There wasn’t much miscommunication going on with Bulls big man Andre Drummond on Wednesday night.
Drummond had 26 rebounds and 17 points in the double-overtime victory against the Cavaliers, so it’s pretty obvious he was hearing everything loud and clear.
Well, that was until he was in the locker room after the game.
Asked about the surprising performance from seldom-used former G-Leaguer Onuralp Bitim, Drummond didn’t quite hear the question from the reporter and replied, “Say it again.”
Not letting the moment pass, Bitim — who was a few lockers down — glanced over jokingly as if to say, “You really don’t know me?”
Drummond didn’t miss the opportunity to bring some levity to the situation, catching the glance and telling the rookie, “I know who you are.”
The Cavs know, too, now after Bitim came off the bench for 28 meaningful minutes and scored 10 points, went 2-for-2 from three-point range and grabbed six rebounds to finish a plus-16.
Was it just a one-off because the Bulls were so short-handed or has coach Billy Donovan stumbled across a secret weapon for the remaining 23 games of the regular season?
The rest of the NBA could be finding out soon.
“OB was incredible,” Drummond said. “He’s a guy who has played professional basketball for a while. He doesn’t have that rookie mentality. He played like he belongs, and he does.”
That’s because Bitim isn’t your typical rookie. The 24-year-old has been playing pro basketball in Turkey since 2016. Bitim was a two-time dunk champion at the Turkish League All-Star Weekend, and, as he showed against Cleveland, he’s not afraid of the big moment.
Bitim had two previous appearances in mop-up time this season, but this time it was a must-win game, and he delivered.
“I really can’t describe how I feel,” Bitim said. “I was dreaming of this moment for a really long time. And I was really trying to be ready. I knew the chance was going to come.
‘‘You just never know when. You just have to be ready. As players, we always have to be ready mentally and physically.”
His teammates appreciated his effort, dousing him with water in a postgame celebration in the locker room.
“Deebo [DeMar DeRozan] told me he was proud of me,” Bitim said. “That means a lot to me. I grew up watching him. He was one of my idols. And now we’re on the court together. We won together. Hearing those words from him was a really huge blessing . . . him, Coby [White], Ayo [Dosunmu], Vooch [Nikola Vucevic]. I’m very lucky because I have teammates and coaches like them.”
It’ll be interesting to see how much playing time he gets Friday against the Bucks and if he can make an impact again.
DeRozan admitted that Bitim hasn’t had a lot of practice time with the new-look starting lineup, but he also insisted that from what he has seen, he’s impressed.
“It’s amazing to see a guy do what he did in such a big game and close the game, too,” DeRozan said. “He hit some big shots, made some big plays, held his own defensively. It’s crazy. We haven’t had much practice with him knowing the offense and having a rhythm with us, so for him to do what he did is amazing.
“You can tell he can play. You can tell the IQ and the feel is there. He can shoot the heck out of the ball.”
