. Deng played 19 minutes and scored eight points to go with five assists. He was scheduled for a MRI late Monday afternoon.

 
"I really don't know if I'm going to be able to [play] or not," said Deng, who called the injury a bruise. "It didn't feel that great [Monday]. We'll see."

Deng leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points a game and is one of its better free-throw shooters at 82.3 percent. In his last three games, he went 14-for-22 from the field. He missed considerable court time at the end of last season and over the summer because of a wrist injury. Clearly, he's over that.

"He's playing with more confidence," general manager John Paxson said last week. "Lu's going to be a terrific player."