Since their dismal 2018-19 season ended, the Bulls have spent a lot of time talking about getting off to a fast start this season.
That’s why they have added players such as Otto Porter Jr. (going back to February), Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky, who has had success on the international level, to their roster. It’s about bringing in veterans who know about playing in a playoff atmosphere and understand what it takes to teach the younger players the importance of learning how to win.
That’s where someone such as Young comes in. It’s one thing to have a plan about how to win, but it’s another to execute it when times get tough.
‘‘A lot of people always say that once you get in between these lines, it starts,’’ Young said. ‘‘But it doesn’t start in between the lines. It starts in the locker room, where we’re sitting there shooting the bullcrap. It starts in there, building that camaraderie, building that brotherhood with one another, and then it translates out to the court.
‘‘So we have to make sure that it’s all together in there before we step out on the court. Because at the end of the day, the coaches can’t go out there and play for us, the front office can’t go out there and play for us. We have to go out there and play for ourselves as a team, a unit, and we have to be unified at all costs.
‘‘That’s the only way we’re going to win games is being unified, having a structured situation to where we go out there and play and just making sure we’re all together at all times, even if we’re going to take L’s in the process.’’
Considering the Bulls play the Hornets, Grizzlies, Knicks and Cavaliers in four of their first five games, a chance for a quick start is there for the taking.
Home sweet home
The Bulls will tip off the preseason Monday against the Bucks, and they are making it a point to hold their morning shootaround at the United Center rather than the Advocate Center across the street.
It’s something coach Jim Boylen would like to see practiced a bit more this season.
‘‘So what we’ve tried to do is schedule some more shooting times over there and practices over there,’’ Boylen said of the United Center. ‘‘We want to get on those rims as much as we can.’’
