Jim Boylen welcomed the All-Star break with open arms.
Not because it was time away from the game like it was for many at the Advocate Center, but because it actually gave him more time in the lab to play mad scientist with the Xs and Os.
The Bulls coach is hoping to unleash the new tweaks Friday in Orlando – ready or not – as the impact of Otto Porter into the mix is still being felt.
“His drive game is very interesting to me because he has such positional size that he can shoot over, even maybe when he’s closely guarded, he can score over the top of the defense,’’ Boylen said of Porter and the new looks he wants to see from the small forward. “And then he has a real good feel of passing to the pocket, so I think what’s interesting for me with him is there’s a part of me that wants him off the ball cause he’s a great receiver, and there’s part of us that want him with the ball on the ball because he’s a pretty damn good creator with positional size.’’
That means expect more pick-and-roll with Porter or Horn sets, where the two bigs each pick for Porter at the top of the arc and let him create off of that.
“His versatility is exciting to us,’’ Boylen said.
It’s been exciting for the scoreboard, too.
The Bulls are averaging 103.2 points per game this season, but in the four games in which they’ve had Porter that average jumped up to 117.8.
A huge bump, as the entire starting offensive unit is feeding off what Porter brings to that side of the ball.
Yes, having Lauri Markkanen attacking the defensive boards and then aggressively pushing the ball up the floor like he has the past few weeks gave the offense a definite new look, but now having a knock-down shooter in Porter that Markkanen and Zach LaVine can drive-and-kick to, well, game-changer.
“Big time,’’ LaVine said, when asked about the addition of Porter. “You can’t leave him. If I drive on his side of the floor, I know pretty much I am going to have an open lane or a one-on-one with the big.
“Anybody attacks it’s an easy kick out to an assist every time. It’s been good. We just put in some more stuff with me and him, so we’re looking to build that chemistry as well.’’
A far cry from the way LaVine was talking about six weeks ago, when Boylen took over the head coaching seat from Fred Hoiberg, and then instantly blew up the offensive playbook to the basics of four-out, one-in, slow-it-down sleepy offense.
Boylen promised that once his players learned to crawl they would be allowed to walk, and once they walked they would be allowed to run, and Porter seems to have sparked the running phase of the transition.
“Coach, he’s letting me go out there and learn and pick up, play freely,’’ Porter said. “As we go along more games, he’ll start putting in more and more plays.
“You’ll definitely see it this next game [against the Magic].’’
What won’t be going away? Boylen still likes the ball to touch the post when it comes time for half-court offense, and while four-out, one-in was the foundation, expect more action on the elbows and away from the post side.
“There’s always a time in this league when you stand,’’ Boylen said. “You fill the corners and stand. And there’s a time in this league when you need movement. And we’re trying to balance that. I don’t want us to be stagnant. But I don’t want us to miss an opportunity either.’’
