As Billy Donovan detailed the latest defensive drawbacks following the Bulls’ 121-117 loss to a Timberwolves team with the league’s worst record, his words sounded potential alarms both short- and long-term.
His words also almost got drowned out by the universal beeping sound of vehicles in reverse as the Bulls’ site for their Zoom media availabilities sounded suspiciously close to the arena loading dock.
That seemed fitting for a defense that very much is a work in progress.
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“(Daniel) Theis does it pretty well, but we gotta put our bodies in plays,” Donovan said. “There are guys driving and we have to either take a charge or go vertical. There are going to be times where Vooch (Nikola Vučević) is dealing with dynamic rollers and dynamic guards and he’s going to need support. It’s not just Vooch. It’s Theis and Thad (Young), all those guys. There has to be built-in support there. And we on the perimeter, and even on ball on the baseline, have to have a little more built-in support.
“We have a hard time physically a lot of times controlling the ball -- both the guards and the bigs. We just do. There’s no way around it. In the second half, we started trapping every pick-and-roll. It probably hurt us when (Karl-Anthony) Towns got that 3-pointer late. But it did generate a couple turnovers and got us back in the game... That’s the challenge when we get against really great foot speed or craftiness with the ball. We have to find ways to get it under control.”
Short-term concern: Ja Morant is on deck Monday in Memphis.
Long-term concern: In pushing chips in to acquire Vučević, the Bulls are building around a big who isn’t known for taking charges or elite rim protection, and a guard in Zach LaVine who hasn’t been a plus-defender. And the Bulls will have to get creative to re-sign Theis, who is a free agent.
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Is it any wonder newcomer Troy Brown Jr., who has impressive defensive potential, closed and played three more minutes than Lauri Markkanen?
“The biggest thing is just communication right now,” said Brown, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. “I just feel like we got to trust each other and have each other’s back on the defensive end. I think we’re capable of that. It’s just one of those things, we’ve got to work on it.”
But when? With three new rotational players and limited practice time, that’s the challenge.
The Timberwolves enjoyed a 25-13 advantage in free-throw attempts, continuing a season-long theme of the Bulls fouling too much. They entered the penalty in the fourth with a whopping 5 minutes, 19 seconds left.
On the season, the Bulls rank 21st in opponent free-throw attempt rate and defensive rating.
“We got a lot of work ahead of us, I’ll tell you that,” Donovan said. “We need to be a whole lot better than we are. I felt there were times when we made some progress and strides. But the one challenge for us that we need to keep improving and trying to get better on is when there’s multiple handlers. Atlanta had it the other night. Tonight with (D’Angelo) Russell and (Anthony) Edwards and (Ricky) Rubio who can create and playmake in pick-and-roll, we’ve got to be better all the way around defensively. It’s not just the bigs. It’s not just the guards. It’s the combination of them working together.
“There were some real opportunities -- we did it a few times and we actually did a pretty good job -- for us to take some charges. Put our bodies in plays and protect the rim on downhill drives. We have to be a team that is physical when the ball enters the paint.”
Donovan acknowledged terminology for changing pick-and-roll coverages isn’t yet second-nature for the new players. But still, the Bulls were supposed to be past bad losses like this. That’s one of the many reasons management had such an active trade deadline.
Instead, those vehicles near the loading dock weren’t the only thing in reverse Sunday night.
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