Kelvin Cato is Eddy Curry's sparring partner, the player in practice who absorbs more hits than he gives.

"I don't try to hurt him but I try to let him know that I'm there," Cato says. "He scores in practice like he scores in games. We don't double-team in practice but we need to so I can get some help."

"We're going to ride the Big Fella," said Cato, unknowingly using Ewing's famous nickname. "Zeke brought me in there to make (Curry) a better player. Not just by beating on him but giving him little things I've learned playing against the better players at the center spot."

Cato gives a fair and balanced report card on Curry, reiterating what scouts say: He needs to become a greater defensive presence and should rebound more. Defense and rebounding continue to be weak areas. Two years ago, when a reporter asked Scott Skiles what Curry needed to do to become a better rebounder, the Bulls' coach replied: "Jump."

"I try to tell him that everybody is going to come to play you," Cato said. "You've got to play defense and do other things out there, like making the right pass, when to go to the hole and getting more rebounds."