Bulls refuse to put a ceiling on Alex Caruso's underrated offense

Pacers guard Ben Sheppard wasn’t the outlier as much as the latest victim.

With 2:27 left in the first quarter Wednesday, Bulls guard Alex Caruso took Sheppard right, crossed the ball to his left and hit the brakes. It was at that moment that Sheppard found out how gravity worked. He lost his balance trying to contest the move and fell backward to the floor while Caruso hit a pull-up jumper.

Not bad for a defense-only player.

It’s the point Bulls coach Billy Donovan has been stressing to Caruso since last summer: Being named first-team all-defense last season was a great accomplishment, but his offensive skills shouldn’t just lurk in the shadows.

“To his credit, we talked to him a lot going into this season about how we felt that he bypassed a lot of shots [in previous years],” Donovan said. “He’s done a really good job of shooting the ball and shooting with confidence. Generally, when someone is really good at something, it overshadows other things that they’re good at. He’s obviously incredible defensively and at what he does — hustle plays, loose balls and deflections. It’s incredible, those things really stand out.

“But you know what? He’s a good pick-and-roll player [offensively], good pace and tempo. He’s got good vision, he’s smart, he knows how to manipulate matchups, how to get in and out of screens. You can use him as a screener. I think some of that stuff goes unnoticed with him in a lot of ways. He’s always been a guy, even being a guard, he’s not like, ‘I need the ball in my hands.’ He’ll do whatever it is that he needs to do in order to help the team.”

That’s why Caruso found himself going into the matchup with the Pacers averaging career highs in points (10) and three-point attempts (4.6).

He has worked on his offensive game, and the coaching staff is willing to let him showcase those improvements.

“I do think he’s done a really good job offensively,” Donovan said. “He’s put a lot of work into it. For him it’s been he really didn’t get drafted; he had to go to the G League for a while. Then he gets to the Lakers, and he plays this [defensive] role for some time, so for an older player, his game continues to evolve. And there are more opportunities for it to evolve.”

No April Fools

Donovan said the plan was to have injured players Lonzo Ball (knee), Zach LaVine (right foot) and Patrick Williams (left foot) on the bench Monday, when the Bulls host the Hawks.

Ball and LaVine have been rehabbing with their own medical people in Los Angeles but keep an open line of communication with the Bulls’ medical staff, including check-ins.

Both were at the Clippers game earlier this month when the Bulls were in Los Angeles.

Next step

Donovan already has a to-do list put together for Coby White to continue his ascension to All-Star, and one box he wants to see his fifth-year guard check in the offseason is consistency in the shooting department.

White has hot streaks but also goes through some serious lulls.

“That will be an area of growth for him,” Donovan said.