So why will this season be different, particularly on the offensive end where the team’s failure to join the three-point revolution the past two seasons oftentimes left them behind the eight ball?
By Drew Stevens
There’s no need to squint.
The latest version of the Chicago Bulls looks a lot like the one that finished in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, missed the playoffs and never won more than three games in a row last season.
Conventional wisdom said it was time to shake things up between DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević. The front office, instead, stayed the course this summer and signed Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig via free agency.
But, while the two defensive-minded veterans offer toughness and an ability to stretch the floor, neither figure to be material difference makers.
So why will this season be different, particularly on the offensive end where the team’s failure to join the three-point revolution the past two seasons oftentimes left them behind the eight ball?
For Billy Donovan, the answer is clear.
“I think what changes our shot profile is how well we can attack the paint,” Donovan told The Bigs during Media Day Monday. “We’ve gotta not only play fast, but play with a purpose, so to speak, and get into situations where we have a mentality that is gonna change our shot profile.”
To Donovan, that means players properly spacing the floor and making quicker decisions with the ball.
The idea isn’t to stray too far away from LaVine and DeRozan, two of the top isolation scorers in the Association, but rather to weaponize the threat they pose to opposing defenses.
“They see crowds a lot,” Donovan said. When they get off the ball, we’ve gotta be able to make that next play to kind of get the defense into some rotation. Your offense is generally predicated on how often and how much you can get two people on the ball in the half court. And then you’ve gotta try to attack from there.”
But that’s just half the battle.
In diagnosing of some of what’s ailed his new team in the past, Carter pointed toward timidity.
“Just reluctant to shoot,” the Maywood native, who helped the Milwaukee Bucks dispatch the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs two seasons ago, said before offering his philosophy on the matter.
“Basketball is a team game, so if we need you to shoot certain shots then as a team we need you to take those shots.”
Whether or not they fall will go a long way in determining if the Bulls exceed expectations this season.
Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley spent the summer scoffing at the idea of breaking up DeRozan, LaVine and Vučevič — a trio that’s 59-65 since Lonzo Ball went down and scored, at best, 112.1 points per 100 possessions on the court together the past two seasons.
When asked why him and his former All-Star teammates expect different results this season, DeRozan responded with a proverb.
“Because the third time is a charm.”
For what exactly?
We’ll see.