<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Offer Was Not Close Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace flew to Buenos Aires to personally woo Andres Nocioni, over dinner last summer. Surprisingly, the Grizzlies followed with only a slightly more lucrative offer than the five-year, $37.5 million Nocioni signed to stay with the Bulls, for whom he is averaging 14.5 points in just over 25 minutes per game. "I was a little bit surprised because they told me how they need me," Nocioni said. "But it's no problem for me, believe me. ... It wasn't close. We talked for one hour and that's it. Then the Chicago Bulls give me the offer and I prefer to play for Chicago because it's the organization that gave me the opportunity to play in the NBA." -- The Chicago Tribune</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Bulls interim coach Jim Boylan said the Bulls' season would be worse without Nocioni. "Nocioni has brought so much," Boylan said. "Some of it you can't even measure. His work ethic and his toughness and the way he conducts himself is a good example for our young players. He puts the work in and plays through pain." -- The Commercial-Appeal</div>
