Nets guard Doyle takes no credit for Loyola's Final Four run
The Bulls honored Loyola's run to the Final Four during Saturday's game. The players waved from a luxury suite during a second-quarter timeout while "One Shining Moment" was played.
The timing was perfect, since Loyola's one current NBA player, Milton Doyle, is on Brooklyn. Doyle left the Ramblers after last season, and coach Porter Moser during the tournament run frequently credited Doyle as one of the people who turned the program around.
Before Saturday's game, Doyle was asked if he felt partially responsible for the Final Four run.
"Not in making them get to the Final Four, but I think I helped a lot of those guys get there, commit to Loyola and want to go there," said Doyle, a Chicago native who played at Marshall High School. "Other than that, that's really the only role I had in it. Them going to the Final Four was all their hard work."
Even the most staunch Loyola supporter wouldn't have predicted what happened last month. But Doyle did have a good view of how good the Ramblers could be.
"I knew they were going to be pretty good, just because I was the only one to leave," Doyle said. "So I knew with the juniors we had, the leadership that was going to be going on this year and the freshmen that came in, they were probably going to be big for the program too.
"It was great watching those guys. I didn't get to watch a lot of the games, just because we played a lot of the time. But I went back and watched a lot of the clips and talked to those guys after every game. So it was a great feeling seeing all their success."
Markkanen takes night off:
After three consecutive 20-point games, Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen got the night off. The Bulls didn't want to risk injury playing the second leg of back-to-back games. Coach Fred Hoiberg does expect Markkanen to play in the final two games.
Before Saturday's contest, Hoiberg talked about whether Markkanen could produce the same kind of numbers when Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn are on the floor next season.
"We've been doing a really good job of playing with movement these last few games, and everybody is benefiting from that," Hoiberg said. "The way (Markkanen) is shooting the basketball, attacking the rim, and just understanding when to attack the closeout and when to shoot it, he's really playing at a high level right now."
Asik gets another chance:
Center Omer Asik saw action for the second consecutive game on Saturday after not playing at all since the Feb. 1 trade with New Orleans involving Nikola Mirotic.
"I thought Omer was solid (against Boston on Friday)," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He's been getting more reps in practice and I thought for the first time out there, he gave us some good solid minutes. He set screens, defensively he's always going to be in the right spot, moves his feet well, has good anticipation. He'll most likely play these last three games."