ORLANDO – The Bulls have to continue living by the 95% rule.
They do that and coach Billy Donovan likes their odds night in and night out.
“The reality of it is most of these guys, 95% of the game they are playing without the ball in their hands,” Donovan explained on Saturday. “They don’t need to be waiting to get the ball back in their hands. There’s other things they can be doing to impact the game. (Former Bull Alex) Caruso did it for us at a really high level, and I think Isaac (Okoro) will do it for us, but I think for our guys being young too, they have to understand that we don’t have a lot of guys that can play with the ball in their hands and that can make plays, be these elite, high-level scorers.
“So for them to carve out a niche in the NBA and have a long career, they’ve really got to understand that they really got to embrace their 95% that they don’t have the ball in their hands in some way.”
One suggestion from Nikola Vucevic in helping that process? Keep the cutting going on the offensive end.
The Bulls flipped the script on their offensive philosophy last season, going from mid-range and methodical to high-pace and space.
The next step in helping the offense continue to grow as far as Vucevic was concerned is the continual cutting that’s been going on in the preseason and through the first two regular-season games, and adding the right personnel to do that.
“The league in general is doing a lot of off-ball-movements, especially with bigs being able to pass and stretch the floor, and it opens up so many more opportunities,” Vucevic said. “It’s something we talk a lot about. The additions of Tre (Jones) and Kevin (Huerter) last year, they’re such good cutters, and ‘Ice,’ Isaac Okoro, this year, they’re really good cutters, so it adds to our offense.”
And it comes in flurries.
While the Bulls ended up with 29 assists in the regular-season opening win over Detroit, 10 assists were had in the first quarter alone. Even in Saturday’s game against Orlando, the Bulls weren’t necessarily finishing well at the rim early on, but they were cutting and at least giving themselves a chance in building a first-half lead.
“When we’re all moving and we stick to the offense it’s going to make us really hard to guard,” Vucevic added. “So we got to stick to that.”
Tough love
Donovan has had to answer a lot of questions about the way he’s coached second-year forward Matas Buzelis, even going back to his rookie campaign. He reiterated before the Magic game that there’s been a method to his madness.
“Players can tell when you’re not being authentic or being yourself,” Donovan said. “I think when you talk to any player when they come in, especially when they’re new whether it’s a draft pick or (acquired) like Isaac (Okoro), it’s ‘Hey, what’s the best way to communicate with you?’ For Matas it was, ‘Listen, just stay on me, stay on me and help me in the areas I need to get better at.’ There’s a fine line. I think coaching is constant confrontation, but it’s not necessarily yelling and screaming, it’s confronting the things that you need to do.”
Under construction
Donovan is still playing with the rotation – flirting with going 10 or 11 deep on a nightly basis. In the win over Detroit, he played 10 and against the Magic he played a rotation of 11.
The two players still in the odd man out roles? Rookie Noa Essengue and veteran guard Jevon Carter.