Young has become Bulls' most reliable player
There's plenty going on with the Bulls right now. They're trying to replace injured center Wendell Carter Jr., recover from Saturday's Damian Lillard gut-punch, and old friend Tom Thibodeau will be in town Monday coaching the New York Knicks.
So far this season, the solution to many of the Bulls' problems has been veteran forward Thaddeus Young.
In each of the past two games, Young has flirted with a triple-double. In the two games combined, he's recorded 24 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists.
Young, 32, is having a resurgence under coach Billy Donovan. His minutes and scoring are similar to last year, but assists and field-goal percentage are way up.
"(I'm) just a guy that figures out how to get the job done to the best of his abilities," Young said Sunday. "Also go out there and listen to the coaches. Like last year, Jim (Boylen) was saying, 'Hey, go out there and shoot threes,' even though I knew that wasn't what I do, what I did for my career. I'm going to listen to my coach.
"The same thing with Billy (Donovan), he's telling me, 'Hey, we need you to play in the pocket, we need you to make reads for us.' Like, no problem. I've always been a coachable guy, a coachable player and I've always been a player that will voice my opinion, but also just go out there and do my job."
Donovan has found jobs Young does well. In Saturday's last-second loss to Portland, the Blazers were trapping Zach LaVine constantly, trying to get the ball out of his hands.
So Young became the secondary point guard, so to speak. The Bulls tried to get him the ball at the free-throw line and let him figure out the best way to proceed. That's how he ended up with 11 assists.
Young has also been a valuable scorer when needed. One of the Bulls' most reliable offensive options has been the Young's sweeping hook shot.
And with Carter out for at least four weeks with a quad strain, it's quickly become obvious the Bulls need Young on the floor as much as possible. Against the Blazers, he started the third quarter, while Daniel Gafford played just three minutes in the second half.
"He's been great. He's really smart," Donovan said of Young. "Thad may be somewhat undersized in terms of height and length, (but) he's physical down there, he's got good feet, he's got good hands, he knows how to change positions.
Gafford hasn't transitioned well to being a starter, which typically brings better competition and more minutes. Young was asked if he's trying to help the second-year center adjust.
"We take time in practice and go through small things like rolling into the pocket and slowing himself down and making reads and passes," Young said. "Our guards are really good and they're trapping Coby (White), they're trapping Zach ... just to get the ball out of their hands, and when they do get the ball to us we have to be able to make those reads and decisions."
The Bulls seemed to have done everything necessary to win the game Saturday, leading by 5 points with 11 seconds left. But then Lillard hit a pair of 3-pointers to hand the Bulls a crushing loss.
"I thought we did a lot of really, really good things in that fourth quarter," Donovan said. "Against Indiana and Atlanta the first two games of the year, I thought we got down and we hung our head and we didn't fight. We got down by 19 against Portland and our guys fought and they got back into the game, and that's a tribute to them, so I see growth and strides there."
Donovan said Otto Porter is questionable for Monday's game against the Knicks and did not play late in the Portland game because of a sore back.
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