Carter has no complaint with being benched vs. Magic
After a rough loss to Orlando, the sun did rise at the Advocate Center on Thursday morning and Bulls rookie center Wendell Carter Jr. still had no complaint with getting benched.
Carter played just over 13 minutes against the Magic, finishing with no points, 1 rebounds and 3 fouls. After the game, coach Jim Boylen suggested young players can learn from watching as well as playing.
"There was no negativity in him having me watch most of the game," Carter said after Thursday's practice. "I definitely feel where he was coming from. Next game, I may play 35 minutes. It's a long season. I know that I'm not going to play 35 minutes every single night."
Carter, 19, was remarkably positive for someone in the midst of a frustrating season.
"I'm pretty hard on myself, but at the end of the day, I just want this team to be great," he said. "I feel like we have so many great young pieces on this team and I feel like we can really prosper as a team. Everybody has their role and what they're supposed to be doing. I know my role. I didn't do it to the best of my ability.
"Fans are pretty disappointed in us right now. We're going to try to turn things around here in Chicago."
Asked how he bounces back after rough nights like that one, Carter kept an eye on the big picture.
"Just being thankful that I'm here," he said. "A lot of people would love to be in my position. Just trying to work as hard as I can to bring wins to this city."
Boylen focused on teaching:
The Bulls have improved slightly since Jim Boylen took over as head coach, going 5-9. They were 5-19 when Fred Hoiberg was let go, but also got several key players back from injuries.
There have been plenty of rough games, though, with Wednesday's 112-84 loss to Orlando being one of them. Boylen was asked how he's dealing with the pressure of being in the captain's chair.
"I'm great, I'm good. I just try to teach," Boylen said. "Teach and coach, evaluate with honesty and directness of what I think we need to do to play better basketball. (Former Rockets coach) Rudy Tomjanovich told me a long time ago, you don't evaluate whether you won or lost, you evaluate how you played. You can poorly and win. You can play real well and lose in this league; happens every night.
"So that's what I worry about. Would I like to win? Of course. Do we want to win? Of course. Are we trying to win? Of course. But what we're trying to do is play good basketball for more of the 48 minutes than our opponent. Some nights we've done that. Some nights we haven't."
Bull horns:
When the Bulls' new agreement with NBC Sports Chicago takes effect, they will no longer have games on WGN, a team spokesperson confirmed. … Bobby Portis participated in a full practice Thursday, but coach Jim Boylen isn't sure if Portis will try to play Friday. Portis missed six games with a sprained right ankle. "He loves practice," Boylen said. "His intensity in practice helps us, so it's good to have him back."