Donovan's offensive plan has Bulls feeling good
The Bulls will open the season Wednesday against Atlanta with the same cast of characters, all roughly 14 months older than they were at the 2019 home opener.
Rookie Patrick Williams is the only newcomer who seems certain to get playing time. If veteran addition Garrett Temple plays, it will likely be in a limited role after spending the past two weeks recovering from COVID-19.
The most obvious difference in the Bulls compared to last year's start of the season is the offense. New coach Billy Donovan is using a fast-paced, read-and-react style which usually puts all five players on the perimeter, leaving space for drives and cuts.
A year ago, former coach Jim Boylen introduced a new offense. It was an attempt to mimic the Houston Rockets and other NBA teams that emphasized 3-point shooting, along with drives to the basket.
Boylen would often say, "The math says this is the way to play," and he wasn't wrong, but it was a tough fit for the Bulls. They weren't a lot of quality 3-point shooters on the roster, while players like Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen clearly weren't comfortable with the de-emphasis on midrange jumpers.
The Bulls still face most of the same challenges as last year, mainly a glut of young players with no winning experience in the NBA. But at least they're heading into the season feeling good about the style of play. There was positive player feedback while the Bulls went 3-1 during a soft preseason schedule.
"I think the system fits me really well," Markkanen said after a win in Oklahoma City. "I feel like it's night and day from last year. Being in down screens and being on the move the whole time, I'm really liking the offense so far. We've just got to keep getting better at it.''
Added Zach LaVine, "For right now, I think it's playing to our strengths of keeping the floor spaced and having driving lanes to have people create and kick out or finish the play."
On Monday, Donovan was asked if the freewheeling offense was an effort to play to his players' strengths or is just a natural result of limited practice time to introduce his plan.
"What we've tried to do is create some reads and opportunities for those guys to make some decisions and learn how to play with one another," he said. "We have things in, but when they do run something and it's not there, there's a second or third thing that they can go to to keep the possession and the ball alive.
"I think it's an area that's going to take us some time to continue to build out and work on. Like I think I've always said, I'm more concerned with what type of shots are we generating."
There will be constant adjustments during the first few months of the season. One example already is Donovan wanted center Wendell Carter Jr. to spend more time on the perimeter, but during preseason, he hit just 1 of 16 shots from 3-point range.
"Do we want him just being a 3-point shooter? Absolutely not," Donovan said of Carter. "He's a very good roller, he's a good rim runner. He's good at maybe putting the ball on the floor from the elbows, but (long-range shooting) has got to be a part of his game he gets better at to kind of give him another tool in his toolbox. He's got to really put the work into that to get more consistent."
Donovan confirmed forward Thad Young is working his way back from a left leg infection and guard Tomas Satoransky is still away from the team due to NBA protocols. Neither is likely to play Wednesday.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls