TORONTO — Confidence was never the issue.
That’s not why Matas Buzelis was getting limited minutes on some nights and a quick hook on others.
Urgency, an understanding of tendencies, an inconsistent energy at times, that’s what was costing the 20-year-old Bulls rookie playing time.
But a lack of confidence? Never.
Now look what we have here. Back-to-back games in which Buzelis has put in at least 20 minutes of work, and just like that the 11th overall pick is starting to flip raw ability and promise into sustainable production. No one is more excited about that than coach Billy Donovan.
“Yeah, the biggest growth I’ve seen with him is quite honestly he plays a lot harder now,” Donovan said. “Not that he didn’t play hard, but I don’t think he understood the level of intensity and energy he needs to raise himself up to.
“You go back to the first time we played Boston, he got caught on a couple of switches on (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum, and he’s like four feet off the guy like, ‘Oh, I can just put my hand up.’ It’s like, ‘Not against these guys you can’t.’ And I thought he did a much better job moving his feet and creating some hard closeouts (in Wednesday’s loss to Boston), so those kinds of things to me I can see growth in. I can see he’s playing and understanding the intensity level and the talent level, and he’s trying to raise his urgency up, which has been really good to see.”
Better late than never for Buzelis in this rookie campaign.
There’s been a tough love approach with the forward this season. Donovan’s made that clear on several occasions, insisting he wasn’t going to just toss Buzelis out there and let him fail without consequence.
In Donovan’s world, minutes are earned and Buzelis wasn’t doing enough consistently to earn them.
But in his last two games — undoubtedly his two best back-to-back showings — he’s scored 21 total points on 8-of-11 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and shot 3-of-5 from three-point range. Where he’s really caught Donovan’s eye, however, is on the defensive end by just understanding assignment and aggressiveness.
Call it a lot of extra work on the court and in the film room starting to pay off.
“We always come early to games,” Buzelis said. “We watch (film) … definitely have been putting in the extra work and I think it’s translating.
“I think defensively I’ve been way better. Before I was all over the place. Now it’s starting to settle in for me. Also reads offensively, little stuff like that.”
That “little stuff” is also why even though the playing time has been inconsistent, Buzelis’ per 36 still translates into 14.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game if he was extended to those minutes. That would be an impressive rookie campaign for anyone.
Now, the next step in his development is making quick adjustments on the court rather than having to be pulled from the game and spoken to about them.
Learning under fire.
“Since I’ve been out there playing a little more, I’ve been getting the experience of playing against those top guys and I think it’s just going to be better moving forward,” Buzelis said. “I mean how am I going to get better if I’m not playing against the best guys? I do believe in that honestly.”
And as far as that Buzelis confidence he’s displayed since Day 1? That’s gone nowhere, evident by a play in Wednesday’s game in which he was fouled by Kristaps Porzingis and was caught on camera barking at the Boston veteran.
“Nah, he just said, ‘How’s that a foul?’ “ Buzelis said with a smirk in recalling the exchange. “I said, ‘That’s a foul.’ That’s my guy, though.”
Yeah, the confidence is just fine.