ORLANDO – For a few minutes to start the second half on Friday night, Jim Boylen was almost calm.
Almost.
Then Orlando guard D.J. Augustin hit a tough three-pointer, and there was Boylen quickly out of his seat, getting in mock defensive stances from the sideline, pumping his fist, yelling. The old-school dog up to his old tricks.
“One thing I probably need to do better, it’s hard for me, but I think I coach every possession as hard as I can, and I kind of think you’ve got to let the game happen a little bit,’’ Boylen said. “I think that’s just part of my in-game emotion. There can always be growth there.’’
Easier said than done for the often-criticized first-year coach, especially in a 110-109 nail-biting win over a red-hot Magic team to start the final stretch of the NBA regular season.
A final stretch where everything is being evaluated by Boylen, including himself.
“I think what I’ve improved at is how I communicate with the team and what I think is important, getting in and getting out,’’ Boylen said. “They obviously don’t want to hear your voice all the time.
“This level is about leadership. What I’ve been asked to do is lead our team and lead our staff, and every day I try and do that. I also think there are moments where you learn on the fly with that.’’
Maybe exactly what Boylen was doing just about 12 weeks ago, when he first took over the head coaching chair from a fired Fred Hoiberg.
And what a take-over it was initially.
Boot-camp style practices – suicide sprints and all, an attempted two-player mutiny, an embarrassing 56-point home loss to Boston. All with a backdrop of player injuries and a stripped down offense to deal with.
“People made it out to be a lot worse than it really was,’’ guard Ryan Arcidiacono said, looking back on the first few weeks of Boylen’s tenure. “I mean you have a couple tough practices, and we actually needed that. It just so happened that we had a back-to-back, the coaching change, win a very energetic game against the Thunder and then come back and get our asses kicked against the Celtics. It was like a combination of things, but from the inside it was never as bad as people on the outside said it was.
“And now it feels like things are coming together.’’
Yes, the addition of Otto Porter in a deadline trade with Washington was big, especially for an offense that lacked a starting small forward. Since Porter was acquired the Bulls are now 3-2, with the veteran scoring another 17 against Orlando.
But Boylen’s growth on the job also can’t be denied.
“I’ve seen a lot of progression,’’ Arcidiacono said. “Nobody is perfect, and he kind of had to get into us like he did, kind of shock the system.’’
Like the Bulls (15-44) shocked Orlando.
Thanks to Lauri Markkanen fouled on a three-point attempt with 1.5 seconds left, missing the first and then making the final two, the Bulls held on to win a game that had 23 lead changes.
Markkanen finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Zach LaVine had 22 with six assists.
“We’ve opened [up the offense] a little bit,’’ LaVine said of the latest win. “Otto definitely helps with his spacing cause you can’t leave a guy like that. And I think we’re starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm, starting to have a little fun out there too.
“All of our games should elevate.’’
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