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The Chicago Bulls are currently tied for top spot in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat and DeMar Derozan has been a major part of their success. The veteran is playing at an MVP level in his first season with the Bulls, but it was several years in the making that formed him into the unstoppable force that we're seeing.
DeRozan's time with the San Antonio Spurs was absolutely crucial to his development as head coach Gregg Popovich helped the 32-year-old sharpen his skills in several different areas.
Article Continues Below“His three-year San Antonio detour wasn’t so bad, in the end. What he learned from Popovich turned DeMar into an unstoppable force with the Bulls. Popovich didn’t want to change DeMar; he wanted to highlight his tools, and hone the ones that were rusty. Master his preferred spots on the court; look more for his teammates; cut down his three-point attempts entirely. DeMar says this was the most vulnerable time of his career. He wanted to unlock a different side of himself, if he was ever going to prove all of his haters wrong. He didn’t care if Popovich was going to play him out of position; he just wanted to finally win.”
DeRozan takes a measly 1.8 threes per night. Instead, he's completely mastered his mid-range game, proving to be one of the lethal jump shooters in the Association. He's also become a much better facilitator and we've seen just that with the Bulls, averaging 5.1 assists. DeRozan realizes just how important his time was in San Antonio because of the things Pop taught him:
“Being vulnerable, you could bitch and complain about so much stuff,” he says. “This allowed me to accept everything that I didn’t expect in that moment. I took it full stride, head on.” The game started slowing down again for him. Before, he would take 40 shots a game if he felt he had to; now he was learning how to break down and manipulate the court, passing out of double teams and working more as a ball facilitator. In his last season with the Spurs, he averaged 6.9 assists per game, easily a career best. “San Antonio opened the full, wide range of my game and allowed me to be so much more.”
Sure, DeMar DeRozan didn't win a whole lot with the Spurs. But he was molded into more of a complete player and it's showing this season on the Bulls. While he is into his 30's now, it wouldn't be foolish to say DeRozan is truly in his prime at the moment. With averages of 27.8 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.2 rebounds on a 51% clip from the field, the Bulls couldn't have asked for any better from one of their marquee signings from last summer.
And, this is why Gregg Popovich is one of the best to ever do it.
