DON’T STOP, DOUG
HOIBERG: MCDERMOTT SHOULD KEEP SHOOTING THREE SEVEN IF COLD
A scoreless first half would have crushed Doug McDermott last season.
It would have ripped the fragile confidence from the thenBulls rookie and reduced him to a player that hardly resembled the 11th overall pick from the 2014 draft. Not now, however. At least not this preseason. That was on full display in the exhibition opener at the United Center, as the 6-8 small forward went 0-for-5 in the first half from beyond the arc, but came out in the second half and kept firing. All McDermott did was finish with 23 points, including 5-for11 from long range. McDermott had 15 points and was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc in Thursday’s 112-94 loss to the Nuggets.
“The great thing about Doug was I think he was 0-for-5 at halftime, and for him to come out and continue to shoot was a great sign,’’ coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He might have put his head down a little bit in the past, but he kept his confidence going, and it was great to see.’’
Even better to do.
“Just took a deep breath,’’ McDermott said of the showing. “I think the whole team did. Kind of the first-game jitters.
“It felt good. That’s what I do, that’s what they brought me in for. It’s one day, one game, so I can’t dwell on it. Obviously there’s a 100 more of these left, so move on.’’
That will be the key for McDermott and the Bulls. McDermott did great in the preseason last year, but he will be judged based on how he performs when the regular-season lights turn on.
That’s why the team has put so much into him this offseason. Hoiberg had him shooting at the Advocate Center as much as possible, while Jimmy Butler brought him out to San Diego and had him up at 5 a.m. for his infamous “Camp Butler’’ workouts.
“He’s one of those guys that, every time he shoots you think it’s going in,’’ Hoiberg said. “When he stands right on the line he’s not as effective as when he’s got a little momentum going into it. That’s a tough shot if you’re just standing. Not a lot of guys can shoot that shot, so when he gets that one-two rhythm step into his shot he generally shoots it better.
“But he’s one of those guys that goes around and shoots 100 threes after practice, very rarely does he make less than 90 of them. He’s a guy that when he shoots it, you expect him to make it.’’
That’s why Butler told him at halftime of the preseason opener against Milwaukee to forget the rough start and keep firing.
“It’s all about confidence,’’ Butler said. “If Doug is confident he’s going to be a b-word in this league because he can really shoot the hell out of the ball, man. If he just doesn’t get down after he misses his first three shots. Just wait on that first one to go in.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Man, I don’t understand why I gotta wait on my first shot.’ I was like, ‘Man, a lot of people are like that, but once you get that one, you start rolling.’ He’s going to have a game where he’s going to shoot like 0-for-15. I’ll probably have more than he will, but it doesn’t matter. It’s part of the game. You can’t let that stop you. You shoot 0-for-15 you gotta try to go 1-for-16.’’
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