It’s easy to generalize last year’s offense under former coach Jim Boylen.
After all, bad is bad.
Whether it was the always over-appeasing Boylen allowing an analytics department to sell him on a philosophy that didn’t match the personnel or the coach’s inability to have his players consistently understand the execution needed to pull it off, the Bulls offense was broken from Day 1 of the 2019-20 campaign.
Pick a statistical category to measure it.
The numbers that matter most, however? An offensive efficiency (104.1) that ranked 27th in the league, and 22 wins.
That’s it.
Far too often the Bulls were a square peg being jammed in the round hole, as inconsistent three-point shooters were asked to live and die from long range, while sacrificing the comfort several expressed having with their mid-range game.
Enter “Billy Ball.’’
And then throw your arms around it in relief.
New head coach Billy Donovan had basic concepts he wanted from all of his teams in his five years with the Thunder. He laid that out this week, as the Bulls were easing into training camp.
“I do think with this group we’ve got to run, and we’ve got to be really willing to move and to cut and to help each other generate shots,’’ Donovan said of his early thoughts in fixing the Bulls offense. “I think that’s going to be important for this group.’’
Great, but Donovan’s real strength as a coach is that he’s adaptable.
Look at the rosters he had with the Thunder. Future Hall of Famers making adaptability easier? Absolutely. Whether it was Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Westbrook with Paul George, or Westbrook and George shipped out and coaching Chris Paul, Donovan coached to the strength of the personnel rather than making the personnel adapt to a concrete scheme.
His offensive efficiency has never been lower than 17th, and twice it was in the top eight, including second in the league (109.9) in the 2015-16 Durant-Westbrook season.
In other words, he’s a real NBA coach.
One that understands that it went very wrong with this Bulls roster last season on both ends of the floor, but dwelling on it isn’t an option.
“One of the things that I try to do, and I’ve obviously gone into different situations in college, going to Oklahoma City and now to Chicago, is I think the past is the past and we need to focus on what’s in front of us right now,’’ Donovan said of his plan to get this offense to succeed. “[Guard] Zach [LaVine] is such a dynamic player offensively. But we can’t always rely on him being so dynamic. We’ve got to rely on each other. So how can we build out a system offensively where we’re not only playing into guys’ strengths but we’re creating a situation where maybe the sum is greater than the parts, so to speak, where we’re all helping each other. And I do think a lot of that now is we’re going to have to move and cut and work to generate good shots.
“I think that starts on the rebound, being able to get out and run in transition. And I think it really starts in the half-court. … But I do think we’ve got to be a team that’s really willing to cut and move for each other.’’
A team that will have to walk before running, however.
Coronavirus protocol restrictions have limited intrasquad scrimmaging until this weekend. That leaves the Bulls very little time to continue learning the offense before the first dress rehearsal next Friday, as they host Houston in the preseason debut.
The players, however, seem confident that “Billy Ball’’ will not only catch on quickly, but quickly pay dividends.
“We’re going to be better than we were last year,’’ big man Wendell Carter Jr. said of his new-look franchise. “If that includes us making it to the playoffs, then that’s what we’re going to do. If not, then I know for a fact that we will be better than last year.’’
