There’s a simplicity in how Patrick Beverley is choosing to approach Wednesday’s do-or-die play-in game.
Sure, the Bulls guard was downplaying the magnitude of it, but he also understood the accountability piece of the outcome.
The coaching staff can put together the two great practice days leading up to the game in Toronto, head coach Billy Donovan can put together a top-notch game plan, and the front office could have added the perfect personnel for this time of the year, but at the end of the day it comes down to the players.
Make or miss, execute or freeze-up.
It’s really that simple.
“I’ve been playing this game since I was a kid,’’ Beverley said. “The game really doesn’t change. The people in it [do]. The speed of it changes. The amount of three-point attempts changes. But it’s still the same game. Being selfless. If you’re supposed to cut, cut. If you’re supposed to pass it, pass it. Just being a basketball player.’’
Beverley, maybe more than any other Bull, understands what will happen if he and his teammates can’t deliver on being just “a basketball player.’’ When you’ve been on four different teams since 2021 like Beverley, that lesson is very clear.
Failure in Toronto will undoubtedly mean major changes in the locker room.
Donovan and his coaching staff all received contract extensions back in fall camp. The Sun-Times learned that most of the major players throughout the front office were also extended prior to the 2023-24 campaign.
The Bulls rarely detail front office contracts, so that’s why there was no announcement or leak of it.
That means if the Bulls fail to reach expectations — expectations that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas set at reaching at least the second round of the playoffs — the accountability will fall directly on the players, even with how flawed this roster was constructed.
Stability at its finest throughout the offices of the Advocate Center.
Which could be the difference in how Bulls-Raptors plays out.
On paper, Toronto is a bad matchup for the Bulls. Facing opponents that are long, athletic, and physical has more often than not been the Achilles Heel of a Zach LaVine-led team.
Unlike the Bulls, however, Toronto’s house is broken.
Coach Nick Nurse is rumored to be on his way to another job, there’s talk about the locker room already quitting on their coach before he officially quits on them, as a season of promise was instead met with one underachieving moment after another.
Starting point guard Fred VanVleet and bench scorer Gary Trent Jr. each have player options for next season, so could always opt out to get off the sinking ship, while big man Jakob Poeltl will be a free agent.
So even if the lineup is more talented than the Bulls from top to bottom, will the Raptors be motivated enough to overcome the adverse moments that happen in a one-and-done scenario like this play-in game offers up?
That remained to be seen.
Bulls guard Alex Caruso had no problem expressing where his money was going.
“I have all the confidence in the world in our guys,’’ Caruso said. “Everything resets every night. We’ve had some downs this season, but when you’ve put the money on the line for us, big games, big moments, we’ve put our best foot forward.
“We’ve got great leadership with Pat, me, DeMar [DeRozan] has played in a ton of playoff games, Vooch [Nikola Vucevic] is experienced, Zach a little bit now, and I’ve got faith in our young guys taking that big step. I just think that we have the tools to win a game like this, and that’s all I need to see or believe in.’’
