Ayo Dosunmu is still trying to unleash himself

His complicated 6/15 shooting game last night in Chicago’s loss to Toronto reminded Ayo Dosunmu all the way he had to go to take the next step in the Bulls system.

Still, if there’s one thing no one can take away from the United Center darling, it’s his determination and eagerness to learn. Among the elements that can allow him to progress, Lonzo Ball’s substitute has checked several objectives. One of them was given to him by his coach, Billy Donovan: to attack the circle more.

In full “process”

“That’s what the coach keeps telling me: try to penetrate a lot. I think it’s really a bonus for our team, to go in the key, to create shooting opportunities, to always be in attack mode and to be aggressive. I think I did a good job in this area, but I still need to improve”he pointed out to The Athletic. “It just adds pressure on the defense when you attack them again and again, when you keep them on their toes.”

What makes Ayo Dosunmu trusted by his coach is his ability to punish in spaces. Tonight’s encounter provided a good insight into his ‘space exploiting’ missions with his 3/8 from 3-pointers, mostly on open shots, and three drives on which he was able to finish near the circle.

“We try to create space that allows him to be aggressive when he goes to the circle. It’s something he’s spent a lot of time, attention and focus on. The idea is to say to yourself: “When I go into the racket, if it is not useful to me, it will allow me to make a pass to the next option”. So we need him to attack the circle”, clarified Billy Donovan.

Derrick Rose, John Wall… and Bulls veterans as references

At the start of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, there are 4.3 lay-up attempts per game. This is almost double compared to last season (2.5). Even if everything is not perfect yet, Ayo Dosunmu seems to be on the right track. He even observes players like Derrick Rose or John Wall in their best years to understand how they use their speed and their changes of direction.

“Ayo is a badass. He fears nothing. He works very hard. He talks loudly. And he’s a competitor.listed Zach LaVine, who highlighted the willingness to learn from his young teammate. “He talks to me, but also to DeMar (DeRozan), to Vooch (Nikola Vučević), to a bunch of guys, even though he’s in his second year. We give him the opportunity to do whatever he knows how to do, and we love it.”

For now, Ayo Dosunmu is on schedule with his split times. The objective of this start to the season was also to confirm the good things seen last season on both sides of the floor. And from this point of view, the player gives satisfaction to his coach.

“He was always confident. The biggest difference I see is that he is physically different this year. He got bigger, he got stronger. He has a much better understanding. Like most players, there are things he was told about as a rookie that he knows now, because he’s lived them and seen them.”said coach Donovan. “But he’s a better player today than he was last year. He has always been competitive. As he gains experience and sees more both offensively and defensively, with his competitiveness and his thirst for learning, he can only improve”.