Two days after his benching in the Bulls' overtime loss to Phoenix, Michael Sweetney still was slightly perplexed and disgruntled.

"I'm a little upset, yeah," said Sweetney, who had started 21 games but never left the bench Saturday night. "You're used to playing and then when you don't, it breaks your routine. Other than that, you have to root for your team to win and be ready whenever your name is called."

Sweetney said he received no explanation from the coaches, but he guessed mistakes in practices last week had something to do with his absence.

Coach Scott Skiles said he didn't play Sweetney because matchups didn't favor the 6-foot-8-inch, 270-pound forward. He added that poor play in practice also was a factor, but a secondary one.

"I didn't go into the game with the intention that he wasn't going to play," Skiles said.