Josh Giddey is getting attacked defensively.
On a team full of suspect defenders, teams are hunting out the Giddey matchup and succeeding. His lack of lateral quickness makes it easier for guards to thrive and blow past him easily. It’s not uncommon for a talented guard to get targeted defensively, but Giddey has to fight back at a certain point. The team and Giddey, who is keenly self-aware, know that.
“We’ve got to get better at being able to do multiple things and we’ve got to help him find solutions,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Then the other part of it, too, is he’s got to execute. We got to be able to execute the things that we’re in. We’ve got to help give him where he’s got multiple things that he can do, and the ability to move in and out of dead balls or timeouts to change coverages.”
Entering Sunday’s game against the Rockets, the Bulls had a 120 defensive rating with Giddey on the court, which would rank last in the NBA. Conversely, the Bulls had a 107.3 defensive rating with Giddey off the court, which would rank among the best defenders.
“There’s going to be times in the game where there’s a guy against a player in space and there’s an individual pride component that comes into really having to sit down and guard the ball with the level of discipline,” Donovan said.
The Bulls have gone through this before with guard Coby White. The Rockets had to deal with guard Jalen Green’s shortcomings defensively. It’s almost a rite of passage for young players to learn how to survive defensively. Understanding game plans, positioning, and opponent tendencies are ways that Giddey can improve. He’s never going to be a difference-maker on that end, but if he wants to close games, he’ll have to show more of a fight.
But half of defense is having a want-to attitude. Green is surrounded by better defenders than what the Bulls surround Giddey with, but he’s also shown incremental improvement by tapping into his athleticism and being more engaged. Rockets coach Ime Udoka said he’s seen improvements in Green’s recognition on defense but also noted his competitiveness has been key.
“We have three, four or five really good defenders out there,” Udoka said of Houston’s roster. “[Green] doesn’t want to be the weak link that teams are trying to target.”
Vucevic’s start
Center Nikola Vucevic struggled with his shot last season, shooting a career-low 29 percent from three. This season has seen the veteran center find his shooting touch. Entering Sunday’s game, Vucevic was averaging 21 points.
Donovan praised Vucevic’s professionalism in taking care of his body, which is one reason for the bounce-back offensive performance so far. The other reason Donovan said is the team’s high-octane style of play suits Vucevic. He’s shooting 44 percent on non-corner threes, according to Cleaning the Glass.
“The speed and pace at which we’ve been trying to play has helped him because he is such a great defensive rebounder,” Donovan said. “There are times when he’s coming down the floor, he’s in a lot of trail situations, and if our guards have flattened the floor out, and it gets thrown back to him, he’s been really good shooting it.”