Alex Caruso said all the right things.
He always does.
The former Bulls guard talked about his love for his old organization, how he gave “everything I had,” and how he didn’t have one bad thought about the franchise that traded him in July.
From the heart, just the way he played.
He then went out Saturday night and helped his new Thunder teammates completely dismantle the Bulls in their home opener at the United Center, 114-95
Broke their hearts, just the way he still plays.
While the obvious numbers weren’t eye-popping for Caruso – he finished with three points, two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and of course two steals – it’s what he does beyond the box score that now benefits the 2-0 Thunder. The hustle plays, the lock-down defense, and the leadership he brings to both sides of the floor.
Oklahoma City was a great defensive team before they added Caruso, and as the Bulls found out, they are even more lethal on that side of the ball now.
Not that the Bulls (1-2) have shown consistency in the ball security department this season, but what was seemingly cleaned up Friday night in the win over Milwaukee, reared its ugly head yet again against the Thunder, as the Bulls had 26 turnovers, led by Zach LaVine’s seven.
They’re physical defensively, but a lot of it was self-inflicted,” Bulls guard Coby White said of the turnovers. “Just kind of playing too fast. We contributed a lot to the loss as a team, anytime a team goes into a game and you got 26 turnovers, you’re probably going to lose the game.”
And while Donovan obviously didn’t like how his team performed for the second time in just three regular-season games, he had nothing but praise for Caruso and the time he spent coaching him.
He’s great. I love him,” Donovan said. “I obviously had the chance to coach against him for four years when I was at Florida and he was at (Texas) A&M, and I give him a lot of credit because the way he played in college was totally different than the way he’s played in the NBA. I think it just speaks to his IQ, his willingness to do whatever a team needs him to do to impact winning, impact his teammates. He’s the same guy every day. You feel fortunate when you get to be around a guy like that every day.
“And to his credit he figured things out. ‘OK, these are the things I need to do,’ and a lot of times those things are not sexy so to speak. That’s what makes him so unique is he’s willing to do things that a lot of times other players won’t, whether they’re incapable or unwilling.”
What was disappointing was how quickly the game got away from the Bulls.
They couldn’t have asked for a better first quarter considering Oklahoma City is a Western Conference favorite to reach the Finals this season. But there the Bulls were after the first stanza, down just five despite the shaky 2-of-11 shooting from three-point range.
No problem. After all, the second unit seemed to find a rhythm against the Bucks, so maybe that group was on to something. They weren’t and neither were the starters when they came back into the game, with the visiting team outscoring the Bulls 33-18 in that second. Just like that the boat race was on, and the Bulls were using paddles.
All the while having to get used to Caruso wearing Thunder blue.
“Yeah, it was weird,” White said of playing against Caruso. “It’s so new, right? This is the third game of the season. It would be different if it was like Game 30 or 40, but seeing him so early, it’s kind of weird.”