Then again, neither has the rest of the NBA.
March hasn’t exactly been kind to Ayo Dosunmu, as his minutes have dipped, his three-point shooting percentage has all but flat-lined, and he’s lost his starting job.
But what’s been the most noticeable? The former Morgan Park High School standout had some rough defensive moments. Rough enough where coach Billy Donovan has had to pull him for a better bench option.
Sure, the level of competition Dosunmu has been lined up on lately has been some of the league’s best, but according to Donovan, the best explanation was the league a simple one that happens to many impactful first-year players: Dosunmu is no longer sneaking up on anyone.
“I think when a rookie comes in like [Dosunmu] does, who is a unique player and can do things on both ends of the floor, and then the way he competes and the way he plays, he can kind of catch you by surprise with the way he can impact the game and get himself into the game,’’ Donovan said Thursday. “When you take a rookie like he has from coming off the bench now all of a sudden he’s a starter, and he’s one of the first five guys that’s going through the opponents’ scouting report? He’s scouted right now. There wasn’t enough information about him [earlier]. I think he is being scouted. And this is really his growth to me as a player, is how is he now going to be able to counter that? Because the more film that’s out there on you, the more you’re going to see different things.’’
Donovan said that he had a heart-to-heart with Dosunmu about that very topic, letting the second-round pick know that, “He’s got a body of work right now where it’s like, ‘Hey listen, this guy comes into the game, he’s starting, he’s made a huge impact for their team, and you know what? We’ve got to do a great job on him and here’s what we’re going to do.’ ‘’
On the defensive end what they’ve been doing to Dosunmu is rather than trying to play through the screen on pick-and-roll, opposing defenses have simply dropped to protect the paint, daring him to shoot from outside. Donovan feels that has led to some serious indecisiveness by Dosunmu.
“He needs some solutions to help him,’’ Donovan said. “Just calling it like it is. Like he’s got to shoot that shot, and I’ve told him that. He’s going to come off [the screen] and he has to shoot because if you make a couple, then all of a sudden it’s going to open up your driving.’’
With DeMar DeRozan sidelined with a groin strain, Dosunmu was back in the starting lineup against the Pelicans.
Speaking of …
DeRozan described his strained left adductor as “nothing crazy,’’ but it was crazy enough to keep him out of the Pelicans game, and make the veteran All-Star a wait-and-see for the game in Cleveland on Saturday.
“It’s not anything significant and I think [Friday] we’ll get a better idea of where he’s at,’’ Donovan said of DeRozan. “I think DeMar obviously knows his body better than anyone else. I think he felt like, ‘OK, this could get into something else a little more significant if I don’t take care of this.’ It went from tightness to he was feeling it in Milwaukee.’’
It was the fifth game DeRozan had missed this season.
