Bulls coach Scott Skiles spent most of the first week of training camp raving about the improvement of second-year guard Ben Gordon from a year ago.

''He's been a much better defender in practice, much more active and is not prone to the concentration lapses that he had at this time last year,'' Skiles said earlier this week. ''He's really in tune all the time.

''It's exciting when you love the game and like to teach and coach and you see guys really improving like that. He deserves the credit, I don't, but it's just really exciting to see it, just how hard he's worked. He's just getting better all the time. Everybody knows he can shoot and make tough shots and be a really good scorer and ball-handler. But just his overall approach to his job has taken a step up.''

Then the Bulls began playing preseason games and Gordon has, well, struggled.

After scoring just five points on 2-for-7 shooting in the opener Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons in Grand Rapids, Mich., Gordon got off to another slow start Wednesday in the Bulls' 86-82 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in FexEx Forum.

After experiencing most of his success coming off the bench as a rookie -- earning the NBA's sixth man award in the process -- Gordon started both games this week without much success.

Could it be that he is simply better in a reserve role?

''There's a perception that everybody that has success in the league should be a starter and that's not necessarily true,'' Skiles said Wednesday. ''Some guys are better coming off the bench and we found out last year that Ben was last year.''