LAVINE JUST NEEDS KILLER INSTINCT
LaVine has all the skills to reach the top; he just needs to develop killer instinct
The praise for guard Zach LaVine’s talent remains high.
His talent ceiling, however, has been up for debate for a few seasons.
But not from within the Bulls’ locker room, where the feeling is LaVine, who had 18 points and nine assists in the Bulls’ 111-108 victory Tuesday night against the host Trail Blazers, isn’t close to topping out. Actually, he’s only scratching the surface of what kind of player he can become.
“Seeing Zach up close now in person, the things he can do from a physical standpoint are something that I’ve never seen as a teammate from anybody I’ve ever played with,’’ well-traveled guard Garrett Temple said. “He’s easily the most athletic, the most fluid teammate I’ve ever had. With the skills to match — in terms of the ability to shoot, the ability to get to where he wants to on the court, finish.’’
So why hasn’t LaVine been associated with winning basketball in his six previous seasons?
That’s a bit more difficult to answer. Since coming out of UCLA as the 13th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, LaVine has only seen the postseason on TV. He’s also seen more than a handful of coaching changes between Minnesota and Chicago, and his teammates should’ve worn name tags with all the roster movement he has experienced. Should elite talent outshine that?
If it was all-around talent, maybe. But as much praise as LaVine is getting from his coaches and teammates this season, he’s also getting some pull-no-punches honesty. Few can score as easily as LaVine, but there’s more to stardom than just points per game in the box score.
Coach Billy Donovan has been trying to beat that home with LaVine since training camp.
“I think the talent is definitely there, there’s no question,’’ Donovan said. “The biggest thing for me was his mindset and his aggressiveness to attack and to play. And obviously he’s got to make good decisions, but I think for Zach, it’s got to be a consistent every-night mentality for him, where he’s coming with the mentality of ‘I’m going to be aggressive. I’m going to kind of impose my athleticism into the game on both ends of the floor.’ ’’
It’s not like LaVine hasn’t heard this from previous coaches, but sometimes only certain voices resonate.
The hope is enough of them are reaching LaVine at 25.
“He wants to win, and obviously his first six years in the league, he’s played for a lot of different coaches, a lot of different terminology, all those kinds of things, but I think for him, he’s got incredible upside,’’ Donovan said. “But a lot of it is going to come down to, what level does he want to get to as a player? The talent is there. He’s got to take it upon himself to be responsible for the aggressiveness that he displays every game.’’
The good thing for Donovan and the Bulls is that they have LaVine signed for this season and next, so there’s time for the new regime to determine if he does have a higher ceiling. Temple made his opinion clear.
“If you go back and watch film on [Michael] Jordan, Kobe [Bryant], the reason these guys are great is not only because they have the elite athleticism and skills, but they’re consistently just at your neck every single time,’’ Temple said. ‘‘They’re out for blood every single play, every single night. I think Zach getting that into his game, the rest of the team will follow suit. If he has that mindset every single game, every single play, that will really raise his level.’’