NBA
Several players met the French standout in January when they played the Pistons in Paris, but actually facing Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama? Film doesn’t do him justice, Alex Caruso said.
That’s a question they’re going to have to answer — if they haven’t already — whether or not there’s a strong trade market for LaVine, a player with all the physical tools but some that too often go unused.
While the rest of his teammates and the coaching staff headed off to San Antonio on Thursday, LaVine met with reporters to discuss the latest on his foot injury and his future as a Bull.
Dosunmu’s efforts in the Bulls’ previous two games were pivotal in securing the team’s first winning streak this season. He averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 assists, three rebounds and 2.5 steals.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 8. The majority of the league becomes tradable Dec. 15, when free-agent contracts signed in the summer can be moved. That means LaVine might have played his final game for the Bulls.
While the last two wins have showed some substance, coach Billy Donovan knows his team’s path to success is first fixing the defensive lapses, and then taking it from there.
If the Bulls continue spinning in mud for the rest of this season, they definitely picked a bad time to do it. It’s not the best year to have a high draft pick.
It’s easy to forget DeRozan’s three seasons with the Spurs and coach Gregg Popovich, but they taught the veteran what it means to be a leader and playmaker. Is that the formula for the Bulls moving forward, and can Zach LaVine join in the unselfishness when he’s able to return?
It wasn’t pretty for White and his teammates in the first half on Saturday, but then White remembered that failing to shoot means getting cussed out. And shoot he did, scoring 28 points in the second half.
White & Co. finished fifth in the league in defensive efficiency last season. They entered Saturday’s game against New Orleans sitting at 21st. If the Bulls are going to start getting their season back on track, the guard knows where it needs to start.
As the Bulls remain uncompetitive and, in some minds, irrelevant, the Bucks are favored by a number of analysts to return to the NBA Finals in what would be their eighth straight postseason.
If the results tell us anything, it’s that voters were, on the whole, unable to distinguish between one brand of awful and the other.
The team announced Friday morning that LaVine would be sidelined at least another week with a sore right foot, but is that really a bad thing? There are growing signs that while the Bulls might not be better without the two-time All-Star guard, they definitely aren’t worse.
If change is on the horizon, it won’t always be like this. There will be lulls and growing pains throughout the season, but these young players brought an energy and spirit that had been missing.
Donovan said the team doesn’t specialize in one particular coverage; it has multiple defensive schemes it can run throughout a game. But with the Bulls sporting the 22nd-worst defense in the NBA, they need to find some answers.
Both broadcasters worked for the same owner and were in similar situations. Yet Benetti’s relationship with the Sox differed from Amin’s with the Bulls.
Cuban would retain control of the team’s basketball operations.
Losing is one thing, but doing so with little effort — especially on the defensive end — is unforgivable for a unit that had a top five defensive rating last season.
The season continued slipping away Tuesday — and in embarrassing fashion. The Celtics ran up the score on the Bulls in a 124-97 victory.
Billy Donovan understood what Williams was trying to say concerning his development since his rookie season, but the coach also wanted to make sure all sides were discussed.
Williams is enjoying the best stretch of his career, and maybe — just maybe — he has found something sustainable.
Davis had season highs of 41 points and 20 rebounds, Austin Reaves added 28 points and tournament MVP LeBron James had 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Talking with the Sun-Times on Friday, White discussed others’ opinions of him through the years — the media’s included — and how he has used them to his benefit.
Victor Wembanyama was as good as advertised on Friday, but the short-handed Bulls again put on a scoring-by-committee effort with four of the five starters netting at least 20 points. Just don’t ask them if they’re better without LaVine.
Meeting with the traveling media in Boston on Tuesday, Karnisovas acknowledged the struggles his roster is going through, insisting, “I’m not running from it. It’s my responsibility.’’
Nikola Vucevic said in October that the “Big Three” of himself, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine needed to deliver early this season or there would be an or-else. We’ve reached or-else.
Thanks to giving up a franchise-record 25 threes on Sunday, the Bulls watched a 21-point first quarter lead quickly disintegrate at the hands of the Nets. It was the fourth straight loss and the seventh in the last eight games.
While Donovan never would come out and call his roster soft, he once again expressed his frustration with his players’ lack of consistent physicality throughout a game.
According to DeRozan, there’s more than enough in the current Bulls locker room to turn the sinking ship around, and that’s why he wants to give this group time to figure it out.
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