Bulls coach Billy Donovan has spent the week making sure his players understand what’s sustainable and what’s not, as the Bulls start the final push for postseason hopes.
Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP
SAN FRANCISCO – Billy Donovan works from a space of transparency.
It might not always sit well with his players or even the rest of his staff, but the Bulls coach knows what winning looks like and what is sustainable.
The first two wins of this current four-city road trip? Unsustainable in Donovan’s estimation.
Sure, they’ll get away with poor rebounding nights and going after loose balls with 50% effort against the likes of the Washingtons and Charlottes, and did get away with it against Sacramento and then Utah on Wednesday night, but Donovan had bigger hopes for this roster than that.
He just might have started seeing them, with the Bulls pulling out one of their more impressive wins of the season on Thursday, beating Golden State 125-122.
By the way, a Warriors team that had been 14-4 over their last 18 games going into the showdown with the Bulls (31-32).
“One of the things I’ve talked to those guys about is if you want to get to a point after April 14 (the end of the regular season) that you’re playing in a situation that are meaningful games – not to say the regular season isn’t meaningful – but everybody is playing for that moment,” Donovan said. “There are things that are going to happen in those games, the physicality of the games, calls are not going to go your way, the ability to rebound the basketball and physically put your body in plays, the loose balls, all of those things.
“We had two games we were able to overcome it (to start the trip), but you’re not going to overcome it against the teams that are still left playing after April 14.”
And while second-chance points were still an issue and the rebounding was better but still at a deficit, there was hustle and effort after loose balls, evident by the 22 points off 14 turnovers.
“It feels good, but we’ve got to keep bigger picture,” guard Alex Caruso said after the latest win. “Billy did a good job in Utah at shootaround focusing us in because we were a little too loose going through stretches and stuff, and I think it showed.”
It showed up Thursday, as DeMar DeRozan was his usual closer self, and Nikola Vucevic was a problem all night long, matching DeRozan’s 33 with 33 of his own.
“They really make you make the right decision,” Vucevic said. “I was trying to be aggressive, play off my teammates and I just want to continue to play that way.”
Both Sacramento and Utah outrebounded the Bulls, and in the coach’s estimation, the missed defensive rebounds that led to second-chance points was what was egregious. There was still some cleanup in that department even after being the Warriors.
Come play-in time against the likes of an Indiana or even a Philadelphia with injured MVP Joel Embiid back, missing a few box outs will be the difference between playing postseason basketball or signing up for exit interviews before going home.
“I’ve even talked about the same thing offensively,” Donovan continued. “OK, it’s great because sometimes you play against a defensive team that isn’t that stout, but OK, is that going to work against a top five defense? I think that’s the way you have to measure yourself. We talk a lot about that, the stuff that is sustainable in those moments. What’s not sustainable is giving up the number of rebounds we’ve given up, missing out on some of those 50-50 balls.
“When scouting is out of the game, and a lot of times scouting is out of the game in transition, when rebounds are on the glass, someone is isolated one-on-one, loose ball – like there’s no scouting report for that. It’s like, ‘Go compete, go play!’ “
The Bulls will have a chance to do that Saturday against the Clippers, as well as completing possibly the best road trip of the season.