MIAMI – There was the layup off the fast break, courtesy of a Coby White dime. Fourteen seconds later a steal and another layup, and just like that the Bulls lead was back up to 10.
Ayo Dosunmu wasn’t done in Thursday’s pivotal third quarter, either.
Another layup in transition 20 seconds later, and then a 13-foot pull-up jumper right after that.
The “hound” was loose, and he was locked on a scent.
Just another reminder of what a Chicago born-and-raised basketball player can bring to the court.
“The way he carries himself on the court, the aggressiveness he plays with, the confidence he plays with,” teammate Coby White said of Dosunmu and his Chicago roots. “I think a lot of Chicago guys, they’re just dawgs, they’re hounds on both ends of the court. But defensively he’s a dawg. On offense, he’s relentless. You can tell he’s from Chicago by the way he plays. He has a killer mentality and every time he steps on the floor you know he’s going to give his all and compete at a very high level no matter how the game is going.”
Dosunmu finished the win over Miami with a season-high 24 points and did so on a ridiculous 10-of-12 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range.
But he also added eight rebounds and five assists.
Without question his best game of the year, and maybe the best game of his three-year career.
Not without some serious work in the lab, however.
There’s a reason that White and Dosunmu have become so close in the last few years. Dosunmu has seen all the work White has put into his game – specifically fixing his weaknesses – and is following suit.
A top priority has been finishing at the rim, which hasn’t been the easiest transition for the former Morgan Park standout. In his three seasons at Illinois, few guards in the Big Ten were better than Dosunmu when it came to attacking the rim.
The guard was playing a speed game, and the opposition was the turtle.
Life in the Association has been a bit more difficult, and Dosunmu has been finding that out since his rookie year. So last summer was about adding muscle while not forfeiting any speed, but also Dosunmu studying film and the way other guards attack the rim and the big men defending it.
It’s been paying off.
“If you look at most of the (better) guards in the NBA who finish at the rim, Kyrie (Irving), Kyrie is good because he has amazing touch,” Dosunmu explained. “His touch is second to none and then you have guys like Steph Curry. He has a similar touch, but when he does it’s different from mine because our bodies are different. So I want to pretty much take some of the Kyrie touch when you get to the rim and put it off the backboard with different angles because when you get to the rim with seven footers you have to get it over them … not what I was accustomed to in college.”
Not the only players he’s been studying, either. Dosunmu has a few guys on his own roster that know how to keep rim protectors off balance.
According to Dosunmu, White is good at slowing defenders down and putting them on his back hip, while DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine also have a unique style.
“Seeing DeMar and how he gets to the rim at different angles, at some point, you have to have that touch around the rim and not just the speed and athleticism,” Dosunmu said. “Zach, the way he gets in there. It’s just about finding ways to get better.”
Which the Bulls need Dosunmu to do.
LaVine (right foot) is still weeks away from a return, and now Alex Caruso (left ankle) could again be sidelined. There are minutes to be had, and Dosunmu is proving to be a strong candidate to grab them.
Release the hound.
