Almost all teams have now played three games, and the two 2023 finalists, the Mavericks and the Celtics, have the distinction of occupying the first two places of the ranking of the teams which lose the ball the least at the start of the season, with respectively 8.5 and 9 balls lost per match. At the other end of the ranking, we find Toronto with 21.3 lost balls per game, and Chicago with 18.7 on average.
After three games, the Bulls have already lost 57 balls! “I take responsibility for it” replies Zach LaVine. “I can't hold the ball, and it's bad… It's been two matches since I lost 7, and against the Thunder, none were provoked. It's not as if they are responsible… We need to pay more attention to the ball overall. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”
How to play very quickly without losing balls?
In preseason, Billy Donovan announced that he wanted a team that runs and makes quick decisions. Apparently, this high pace is not yet assimilated and mastered by everyone…
“We need to bring this number down sharply,” continues Josh Giddey. “We try to play as we should, and as we wish… Considering how we wish to play, there are ups and downs, there will be mistakes. But there shouldn’t be that many.”
What is certain is that Billy Donovan does not intend to change his playing philosophy. He has the players to play fast basketball, with quick shots. “In general, the faster you play, the quicker you have to make decisions, the more likely you are to make mistakes,” he concedes. “But we will fix it. “There is a balance and we will probably have to work on this point and understand that we could have problems progressing at the start of the year with turnovers. »
