Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu will occasionally watch film clips of his rookie self, and he has a prevailing thought after perusing through the clips.
“I would destroy my rookie self now,” Dosunmu told the Sun-Times after a recent practice.
Dosunmu used words and phrases like “jittery” and “less calm” to describe his rookie self. His feeling like a completely different player is a testament to his steady development.
But Dosunmu didn’t accelerate out of the gate at the beginning of his third season. From the beginning of the season until Dec. 30, Dosunmu averaged 7.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Solid production, but below his career numbers. But something clicked for Dosunmu at the turn of the new year.
From Jan. 2 until the end of the season, Dosunmu averaged 15.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds while starting 32 games and shooting 43.2% on 4.7 attempts. In totality, Dosunmu averaged 12.2 points, 3.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds in a career-high 29.1 minutes.
“That’s why you train and play the game of basketball, to elevate,” Dosunmu said. “You always want to elevate. If I had looked at my rookie self and said, ‘I’m still doing the same thing now,’ then I’m not growing as a player. The fact that I feel that way is exciting. It’s about taking the next step and the next jump.”
Dosunmu is entering his fourth NBA season after a busy offseason that included workouts in Dallas, Miami and Chicago. He’s ready to take the next step in his development after adding to his offensive repertoire combined with his usual standout defensive play.
“The NBA, it’s a what have you done for me lately league,” Dosunmu said. “No one cares about what you did your rookie year or last year. You have to keep proving yourself in this league.”
‘You master the simplicity’
With that mentality, Dosunmu and his father, Quam, and brother, Kube, sat down and wrote a plan on how Dosunmu would attack the offseason. Family is a big part of Dosunmu’s success, he leans on their support and values their feedback.
He understood that he couldn’t accomplish everything in a day or a month, so he and his family ranked the skills that needed to be attacked most —like off-the-dribble three-pointers and pick-and-roll reads — and devised a plan on how to attack them.
He spent three weeks with renowned NBA trainer Tim Martin, who has an exhaustive client list that includes Hawks guard Trae Young, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey — is extensive and impressive. But first, Dosunmu wanted to master the fundamentals.
“I promise you, the workout videos … you would think it’s the simplest stuff watching it, but when you’re actually doing it and trying to really perfect those details, it’s a whole different ball game,” Dosunmu said. “The one thing about Tim is that he doesn’t really care about all the dribble, dribble, stuff. He incorporates it eventually, but he’s about fundamentals, learning how to score in angles and learning how to keep things simple.
“You master the simplicity, and that’s when you start adding the layers.”
Dosunmu worked on shooting three-pointers off the dribble, pull-up jumpers and reading defenses out of the pick-and-roll and diversifying how he attacks particular coverages — drop coverage, blitz and hard hedges — which is important as he averaged 0.91 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball handler, according to NBA.com.
Dosunmu anticipated that because of the film out on him — particularly after a strong finish to his season — that coaches would try to cut off his downhill drives or other particulars of his game. Hence, working on counters.
Expanding his offensive repertoire will also help make Dosunmu malleable to different lineups, which will help coach Billy Donovan as he manages a guard-heavy roster — Donavan said on media day that he wasn’t opposed to three-guard lineups.
“He [Dosunmu] was always one of the guys that when we played the Bulls, he was one of the sneaky tougher guys to go against,” guard Josh Giddey said.
‘He was going to push you’
During Dosunmu’s freshman year at Illinois, the men’s basketball team set the school record for losses in a season (21). As a celebrated high school recruit, Dosunmu could have easily transferred from the program after the poor campaign. But, he elected to stay and be a guiding force for the program during those turbulent times. The first step was adding strength to his body to absorb the punishment that came with playing in the Big Ten.
“He was one of the first athletes I had that didn’t leave,” Illinois strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher told the Sun-Times. “He just stayed and trained. It was all on a voluntary basis, but he knew for him to get to the level that he wanted to get through, he had to change his body.”
Dosunmu learned during his sophomore year at Illinois how impactful it is for teammates to spend quality time together off the court. Building camaraderie made it easier for him to critique a teammate and vice versa. Over his final two seasons at Illinois, the program went 45-17.
“Early on, he would take guys out to eat at lunchtime and talk to guys and getting our players to believe in what it was going to be before it ever was,” Fletcher said. “He was extremely competitive on the court and would balance it with his work off the court, spending a lot of time in that area.
“He was going to push you in practice, he was going to make you uncomfortable, he was going to hold you to an extremely high standard, and then he was going to love the heck of you off the court. That allowed him to hold the players to the standard he held himself to on the court.”
Bonds are built away from the court. When Dosunmu and guard Coby White organized a trip to Miami for the team, it was to start building camaraderie before training camp.
Dosunmu referenced “Heat Culture” and the organization’s ability to unearth gems, plug them into the system and see positive results, which is what the Bulls hope to build.
“We’re trying to establish a culture, establish an identity,” Dosunmu said, “and it starts with those small lunches and dinners.”
Dosunmu admits that he’s still trying to improve as a leader. Mainly, he’s still trying to learn his teammates and gauging how each player receives information.
“You have to understand you can’t talk to people the same way,” Dosunmu said. “It’s all about talking and communicating to get the message across. We’re trying to establish a culture, establish an identity and it starts with those dinners and workouts.”
Donovan said Thursday that this year’s team is better suited for a fast-paced style — the Bulls finished 28th in pace last season — but skepticism will remain until the team shows a commitment to it during the regular season.
Dosunmu said he knows he has to prove himself again. Last year’s stretch of play was impressive, but now it’s about sustaining it.
“I’m prepared for whatever,” Dosunmu said. “The sky’s the limit because I know what I’m capable of, but I don’t know how high I can reach. That’s why I’m just going out there and reaching as far as I can and living with the results because the work is there.”