Brian Scalabrine tried to soothe any hard feelings his departure from Benetton Treviso created after officials from that Italian team criticized him for leaving early to try out for the Bulls.

"I really enjoyed learning from the coach (Alexander Djordjevic)," said Scalabrine, who has not been officially cleared by FIBA to return to the NBA. "The organization treated me unbelievably fairly. When I left, I gave them back all the money they paid me. I went over with the intent to stay all year if the lockout lasted that long.

"The only thing they were upset about was me leaving Friday instead of, say, two days before training camp. But I was trying to put myself in the best position to make the Bulls. I didn't want to be on Italian time while I'm trying to make the team."