Outbreak not insurmount-a-Bull
Roster depletion due to COVID-19 may mean little if core and rookie Dosunmu step up
Bulls coach Billy Donovan has done an admirable job in his second season on the West Side, winning with an undersized team that’s still learning how to play together.
If he’s not the front-runner for NBA Coach of the Year award, an investigation is needed.
But after losing four players to the COVID-19 health and safety protocols, including DeMar DeRozan, Donovan was forced on Wednesday to go with a fourman bench against the Cleveland Cavaliers, against whom Troy Brown Jr., Devon Dotson, Tony Bradley and Alize Johnson saw significant minutes and usual reserves Ayo Dosunmu and Derrick Jones Jr. were in the starting lineup.
It turned into one of the more unwatchable losses of the season with the four reserves combining for 16 points on 6-for-19 shooting and Dosunmu managing only two shots in 35 minutes.
The Bulls went 3-for-18 from 3-point range the final three quarters as the Cavs cruised to a 115-92 win.
Adding to the bad news, Jones entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols Thursday, leaving the Bulls six players short as they prepare to take on the Heat on Saturday night in Miami.
Signing Stanley Johnson to a 10-day deal gave them another body, and hopefully Alex Caruso can return from his hamstring injury to help make up for the incredibly shrinking bench. But that’s still an 11-man roster, including two players — Tyler Cook and Marko Simonović — who aren’t ready to play.
You might win a high school game with five starters playing the entire game, but this is the NBA.
So what can Donovan do other than hope the NBA shows mercy on the Bulls and postpones games because of the COVID-19 outbreak?
Barring that unlikely scenario, here are four things that can help the outmanned Bulls survive the next week.
Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic need to step up:
Remember the olden days — in February — when LaVine had to do everything for the Bulls to have a chance to win?
They’re back, at least for the time being. Now all someone needs to do is let Zach know.
LaVine took 21 shots Wednesday and scored 23 points. He’s averaging 19.4 field-goal attempts per game, so it was basically business as usual. But LaVine needs to contribute even more with DeRozan out, even if it comes at the expense of his teammates.
Opposing teams will converge on LaVine, the Bulls’ only remaining consistent scoring threat, and take the risk that no one else will beat them. That should open up shots for Vučević and Lonzo Ball, both adept scorers. But Vučević had an off night Wednesday, going 8-for-23, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range. He’s shooting 35% from the field in his last three games and 27.8 % from 3-point
range. Vučević has had plenty of open looks but still hasn’t consistently found his touch.
Lonzo Ball needs to be less selfish:
If LaVine is double- or tripleteamed, and ‘Vooch” is cold, that leaves things up to Ball, who apparently won’t alter his offensive game with DeRozan out. It’s laudable that Ball is so unselfish, but now he needs to be more of an offensive threat. Now is that time.
Donovan had Ball playing alongside Brown, Bradley, Johnson and Dotson late in the first quarter Wednesday while resting the other starters, and Ball was the only real scorer on the court. But it was like watching a star player competing in the G League.
He made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 24 but missed a 15-footer and two more 3-point
attempts, then didn’t shoot again until slamming home a lob from Dosunmu with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the half.
Ball is a great distributor and defensive player and has improved his 3-point shooting every season in the NBA. But he could emulate LaVine and drive inside more often rather than waiting for an open shot from the perimeter. He’s averaging 11.1 field-goal attempts, including 7.1 from 3-point range.
Because he seldom finishes, Ball rarely is at the free-throw line. His single-game high is three attempts, which he has done the last two games. He has the moves and quickness. It seems logical to add to his game.
Shoot, Ayo, shoot!: It’s probably not fair to put so much on Dosunmu’s shoulders. He’s only a rookie, and he played 42 and 35 minutes the last two games, respectively, after being inserted into the starting lineup.
But two attempts isn’t going to fly, especially when the bench isn’t contributing. Dosunmu has been one of the bright spots of the season after being selected in the second round out of Illinois. Bulls fans love his energy, and DeRozan called him “the epitome of a Chicago kid.”
Dosumu doesn’t have to carry the team. He just needs to be more aggressive on occasion to help make up for DeRozan’s absence.
Rotation roulette: With the Bulls bench so weak right now, does it really make sense to play four of them with one starter, even for a few minutes?
Maybe the Bulls starters, including Caruso if he returns Saturday, can all suck it up and play a few extra minutes until the other rotation regulars — DeRozan, Coby White, Javonte Green and Jones — get back from the health and safety protocols.
The only one who might not be ready for the extra workload is Vučević, who missed seven games last month after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Bulls play only two games in seven days after the Heat, so it’s a relatively low-key stretch by NBA standards. It’s still early in the season, and no one wants Donovan to tire out his stars, especially LaVine and Ball.
But every game matters for a Bulls team looking to finish high enough in the Eastern Conference to get home-court advantage in the postseason. If they manage to survive this next week or two, we might look back on it in April as the most important stretch of the season.