It was a 30-point loss with built-in excuses all across the board.
A short-handed roster, a brutal part of the schedule, the road … pick an excuse.
Then if you’re a Bulls player, quickly erase it from your mind, or at least keep it to yourself.
The days of making excuses have ended. Billy Donovan reiterated that very clearly after the Friday night loss in Milwaukee, acknowledging that the circumstances surrounding the game were less than ideal, but making sure his players understood that professionals overcome it.
And while there were any number of players that the coach could have pointed a finger at, he pulled no punches with a backcourt that has to be better in the decision-making department for this offense to work.
“[Coby White] and Zach [LaVine] I think had nine turnovers collectively together, but they’re the ones who have to be the driving force behind the identity which we need to play and we did not play to that identity,’’ Donovan said. “It’s five guys on the court doing it together, but also I think a big part of that is the guys who have the ball in their hands as they start to make decisions and get the ball up the floor quickly and get us into things, we’ve got to be able to do that and sustain that for a period of time. I thought collectively we were unable to do that.
“Again, guys are going to miss shots in the course of games, which is just the reality of it, but we have to play to an identity and we didn’t play that way at all, and that was the disappointing part of it.’’
Not the only disappointment in the loss, but one that definitely stood out. Since training camp started, Donovan has emphasized the importance White and LaVine would play this season. While the duo has had some moments – look no further than the back-to-back wins in Washington – the inconsistency is inexcusable.
The new front office has insisted time and time again that these Bulls players needed to understand championship-level basketball, and Donovan’s responsibility is making sure they figure out which players can consistently achieve that and which can’t.
Come the end of the season, the can’ts could very well be elsewhere.
“OK here’s a group of guys who went out there and played [Friday], whether you want to say we were undermanned or not, we can still do things what I would consider at a very high level,’’ Donovan said. “And I would say to these guys we need to do things at a championship level. That to me was not at a championship level. Not from a standpoint that we lost the game, but more from the standpoint of how we need to play, and we have got to build up the endurance and the stamina and the discipline to be able to do that.’’
White specifically needs to be more consistent at meeting what this staff asks of him.
On nights he’s not shooting well – like the 4-for-13 against the Bucks – he better be distributing and exercising ball security. Three assists and four turnovers wasn’t going to get it done.
Yes, he’s only a second-year player, but even White knows he can’t hide from the expectations.
“We didn’t stick to our identity,’’ White said. “Our identity is moving the ball, making the extra pass, getting energy with the ball on the offensive end, and we kind of didn’t stick to our identity. [The Bucks are] tough defensively, but it’s no excuse, three games in four nights, whatever, no excuse, we’re professionals. That’s why we’re here and that’s why we get paid to do what we do.’’
