Billy Donovan talks about it daily, shows it on film, and works on it in practice and shootarounds.
No word yet on if the Bulls coach has resorted to pleading with his players.
Then again, the season isn’t even at the halfway point yet.
Missed communication, unwillingness to box out or dive for a loose ball, an inconsistency with physicality, all the lines that this Bulls roster continues to color outside of far too often.
That’s why this team can start the year 5-0 against the likes of Detroit and New York and then drop five straight when opposing All-Star caliber players take over late in games. That’s why they can beat perennial MVP Nikola Jokic in Denver and a week later start a seven-game losing streak to the likes of New Orleans, Charlotte and Indiana twice. That’s why they can have a nice little two-game home winning streak going and then get taken to the woodshed once again by the 12-win Hornets like they did on Saturday.
“Just got to keep putting that stuff on film,” Donovan said of the issues that plague this team from game to game, quarter to quarter. “I think a lot of that stuff to me is just concentration and focus, just being in the moment.”
But that’s the problem with this roster, and something Donovan would never publicly admit: Elite talent overcomes a lot of deficiencies.
The Lakers are currently a horrific defensive team but sit at 21-11 in the Western Conference. The Celtics are without the face of their franchise in Jayson Tatum but are in third place in the East.
That’s what a Luka Doncic or a Jaylen Brown can do for a franchise, respectively.
Donovan needs his entire roster intact, and even when they are, needs them dialed in and focused at a high level just to compete on most nights.
That’s his battle, as the Hornets loss was a reminder of.
“We don’t have the margins not to (do the little things),” Donovan said. “To me the consistency part, the concentration part, and listen, for the way we’re trying to play, and I don’t necessarily think that we’re different from other teams because the pace of the game is definitely sped up throughout the league, but that’s what we’re fighting for. Can you come back and do it again? Can you come back and do it again? Can you come back and do it again?”
A question that Donovan has asked more than just three times in a row, and one that needs answering soon.
Entering the game in Boston on Monday, the NBA trade deadline is a month away. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has successfully built a mediocre product yet again, sitting at 17-18 and chasing down a fourth consecutive trip to the play-in tournament.
Does he stay the course or finally realize the talent gap is too vast and a different path has to be taken?
Either way, Donovan will likely have his hands full, hammering the same message and details home in as many different ways as he can come up with.
“I’ve always been a big believer in shots are going to come and go,” the coach added. “You can say, ‘OK, we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight because we had tired legs.’ I still think you can block out better, I still think you can put your body in plays on drives, still can communicate, there’s things I think you can do.”