Coach Tom Thibodeau, whose Chicago Bulls have lost seven of their past 10 games, said Wednesday his team can’t use the controversy surrounding Derrick Rose’s possible return as an excuse.

“Hey, we knew going in, we knew what the circumstances were going to be this year,” Thibodeau said. “We had no idea, there was no timetable, there was no doubt where we were saying, ‘OK, he’s going to be back this date.’ It’s when he’s ready, and we knew that going in.

“We can’t allow (his possible return) to be an excuse for us not getting the job done. We got to get the job done. We’ve shown that we’re capable and obviously capable of playing better than we have been recently.”

via Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com