MILWAUKEE — Get them now.
That was Bulls coach Billy Donovan’s advice to his players when discussing the new-look Bucks.
The division rivals had moved on from two great defenders in the offseason in Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews — both Bulls killers — and added scorer extraordinaire Damian Lillard. Those changes have come with some growing pains on both ends of the floor.
So for Donovan, it was better to deal with a team still trying to figure it out in mid-November rather than in January.
Donovan’s players seemingly ignored those words of wisdom in the Bulls’ 118-109 loss Monday.
Despite being outscored 35-18 in the first quarter, the Bulls (4-7) fought back like they always seem to do, actually taking a one-point lead with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.
Quite the feat when you consider how poorly Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan were shooting.
But like Donovan has seen far too often in the early part of the season, this team just can’t embrace a good thing. Milwaukee went on a 13-2 run and never really looked back.
It’s the same Bucks (6-4) that have been a mess on the defensive end since the season tipped off.
“When you start talking about defensive teams and defensive stuff, don’t underestimate how great Holiday is, don’t underestimate Wesley Matthews,’’ Donovan said. “Those guys were like junk-yard-dog killers on defense, and when you’ve got a new team coming back, it takes some time to develop an identity defensively.
“Offensively, it’s probably something they’ve all done. Giannis [Antetokounmpo] has scored a lot of points, so has Damian, so has Khris [Middleton]. As they start to play together defensively, that takes time, as well. It takes time to grow that out.’’
The Bulls had no answer for Antetokounmpo. He scored 35 points on 13-for-22 shooting and had 11 rebounds.
“I didn’t like the way we played him personally,’’ Donovan said. “With him, you have to show crowds. We needed to form more of a wall at the rim, show some support there.’’
Meanwhile, it was a much different shooting night for Donovan’s best players. LaVine and DeRozan combined for an 8-for-33 night, including 2-for-13 from three-point range.
“Certainly, I thought Zach did a really good job of getting downhill [to the rim],’’ Donovan said. “[His misses were] uncharacteristic because he’s such a good finisher. When you have those off shooting nights … listen, they didn’t shoot the ball well from three and neither did we, but a big part of the game was the things we have control over that we have to be better at.’’
Specifically, keeping Milwaukee off the glass in key moments and being better in transition.
Both easy fixes, and as far as DeRozan was concerned, so are the slow shooting nights for the Bulls through the first 11 games.
“Of course, you want to be shooting well,’’ DeRozan said. “Right now we’re not, but we are getting great looks. I’d rather miss them now than down the stretch [of the season]. They’re just not falling. We can’t let that get us frustrated.’’
Just like DeRozan wasn’t going to let his 11-point night frustrate him.
“That won’t happen again, simple as that,’’ DeRozan said. “I don’t make too many guarantees, but when I do, it tends to work in my favor. It won’t happen again.’’
