The 10 pounds of added muscle have come in handy.
Matas Buzelis will enter his 17th game of the regular season on Monday with 17 deflections, he’s been in on eight loose balls, and has drawn a charge. Not the statistical categories that scream All-Star in Year 2, but instead those grimy numbers that Bulls coach Billy Donovan demands of his roster. Numbers that are the difference between winning and losing players.
That was the jump Donovan wanted to see from his second-year forward. An understanding and acceptance of playing the game with more physicality than Buzelis did as a rookie.
And there have been steps taken. Donovan wants more.
“A lot of times people look at him and see the running, the jumping, the handling, and that’s all well and good, but the minute physicality gets into the game, that stuff is out the window,” Donovan said. “People aren’t just going to let him play in space and run around. People are going to hit him, and people are going to be physical. I said before the season started that this would be a great year of growth for him because he’s going to see things he hasn’t seen his rookie season. The thing I love about Matas is he leans into it and he’s eager to improve.”
No easy task in his sophomore NBA season, either.
“Of course I always think I can do better, but now it’s a little tougher because I’m on the scouting report,” Buzelis said when asked about improving his physicality.
Ah yes, the days of Buzelis being a wide-eyed rookie who can sneak up on the opposition is over. The league has a season of film on Buzelis and had a summer of studying it. So while Buzelis was in the weightroom adding muscle in the offseason, 29 other coaches were adding him to the scouting report when playing the Bulls.
“Yeah, I can tell for sure,” Buzelis said of teams now playing him differently. “Most of the time the best defender is guarding me and that puts a target on my back. I like that, that’s how I’m going to get better and stride forward.”
He has done that in many aspects of his game. Buzelis will enter the contest with New Orleans averaging 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and leading the team with 1.4 blocks per game. What Donovan pointed out, however, was he also had a 14-rebound game two weeks ago and has two three-block games. His message? Raise the bar.
“There’s times he’s got to put his body between himself and the basket,” Donovan said. “There’s times he will jump to block shots and it opens up gaps or driving angles to the rim. The consistency of going to the glass on both the offensive and defensive glass, like I forget what game it was, but he had (14 rebounds against Detroit). He’s got to be able to go. When you start going and you start grabbing rebounds, teams are going to put a body on you. To me it’s how well can you fight off that stuff, how well can you fight off the contact? That’s a huge area of growth for him and his game.”
Message heard.
Buzelis has been a great listener since Day 1 with the organization and doesn’t get offended by criticism or teammates in his ear.
That’s the price of chasing down greatness in his eyes. So with Donovan publicly putting another challenge in front of him it’s simply getting back to work for Buzelis.
“Most of the time it’s my positioning, like defensively where I’m supposed to be at,” Buzelis said of his physicality. “If I can be in front of the ball I feel like I can guard anybody. The physicality can always be better, with anybody, honestly. It’s about the consistency really, every day being ready to play.”
Challenge accepted.