Atlanta's Young gets another chance at Dosunmu's defense
One issue concerning the Bulls is defense, particularly the starting five.
The current group of Ayo Dosunmu, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Javonte Green is one of the team's least successful five-man lineups on the defensive end. It has a negative net rating and negative plus-minus.
Within that group is an interesting individual matchup, though, as Dosunmu gets a rematch with Trae Young on Thursday in Atlanta. Last week at the United Center, Young hit just 3 of 17 shots in a loss to the Bulls.
It's probably accurate to say Dosunmu did a great job defensively and Young was shaking off some rust coming off the all-star break. In the two games since then, Young scored 41 points against Toronto and 31 against Boston, hitting a combined 29 of 49 shots. He is just 3-for-16 from 3-point range since the break, however.
"I told y'all I was going to bounce back," Young told reporters after the Raptors game. "I didn't have a good shooting game in Chicago obviously. Felt like there were shots I could have made, but just felt like the legs and things weren't there."
Dosunmu is well-equipped to guard Young, since he moves well and has a long wingspan. He was credited with 3 blocks in last week's game, and is able to get his hand on shots even when beaten off the dribble.
Another factor in the first meeting was Dosunmu being able to slide through screens and avoid switching Young onto bad matchups. The Bulls later discovered it's much harder to slide through the screens of Memphis' Steven Adams or Miami's Bam Adebayo.
Asked after the game how he defended Young, Dosunmu said, "Just mixing up different coverages on Young, whether it's time to go under, go over, pick up full court. Basically trying to give him different looks. Good players, you give them the same look over and over again, they get accustomed to it and that's when they can be lethal."
And keep in mind, after leading most of the night, the Bulls nearly lost to the Hawks last week because they couldn't stop Danilo Gallinari or Bogdan Bogdanovich. Atlanta led by 3 in the final minute before DeRozan pulled it out.
LaVine admitted to reporters after Wednesday's practice in Miami that he expects to be less than 100% for the rest of the season due to his sore left knee.
Battle-tested theory:
After being barely competitive in Monday's loss at Miami, Bulls coach Billy Donovan took the old "this will only make us better" angle in his postgame talk.
"Guys like Tristan (Thompson), DeMar (DeRozan) and Alex Caruso have been a part of deep (playoff) runs, they have an idea," Donovan said. "But there are some other guys that are learning the physical toughness, the mental toughness, the competitiveness. You have to try to dominate what you can control."
DeRozan echoed that feeling when asked if he's concerned by the Bulls' inability to beat good opponents (2-12 against teams with a .600 winning percentage).
"Not concerned at all," DeRozan said. "What for? I've got the utmost confidence in the guys. Being able to get guys back (from injuries), that's going to be a second wind for us emotionally, physically. I know once those guys come back, the energy in this team is definitely going to heighten up even more."
Should we believe them? The Bulls certainly didn't pass the eye test in Miami. But recent history says its possible for the Bulls to make a playoff run. Remember, Atlanta got to the Eastern Conference finals and Phoenix to the Finals last year, and both teams were coming off multiple years without seeing the playoffs.
The Hawks drew a good first-round matchup against the Knicks, then helped Philadelphia implode in the second round. Phoenix, meanwhile, saw Anthony Davis get hurt during their first-round series, then beat Denver without Jamal Murray and the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard.
The Bulls' goal during the final 20 games is to hang onto that No. 2 seed in the East. If they get healthy, catch some breaks and draw good matchups, they'll have a chance to get to the conference finals.
What they don't need is a long losing streak. They've dropped the last two, with Atlanta, Milwaukee and Philadelphia coming next. The Bulls don't have to win them all, but certainly can't afford to lose them all.
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