The Bulls’ consecutive wins to close November and open December weren’t just wins — they were victories of substance.
Of course, the Bucks are still trying to find their way since adding guard Damian Lillard, but they were a 13-win team when the Bulls beat them in overtime last Thursday. And by following that up Saturday with a six-point win over the Pelicans, who just made it to the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament, the Bulls have given themselves a foothold to climb out of their embarrassing 7-14 hole.
But it’s the same question as always with this group: Is it sustainable?
“We’ve been saying that the past few seasons,” center Nikola Vucevic said recently. “It seems like when we get one thing going or fixed, something else shows up. We’ve shown we can play a certain way for a game or two, but we have to be more consistent.”
That needs to start on defense. Heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Hornets at the United Center, the Bulls were 22nd in the NBA in defensive efficiency after finishing last season fifth.
They’re built to cause disruption in the backcourt, then score in transition. Coach Billy Donovan wouldn’t admit to dumbing down the defense the last few weeks to reduce lapses, but he said it has fallen on him and his staff to regularly remind the players of coverages.
“I think one of the things we can be better as a staff [at] is [that] a lot of times, our adjust-ments have been in pick-and-roll coverages and in matchups — the changing on the fly in the course of the game,” Donovan said. “It’s not like we’ve just come up with a new coverage in the course of the game, but it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got blitz pick-and-roll, we’ve got pick-and-roll when we’re a little bit back, we’ve got pick-and-roll where we’re at the level of the screen, and switching.’
“During the course of the game, we’ve got to be better helping the five guys [know the change in coverages]. That’s been part of the miscommunication, too. We’ve got to make sure, ‘Guys, listen, this is what we’re in right now.’ Those are things we can do as a staff to try to help more.”
What else helps? Having wing defender Alex Caruso healthy. After he missed the Pelicans game with a sore toe, the schedule has helped him immensely. He had three days off entering Wednesday, when he’s expected to face the Hornets, then will have another day off Thursday before the Bulls play Friday in San Antonio. He’ll then have Saturday and Sunday to recover. It’s some much-needed down time for Caruso, a first-team all-defender last season who went through the non-contact portion of practice Tuesday.
What Donovan still needs to figure out with Caruso is his minutes. When he’s a starter, it gets tricky juggling his second stint of the game while still keeping his total court time to 24 to 28 minutes. When he comes off the bench, Donovan can control his minutes easier so he’s available to help close games.
Either way, the Bulls need to defend with a higher intensity if they want to keep this winning streak going.
“It starts there for us,” guard Coby White said. “If we communicate and pay attention to the details, we can be really good, but we’ve got to get on the same page.”
