Chicago Bulls star Alex Caruso feels as if the team is deserving of being in the playoffs when he was asked the question by the media, despite their 11-17 record and teammate Zach LaVine still absent. He cites the victory the Bulls just had against the Philadelphia 76ers Monday as further proof according to NBC Sports Chicago.
“Yeah, for sure. I think we have enough talent clearly,” Caruso said. “I mean, we just won at Philly. We won at Miami, went 2-1 on this road trip. We were up two buckets with 3 minutes to go in Miami in the second game. That team was in the Finals last year and this is a team that’s trying to win the Finals this year—two of the best teams. We beat Milwaukee. We can play with anybody when we play at our best. It’s just about doing it.”
Even besides the results on the court, Caruso peels back the curtain a bit to reveal the the attitude of the locker room and how the relationship between the players is at a high. He said there is a good balance of keeping the mood light while also focusing on the game-plan when they get on the court.
“I think we just got guys that care about each other,” Caruso said. “We have great energy, great camaraderie. We crack a lot of jokes and keep it light and have done a good job of focusing on the game plan when we go on the court.”
Caruso and Bulls head coach Billy Donovan feels the team is connected
The guard is averaging 9.4 points per game as he is in his third season with Chicago, joining the team in 2021 after spending four seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. He said to the media that the team is “finally locking in” on aspects the Bulls have been trying to hone in on.
“We’re finally locking in on the things we’ve talked about all year that we want to do and we’re competing at a high level,” Caruso said. “As crazy as it sounds, we could be 9-0 because we had a couple late games that we lost that we could’ve won.”
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan talks about the team's dynamic with one another and said they have the “connectedness” that gives the chance for a team to win. He said that if a team doesn't have that trait, they “have zero chance to win.”
“I think the most important thing is a group with five guys connected,” Donovan said. “If you don’t have that and the talent level is equal or you’re undermanned and your talent level is less, you have zero chance to win—none. So I think the most important thing is the connectedness, the sharing and moving of the basketball, the covering for each other (defensively), the extra passing, the rotations and taking charges. Those are all things that are about being connected.”
Donovan on Bulls overcoming brutal losses
He cited even the losses the Bull received from the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, which in the latter game, Chicago lost off a Jimmy Butler made game-winning shot, as a turning point. He saw the “hurt” in the team and bounced back in a huge way.
“I liked the way they were after the Milwaukee game and the Miami game. Not that I want to see them there, but there was genuine hurt,” Donovan said via NBC Sports Chicago. “There have been some games this year quite honestly where we have no right to be upset after the game because we didn’t even give ourselves a chance to win. But when you fight like they did against Milwaukee and Miami and come up short, that hurts. And then you got to look at what we have to do better.”
Nikola Vucevic sees a different energy with the Bulls
Another key player to the Bulls is big-man and former member of the Orlando Magic in Nikola Vucevic. Since joining Chicago in 2020, he's been part of the foundation of the team as the 33-year old said the “energy” is not unlike he's seen before.
“Our energy has been different,” Vucevic said. “We’re playing with a much more aggressive mindset at both ends. We’re playing for each other, sharing the ball, playing at a faster pace. That has brought out the best in everybody.”
Besides the main stars in DeMar DeRozan and the absence of LaVine after missing nine games, Vucevic has been seeing different players step up to the table. Bringing back up that “connectedness” that Donovan used, the center has noticed everybody “supporting each other.”
“We’ve been enjoying playing. Each night it’s a different guy stepping up. All of us are supporting each other. You can just feel that. And when you play that way, it’s very contagious. Positive energy builds up,” Vucevic said. “We haven’t been as stagnant as we were early on. We’ve been getting downhill, finding the open guy, making the extra pass. That’s how you get everybody involved.”
While the Bulls have the confidence, they are 11-17 which puts them 12th in the Eastern Conference. They have ground to cover if they want to reach the playoffs as their next test is Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
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