If the Bulls won their first game of their last five attempts last night in Miami, and the atmosphere was good after the victory in South Beach, with music and jokes in the locker room, the walls were indeed well shaken at halftime of the previous defeat, with 150 points conceded against Minnesota.
In a negative spiral, and while The Athletic reported on a complicated relationship (at least on the field) between the team’s two leading scorers, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, the two men both wanted to defuse the situation. The victory in Miami greatly helped in this…
“It’s something that happens all the time in the locker room”says Zach LaVine about that very tense half against Wolves, on NBC Sports. “There were several guys who spoke up because they were frustrated. That’s what’s supposed to happen, we’re a basketball team. This isn’t the first or the last time this will happen. It’s just that it came out, but it’s nothing new to us. »
Zach LaVine in the heart of the turmoil
Rants are indeed not uncommon in the NBA, and they can even be useful. They still remain an expression of frustration, while Billy Donovan had to calm things down between his players…
“The guys talked. We’re trying to be leaders in our own way, but we still have to find a way to get there.”assured Zach LaVine on Sunday, already on NBC Sports. “It’s not like we’re not trying. We talk a lot but we also have to stop talking and do it on the pitch. It’s frustrating for us, it’s frustrating for the fans, it’s frustrating for everyone actually. It’s embarassing. At the end of the day, we have to be able to look in the mirror and find a way to respond and to fight. »
At the heart of the problem, it is the defensive effort of some, including Zach LaVine, who has been singled out. An amplified criticism of the fact that Zach LaVine has just signed a five-year contract extension at the maximum salary (215 million dollars), when he also has just come out of a new left knee surgery this summer…
“There are big responsibilities in everything. I’ve stuck to standards, not contracts, since my first day in the NBA.” Zach LaVine replies on this point.
A relieving success
Completely invested in a “Big Three” which does not work very well together, except for a good passage at the end of last season, the Bulls must now turn their backs and wait for the storm to pass. Or, in this case, that their two outside scorers finally find a modus vivendi that suits everyone.
“Any relationship is a work in progress”adds DeMar DeRozan on his difficulties to evolve with Zach LaVine. “When you enjoy that relationship and want to be part of it, you have to take the good with the bad. It’s not necessarily that bad ruins everything, it just comes with it. I’ve never seen anyone who can be in a long term relationship with only smiles and laughs every day. »
This victory in Florida therefore does a lot of good, even if the absences of Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry helped a lot. Currently 11th in the East (12 wins – 18 losses), the Bulls are still far from cured…
“It was good to get that win, to have that good feeling again, especially after that very hard to swallow loss”concludes Nikola Vucevic. “It was necessary! We hope we can learn from this. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Demar Derozan | 29 | 35.3 | 50.4 | 31.0 | 89.1 | 0.4 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 25.9 |
| Zach Lavine | 25 | 34.2 | 44.3 | 36.5 | 82.5 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 21.8 |
| Nikola Vucevic | 29 | 32.3 | 50.5 | 36.7 | 85.0 | 2.0 | 8.4 | 10.4 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 16.3 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 27 | 26.8 | 50.5 | 32.9 | 85.2 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 9.8 |
| patrick williams | 29 | 27.0 | 46.6 | 44.4 | 93.9 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.6 |
| Goran Dragic | 28 | 16.9 | 43.9 | 39.0 | 64.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 7.8 |
| Coby White | 21 | 20.1 | 41.3 | 33.3 | 70.6 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 7.7 |
| Andre Drummond | 22 | 13.9 | 56.1 | 0.0 | 58.8 | 2.3 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 6.4 |
| Javonte Green | 25 | 16.1 | 58.3 | 38.7 | 65.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 5.9 |
| Derrick Jones | 24 | 13.7 | 50.0 | 35.5 | 83.3 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 5.6 |
| Alex Caruso | 28 | 25.5 | 41.9 | 35.4 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 5.3 |
| Tony Bradley | 9 | 2.8 | 57.1 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Dalen Terry | 11 | 3.3 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Malcolm Hill | 3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Marko Simonovic | 1 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
