Hibachi Is On but Nothing Is Cooking, Yet

So far this preseason, the "hibachi grill" has been set on low and the scoring binges that made Gilbert Arenas a most valuable player candidate last season have been absent. Arenas, who has played in three of the Wizards' four preseason games, has made 4 of 24 shots overall and 2 of 10 from three-point range but likes the way his shot feels and isn't concerned about percentages.

The preseason is about "finding his legs" and "getting a rhythm," he says.

"I'm mostly trying to focus on how I move, moving around with the ball, trying to break people down off the dribble," said Arenas, who finished with eight points on 1-of-5 shooting with one assist and three turnovers in Tuesday's 97-76 loss to the Chicago Bulls. "I'm making shots in practice and in pregame drills, so I'm not worried about that right now."

Arenas said he has felt no discomfort in his surgically repaired left knee but was hampered by a sore toe, which caused him to sit out of the team's win at Philadelphia on Sunday night.

In the first half of Tuesday's game, Arenas didn't appear to be holding anything back when he scrapped for a rebound with Bulls rookie forward Joakim Noah. The two fought for possession of the ball as they went to the floor, where Arenas was able to force a jump ball.

Bulls point guard Kirk Hinrich, who has defended Arenas numerous times over the years, said he detected nothing different in his rival Tuesday night.

"He looked pretty quick to me," Hinrich said. "He was getting to his spots where he likes to shoot, so I didn't see anything different about him at all."

Kids at Play

Rookies Nick Young, Dominic McGuire and Oleksiy Pecherov were tested Tuesday by a Bulls defense that is intense and as fundamentally sound as any in the league, and by a Bulls offense that features crisp ball movement, sharp cutting and accurate shooting.

At times, the "kids" held their own. Other times, they were a step behind.

Young led the way by scoring a preseason-high 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting but sometimes got lost defensively. McGuire finished with an impressive five blocks to go along with six rebounds but also missed 4 of 5 shots. Pecherov posted 12 points and eight rebounds but also committed five turnovers. All three were on the floor during a rough third period when the offense stagnated, turnovers piled up (nine in the period) and the Bulls ripped off 36 points.

"It wasn't a good matchup for them, but it was a good learning experience," Coach Eddie Jordan said. "If it had been a fight, they would've called it early. But it was a good experience to go against a playoff team and see what they do, how they play and how they behave."

To get Young and McGuire prepared for the game, Arenas woke them early Monday morning and brought them to United Center for extra shooting. They checked out the statue of Michael Jordan, and Young couldn't help but look up at the rafters where the Bulls' six championship banners hang.

"That was the first thing I looked for," Young said. "Man, that's a lot of championships. I want a few of those."

International Flavor

The Wizards host Zalgiris Kaunas, a team from Lithuania that has played several NBA teams this preseason, tomorrow night at Verizon Center. Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson, who were given the night off Tuesday, will play. Forward Antawn Jamison, who rolled his left ankle in the first quarter Tuesday night and did not return, said he was "fine" after the game and described the sprain as "mild."