ORLANDO, Fla. – It is an evolution, but one that is also very much far from being perfected.
Billy Donovan is hoping to find practice time to change that.
The Bulls coach again unleashed the Twin Towers look of centers Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond in the second quarter of the game against the Magic, and it had mixed results.
The two bigs did flash some solid high-low moments on the offensive end, but also had some gaffs defensively, including one that led to a Jalen Suggs posterizing dunk.
But considering the success the two had in wins over Minnesota and Memphis, better believe Donovan isn’t done running it out there.
“I’ve got to do more to help those guys there,” Donovan said. “Sometimes injury provides opportunity or evolutions of a team, and with our size when Torrey (Craig) was out and with Patrick (Williams) out, clearly on the wings it was hard. We need to do more with it. We talked about it (Saturday) morning. The hard part with the practices is the amount of minutes Coby (White) and DeMar (DeRozan), Alex (Caruso), and even Vooch have absorbed.
“Now you can walk through it, but you probably need a little practice, contact time, both in the half and full court, but we probably need to do more.”
Donovan also has to pick his spots with the grouping. It definitely has merit against bigger lineups, but against small groupings or a versatile four it’s tough.
Even Vucevic knew it had limitations.
“It is hard to do all the time because most teams play smaller lineups than we do, so it would be a defensive issue for us because me and Drum aren’t really super mobile, especially against some of the smaller fours, but I think there are times where we can use it and have success,” Vucevic said. “It can help us, definitely gives us an advantage on the glass. He knows how to get in spots where I can find him, so there are ways we can use it. Some games more, some less, but I think it’s something we need to keep trying, see how it works.”
It definitely gives Vucevic a chance to show off his passing skills, especially when he gets the ball at the top of the key and can feed Drummond in the paint. A smart play, but also one that comes with a message.
“Vooch being a big guy, he probably looks into the post more than anybody,” Donovan added. “We miss Vooch, we miss Andre in the post. Vooch is not missing anybody in the post. That thing is going down there when he can. He’s setting a good example of, ‘Hey, when I’m down there dump it down there. See what I’m doing? Yeah.’ “
Will call
Williams (left foot) is expected to be re-evaluated later this week, but don’t expect a quick return after that check-up.
“I think the biggest thing is just trying to get pain and discomfort out of his foot, which has been gone,” Donovan said. “He definitely feels better, but these things (with the foot), I’m always a little bit cautious until he gets on the court and they start running, cutting and moving. The biggest thing for him is to get the pain in the foot to subside.”
Catching a fever
Former White Sox World Series catcher A.J. Pierzynski was in attendance for Saturday’s game, catching up with fellow broadcaster Adam Amin. When Amin’s not doing Bulls games, he’s also broadcasting MLB games with Pierzynski.
Pierzynski played for the Sox from 2005-2012, and besides winning a World Series, was an All-Star in 2006.
