Bulls big man Robin Lopez on Jim Boylen: ‘It feels like guys have bought in’

Bulls coach Jim Boylen is aware of the outside criticism.

Basketball bloggers, analytics disciples and many in the national media already have deemed what Boylen is trying to build archaic.

To move away from space and pace on offense and focus instead on a more traditional inside-out, ball-control approach isn’t just swimming against the current of what the rest of the NBA is doing; it’s Boylen thumbing his nose at it.

On top of that, Boylen putting defense first, second and third atop his priority list — well, welcome to your dad’s NBA.

‘‘You know what? If we play hard, we compete and play for each other, that’s what I’m coaching,’’ a defiant Boylen said after the Bulls’ 95-89 loss Sunday to the Raptors in Toronto. ‘‘We’re playing the way I think we need to play for us to have a chance to win. We are going to get a defensive mentality in this program first, and then we’re going to work on the rest of it.

‘‘As we grow together, we get healthy together, I’m confident the offense will come. But we’re going to have our foundation built on toughness, competitiveness, defense and playing for each other. That’s what I want, and that’s what I’ve been asked to do.’’

And that’s what matters most to Boylen these days. He has the backing of management and ownership to coach that identity into his players, and the players have bought in.

‘‘I think we kind of are seeing some results,’’ veteran center Robin Lopez said, pointing out the Bulls’ 5-8 record under Boylen. ‘‘I do think we’re making progress. It feels like guys have bought in and are playing together in this system.’’

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Those are strong words coming from Lopez, who was as big a backer of former coach Fred Hoiberg as there was in the locker room.

And while Lopez wasn’t about to predict whether Boylen’s coaching mentality would have staying power, he acknowledged that Boylen had lightened up from his first week on the job and that there’s a trust building.

‘‘I’m not sure, honestly,’’ Lopez said when he was asked if Boylen’s message might get old someday. ‘‘But if it’s genuine and measured, I don’t see why it can’t work.’’

When he was asked if what Boylen has been preaching has felt genuine, Lopez didn’t hesitate.

‘‘Oh, yeah,’’ he said. ‘‘This is Jim. We all appreciate that.’’

That’s bad news for those who want to see 120-point games on a nightly basis.

‘‘We scored 100 points in, like, how many games [under Boylen]? Three? Something like that,’’ guard Zach LaVine said when he was asked about Boylen’s approach. ‘‘I think it is how it is. You’ve just gotta be efficient. It slowed the game down [against the Raptors] because they’re trying to go out there and push. It seems we go out there and do that every game. It’s different, but we can adjust to it.’’

Not that Boylen is giving his players much of a choice. Like it or not, he and the style of play he’s demanding aren’t going anywhere, no matter how loud the outside noise gets.

‘‘I guess we’re different,’’ LaVine said with a smirk when it was pointed out that the Bulls might be one of the only teams playing this way. ‘‘I guess we’re just different.’’