HE SURE ISN’T A DOUBTING TOMAS
SATORANSKY KNOWS TO KEEP SHOOTING, EVEN IF SHOTS AREN’T FALLING
In his three-plus NBA seasons, Bulls point guard Tomas Satoransky has learned that there are going to be stretches when his shots just aren’t falling. The important thing is not to dwell on it.
Just look at this month.
In the first nine games of December, Satoransky shot 36.6 percent from the field and a meager 16.7 percent from three-point range (4-for-71).
Though it was a brutally cold shooting spell, Satoransky’s confidence didn’t waver. And it seems he has snapped out of his funk in the last week.
Satoransky took charge in important moments for the Bulls in the last three games. He led them with 10 points in the first quarter against the Pistons last Saturday, and he made four threes in a 20-point performance Monday against the Magic.
“It’s a long season [with] ups and downs,” said Satoransky, who has scored 15 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. “So those ups and downs are there sometimes, but you try to eliminate those. I’m still a very confident shooter, especially in catch-and-shoot. When I have a bad shooting game, I’m still believing I can make another one.”
Satoransky also has benefitted from having Kris Dunn in the starting lineup. Dunn, who’s playing in place of Otto Porter Jr. while he recovers from a foot injury, is an experienced ballhandler, allowing the Bulls to run the offense through him, too. That frees up Satoransky to play off the ball more.
“He’s a terrific shooter, one of our better shooters,” coach Jim Boylen said after practice Friday. “The beauty of Tomas is he can play on the ball or off the ball, [and] he can guard multiple positions. And KD and him seem to be getting some chemistry — who handles when, who runs which actions more effectively, or they kind of talk those things out, figure it out, and it’s been really good for us.”
Satoransky is a perfectionist. He strives for greatness, and that’s one of the many traits Boylen admires in him. But there’s a point where that obsession with perfection can be maddening.
“He’s very hard on himself,” Boylen said. “And he’s got to make sure he keeps playing forward and not backwards because he cares, he’s trying, but he’s really hard on himself and he holds himself to a really high standard, which I think is important, but don’t be too hard on yourself.
“You can’t play backwards in this league. There are too many possessions.”
Satoransky, who is averaging 10 points, 5.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds, believes the Bulls have made strides the last few weeks.
They’re 6-6 in December, with the Hawks coming to the United Center on Saturday. After that, their schedule gets increasingly more difficult — not that they’re focused on that.
Satoransky said the Bulls are taking it one game at a time — a philosophy he also has learned to use personally.
“We know what we have now in January,” he said. “It’s going to be probably the toughest month. I think it’s like 17 games that month, a lot of traveling, a lot of back-to-backs . . . . But we know what we have to do, and we know about the schedule.” ✶
‘‘HE’S A TERRIFIC SHOOTER, ONE OF OUR BETTER SHOOTERS. THE BEAUTY OF TOMAS IS HE CAN PLAY ON THE BALL OR OFF THE BALL, [AND] HE CAN GUARD MULTIPLE POSITIONS.”
JIM BOYLEN, BULLS COACH, ON TOMAS SATORANSKY