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In 14 games since the All-Star break, the Chicago Bulls have won just four of them. This is exactly why this team has fallen to the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference and is now in danger of falling further behind in the rankings.
Something's gotta give for Chicago and right now, it is clear that head coach Billy Donovan needs to figure out how to get his team back to winning ways. As it turns out, the 56-year-old shot-caller already has a pretty good idea of what his team needs to do. In his mind, Donovan believes that the Bulls need to get more touches for big man Nikola Vucevic:
“I think there’s times we need to move it better,’’ Donovan said, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times. “There’s times I think we need to find Vooch in those situations because he’s such a good connector from one side of the floor to the other. I think we miss opportunities to do that. It’s something we certainly talked about and we’ve got to be better at.’’
Vucevic has seen his numbers dip from last season. This term, the two-time All-Star is averaging 18.0 points on 16.0 shot attempts. Last season, Vucevic averaged 21.5 points per game on 18.8 shots. This is despite the fact that he's playing more minutes this year as opposed to last season.
The Bulls made a lot of moves during the summer, with none bigger than the arrival of DeMar DeRozan. He's been Chicago's main man on offense, averaging 27.6 points per game. Zach LaVine has to eat too, and he's scoring 24.8 points per contest. This has relegated Vucevic to third in the pecking order in terms of this team's scoring hierarchy.
It's not as if Donovan wants to make Vooch their primary option on the offensive end. However, the Bulls coach is adamant that changes need to be made in order to get Vucevic more involved offensively:
“They definitely miss him, no question,’’ Donovan said. “He’s a high-level IQ player and he knows the ones he needs to take and the ones he needs to get off of. It’s more in the heat of the moment, the awareness of making these quick decisions [for our guards].’’
For his part, however, Vucevic isn't exactly sweating it. He knows the role he needs to play with the Bulls and he understands that both LaVine and DeRozan are rightfully this team's top two options on offense. However, when defenses collapse on Chicago's two stars, Vucevic also knows that he can step up for his team:
“To me it’s not the fact of get me the ball to shoot it,’’ Vucevic said on Saturday. “One thing about me, which I think is one of my best qualities, is I make the game easier for everybody. Lot of times like the way DeMar [DeRozan] and Zach [LaVine] are guarded, getting doubled, getting blitzed, all that, the defense focuses so much on them that I can always be an outlet and make plays out of it.’’
Vucevic also pointed out that, unlike most big men, he tends to spend a lot of his time on the court on the outside. The 6-foot-10 center has the ability to stretch the floor for Chicago and he believes that this is something that the team must utilize more:
“As a big man you are dependent on others,’’ Vucevic said. “I’m outside quite a bit, so I think for guards it’s not always something they’re aware of because with a big man they are just taught that we’re inside. Guards are taught to look for a big inside. I think 80% of them are inside. Few of them are shooting and able to step outside, so it’s just an adjustment for everybody. Definitely something we keep talking about.’’
This is Nikola Vucevic saying in the most polite way that he's demanding more touches. Not every player can make such strong demands, particularly if you're playing alongside two other superstars on your team. Vucevic, however, has a proven track record, and he is more than qualified to make these types of calls. He's also being quite modest about it, which speaks volumes of just how much of a team player he is.
Perhaps most importantly, his coach fully supports Vucevic's demands and it is clear that Donovan will be doing what he can to make this a reality. Right now, all signs are pointing to the notion of Vucevic stepping into a more significant role for the Bulls down the stretch.
