Bulls seem to be dropping ball on pick-and-roll coverage
One constant to every Bulls game this season has been opposing teams attacking the Bulls defense with pick-and-rolls.
Part of the reason is because center Nikola Vucevic has never had the reputation of being a strong defender. But with their small lineup, the Bulls also don't have much in the way of rim protection once Vucevic is pulled away from the paint.
Before Monday's game in New York, coach Billy Donovan explained some goals of the Bulls' pick-and-roll defense, none of which involve the center dropping back and staying away from the screen.
"We're not playing a drop. We've never played a drop the entire year," Donovan said. "Vuc should be up there at the level of the screen.
"The further you're back, the more it gives those (guards) a head start to come at you, and Vuc is not necessarily one of those guys that's going to be Rudy Gobert back there. He's got to start up higher and I think Vuc has done a pretty good job here recently."
The Bulls delivered one of their better defensive performances Saturday in Cleveland, and Donovan said the plan in that game was to trap the screen in an effort to make Darius Garland or Caris Levert give up the ball. Often times, that leads to the ball being passed around and the Bulls having to scramble to keep up defensively.
"We have three or four different things were doing in pick-and-roll coverages," Donovan said. "We certainly want (Vucevic) up there presenting, then he's got to read his man. Is his man rolling hard, is he popping, what's he doing?"
Williams needs activity:
Since returning from left wrist surgery, Patrick Williams has produced modest statistics, as expected. He was averaging 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17 minutes heading into Monday's game.
"He came back in that first game against Toronto and he really played pretty well off the bench," Donovan said. "Then he had a couple games where you didn't feel him. Then all of the sudden, we come back against Cleveland and you kind of feel him
"He's on the offensive glass, he had a back cut, he went up on a couple defensive rebounds. He's got to get that into the game all the time. That's got to be consistent, him running, him getting his athleticism and his strength and his size into the game, there's plenty of opportunities for him to do that."
Injury update:
The Bulls aren't expecting any update on Lonzo Ball's return until later in the week, when his 10-day stint of no running ends, but coach Billy Donovan talked about Ball's mindset Monday. "Lonzo wants to do everything he possibly can to come back to play," Donovan said. "So we start from that premise that he wants to do whatever he can do." ...
Knicks guard Derrick Rose was shooting around before Monday's game, but it seems unlikely he'll play again this season. Rose has been out since Dec. 16 with an ankle issue.
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