Mirotic talks a good game
Despite evidence to contrary, he says bench is among best
Nikola Mirotic knew exactly how he sounded.
“I know what people are going to say,” Mirotic said after the upset win over the Spurs on Thursday. “People are going to say, ‘ That Niko, that Niko is crazy.’ I will prove to them I am not crazy.”
Tough sell, but one that the Bulls forward was all in on. Then he said it: “We have one of the best benches in the entire league.” Insert laughter here. Maybe it was the excitement of handing the Spurs their first road loss of the season. Maybe it was the fact that the Bulls’ bench finally showed up, totaling 26 points and 12 rebounds. Maybe it was how the second unit was called out by the coaching staff after the morning shootaround.
But not only was Mirotic committed to that belief — as far- fetched as it looked through 21 games — he wanted an audience to break down his belief, point by point.
“OK, let’s start with Doug McDermott,’’ an animated Mirotic said. “Coming off the bench, who is a better shooter than Doug McDermott? Shooting, his defense is much better, he can rebound the ball and he is still learning how to come in and be strong whether it’s pick- and- roll or the way he cuts. He knows they are chasing him now, so he’s learning how to pass the ball.
“Let’s talk about BP [ Bobby Portis] and Cris [ Felicio]. Big guys, strong guys, guys with energy. Michael Carter- Williams, once he gets back from injury. ‘ Can’ [ Isaiah
“People can think I’m crazy, but I believe in us. It’s on us to prove it, and let’s start from today and tell me in a month if you think my comment is crazy.” Nikola Mirotic, on the Bulls having one of the best benches in the NBA
Canaan], shooter. What about me, too? Once we are all together, confident, on the same page, I’m telling you, we have a point guard, have shooters, have centers, we have everything.
“People can think I’m crazy, but I believe in us. It’s on us to prove it, and let’s start from today and tell me in a month if you think my comment is crazy.”
Based on the first month- plus of the season, the comment isn’t only crazy, it’s completely false.
In the Bulls’ first three losses of the season, the first team came out lacking energy and paid for it. But in five of the six losses since the start of the circus trip, the first team has built momentum, only to watch the bench come in and drain it.
“We take pride in coming in and trying to sustain the lead, if not grow the lead,’’ McDermott said. “That’s something our bench wasn’t doing the last couple weeks. I know the guys were taking it personal. We’re all professional basketball players. We want to succeed, and we want to help out these guys who are busting their butt in that first unit to get us out to good leads. We take it personal when teams come back at us.’’
And now they seem ready to do something about that. McDermott is back after missing 11 games because of a concussion, and Carter-Williams could be back by the end of December.
That’s what Mirotic is looking toward.
“We had a meeting [ Thursday] morning, and we were thinking it would be about what we could do better, the starters, and instead the main message was, ‘ Our bench needs to be much better.’ That hit us hard,” Mirotic said. “I think we finally had a great moment [ Thursday night]. The way we played against the Spurs is how we have to play every game. We have one of the best benches in the league. Niko is not crazy.’’
Let’s say the jury is still out on that one.