Boylen expects bigger role for Bulls rookie Hutchison
One question from the Chicago Bulls' loss in Toronto on Sunday is why not send rookie forward Chandler Hutchison out to try guarding Kawhi Leonard? Hutchison was playing well and, whether it went good or bad defensively, matching up against Leonard would be good experience.
Before Wednesday's game against Orlando, coach Jim Boylen said he can see that sort of thing happening in the future. Hutchison has been a regular in the rotation since Boylen took the job on Dec. 3.
"Yeah, I think so. Hutch has got such a good spirit," Boylen said. "I think to be a good NBA player, you've got to have a good spirit. His spirit is so positive, he's dying to be coached and he's becoming more reliable.
"If I could mention Shaq (Harrison) too is kind of the same way, his spirit is so good. Those guys bring a lot of life and energy to your locker room and they play their minutes with force. It's fun, it's fun for us."
When Boylen says things like that, it may not necessarily be a knock on Jabari Parker, but the fact is Hutchison and Harrison are playing while Parker has sat out the last eight games.
"(I've told Parker) come ready to practice, just do what the other guys do," Boylen said. "We've got other guys out of the rotation too and they have to stay ready. So he's doing all the same things those guys do and you prepare for your opportunity. That's part of what you get paid to do and he's doing that."
Portis might practice:
The Bulls are hoping Bobby Portis will be ready for a full-contact practice on Thursday. He missed his sixth game with a sprained right ankle Wednesday. If he can get through that, he could be ready to return before the Bulls' three-game homestand ends on Sunday.
Center Robin Lopez was listed on the injury report with a right hip strain, but played against Orlando. It happened when Lopez was pushed into a driving Zach LaVine on Sunday in Toronto.
"He's a tough guy, he never said a word about it," Boylen said of Lopez. "He's not one of those guys to complain about his stuff. Love that about him."
Lunch money missing:
The Bulls have generally kept their turnovers low while coach Jim Boylen slowed down the pace. But they've also had three games with more than 20 giveaways and finished with 18 at Toronto on Sunday.
It's about protecting the lunch money, according to Boylen.
"We've had some casual plays, where we've been casual with the ball and they just take it from us," Boylen said. "I call them 'lunch-money steals,' like when you were on the playground as a kid and a guy just takes your lunch money from you. And we've had too many of those casual-type plays.
"And then when our screening quality is poor and our pass quality is poor, it leads to late-clock situations and we turn it over. When you throw a bad pass to a guy who is wide open, now we can't take that shot and we've got to get something else and that leads to a turnover."
The Bulls have averaged 95 points since the coaching switch, lowest in the NBA. Boylen said he'd like to try to get to 102 or 104 points.
"We get one more 3, two more free throws, one more basket, we'll be right there," he said. "If we take our turnovers from 16 to 13, that's three more shots on goal. That might be the difference. Those are the things we talk about."