‘D’ diligence, at least from LaVine
Scoring 128 points in a preseason opener is one thing.
But needing that many once the regular season begins is not a good business plan, point guard Kris Dunn said.
“We’re not trying to strive for that,’’ Dunn said Monday. “Runand-gun ain’t going to win you games. You’ve got to guard in this league. There are only a few teams that can run-and-gun, and they’re very talented, and they get away with it. But we’re still young, still learning, and we’ve still got to improve.
“I feel like if we all focus and lock in, come together and play good defense, we can be good.’’
The problem is getting certain teammates to buy in.
Jabari Parker raised some eyebrows with his philosophy on defense right after he signed his two-year, $40 million free-agent deal with the Bulls, insisting on The Score, “I just stick to my strengths. Look at everybody in the league, they don’t pay players to play defense . . . . I’m not going to say I won’t, but to say that’s a weakness is like saying that’s everybody’s weakness because I’ve scored 30 and 20 on a lot of guys that say they play defense.
. . . A better offense wins a championship.’’
And then there’s Zach LaVine, who has been at the lower end of all major defensive analytics since entering the league.
LaVine at least seems to care about correcting that weakness, insisting at the start of training camp that his defensive focus has been an issue and that he was committed to fixing that aspect of his game.
So far, so good.
“That’s the biggest thing, to make sure [LaVine] continues to do it consistently,’’ coach
Fred Hoiberg said. “He’s had some really good defensive possessions. He had some really good possessions [Sunday] night [against the Pelicans]. But then he also had a few where, for example, he made a shot and kind of ran back with a home-run trot, and his guy got in front of him. Those are the kinds of things we have to limit.
“And it wasn’t just Zach. As a team, a big part of our defense is taking away easy baskets. And there were too many of those.’’
Dunn has no problem getting on LaVine about defense because of their history together, but he was leaving Parker’s defense to the coaching staff.
“I leave the bigger guys to the coaches,’’ Dunn said. “But with Zach, you know I feel like he has the athletic ability and the speed to be a good defender, and I tell him all the time, ‘You know you can easily do it.’ It’s just a focus thing, a pride thing. [On Sunday] night, he got a steal, and that’s something he can do often because he’s athletic and has the speed.’’
Unscathed
The news of Lauri Markkanen (right elbow) being on the shelf possibly for two months was a huge blow for the Bulls. Luckily, they came out of the game against New Orleans with no further injuries, Hoiberg said.
They should have a similar rotation Wednesday against the Bucks.