None of this has caught Billy Donovan off guard.
Maybe that’s why he sounded more sage than coach from Day 1 of the Bulls’ training camp.
“I knew this year was going to be a lot harder than last year, I just knew what was coming, and I’m not surprised,’’ Donovan has said several times, including last week.
Further evidence of that difficulty was again on display in the overtime loss to Oklahoma City on Friday night. More defensive lulls, more careless turnovers, and again not always understanding how to take advantage of mismatches.
“We’ve just got to be able to stay the course and respond,’’ Donovan said. “Like I said, this wasn’t going to be easy.’’
Breaking the stallions rarely is.
It’s not an excuse for the 8-11 record, but what Donovan and his staff have been trying to do on the offensive end is change habits. Not only habits from last season, but for several players, habits they’ve had for years.
Simply put by Donovan, if the Bulls want to reach the second round of the playoffs – where executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has set the bar – then they need to be less DeMar DeRozan-centric.
“DeMar took us as far as he can take us, and we really have to look at, OK, how can we make another step or jump?’’ Donovan explained. “If we get back to that, where it’s all [isolations] all the time, it just gets too easy to defend. This is going to take some time offensively for us to play the way we need to play, which is a little bit different.’’
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to lean on DeRozan, especially late in games. Crunch time often comes down to isolation basketball, my best vs. your best. Since last season, there have been few better than DeRozan in fourth-quarter scoring and hero moments. Donovan just doesn’t want everyone standing around and hoping DeRozan can throw the cape on and carry the day.
So while back-to-back victories over Boston and Milwaukee this week were considered the signature wins of the young season, it might actually be a Nov. 7 game against Toronto that Donovan would point to.
Getting 35 points from the bench that night was huge, as was Zach LaVine’s 30, while youngsters Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu added a combined 22.
As for DeRozan?
Nine points, including 5-of-6 from the free throw line, six rebounds, but the real kicker? Seven assists. That didn’t include the hockey assists that led to a basket because of DeRozan’s presence and spacing.
Bigger picture? In the eight Bulls wins this season, DeRozan averaged 22.6 points and 5.6 assists per game. In the 11 losses, the veteran was 28.7 points and 3.7 assists.
Compare that to LaVine, who was averaging 22.3 points per game in wins and 19.9 points in losses.
So is less of DeRozan actually more in Donovan’s new-look offense? Not necessarily. The coach wants better spacing – that’s why Nikola Vucevic has found himself with career numbers in corner threes already this season – but also doesn’t want the ball sticking to one player too long.
The fourth quarter in the win at Milwaukee was a film gem that Donovan could also point to.
DeRozan got his 36 in that game, but also had a team-high eight assists. In that final stanza, however, it was just five points from DeRozan.
Fast forward to the loss to the Thunder and the overtime, LaVine, Vucevic, and DeRozan were the only three to take shots – although LaVine and Vucevic only put up three-pointers – and DeRozan was the only one that scored, going 3-for-6.
Easily defended, difficult to win.
So was the loss in Oklahoma City really a shocker? For some. Just not Donovan.
