LaVine and Team USA will try and capture the gold medal Friday night at the Olympics, and the hope is LaVine can return to the Bulls with all that new experience and influence the turnaround - no matter how much the roster has changed.
Zach LaVine went to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics with an agenda.
Yes, winning gold for Team USA was atop that list, and the Bulls guard will now have his chance on Friday, taking on France in the gold medal game, but he also wanted to earn respect from his peers.
While making his first All-Star Game last season was important, that was basically an in-and-out showcase game because of the coronavirus protocols, with LaVine unable to actually train, break bread, and compete with the best in the game for anything long-term.
The Olympics experience and playing with Team USA for almost a month now has.
Now his hope is to return to a new-look Bulls organization having a better understanding of doing the dirty work, but more importantly, understanding what it takes to win basketball games at the highest level.
“I think I’m always trying to get judged by my peers, and when you get the respect from your peers that’s what means the most,’’ LaVine said when Team USA first arrived in Tokyo. “So being here, competing with these guys, going out here and doing this is a big honor. Making the All-Star Game that was great, but I want to be a winner and I think everything will come with winning. And the better I get, the better I make my team, the more accolades you get individually, so all that stuff will come.
“I know how good I am and I know where I want to be at.’’
In the five games played by Team USA, LaVine started one and was the sixth-leading scorer with 10.6 points per game. He’s also been second in total assists, as well as shooting a team-best 47% from three-point range.
But what’s really stood out is the role he’s accepted on defense.
Head coach Gregg Popovich wanted LaVine to use his athleticism to be a defensive irritant for opposing point guards and ball-handlers, and despite a few breakdowns along the way, he’s actually done a solid job at living up to that role.
That was on display yet again against Australia in reaching the gold medal game, as LaVine’s defense was felt late in the third when he nabbed a Matisse Thybulle pass and took to the Tokyo skies for a dunk, and then again in the fourth when a Matthew Dellavedova attempt and again showed off his dunking skills.
Two questions remain, however: Will LaVine be willing to do that when he returns to the Bulls this season? And what kind of team is he even returning to?
The first one only LaVine will be able to answer, and that will come with his play throughout the regular season. The second question remained fluid on Thursday.
Having already put together deals to add guard Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, small forward DeMar DeRozan, and rim-protector Tony Bradley, the Bulls remained unfinished.
Before a heart scare sidelined big man LaMarcus Aldridge this season, the Sun-Times reported the veteran was interested in returning to a Bulls franchise that first drafted him back in 2006. It was also confirmed that Charlotte has become a frontrunner to offer a deal to restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen, which could lead to the Bulls trying to regain some draft capital with a sign-and-trade.
What was known, however, was that LaVine now has two new starters to figure out how to play with in Ball and DeRozan, as well as continuing to gel with Nikola Vucevic, as their season was halted when LaVine went into the health and safety protocol with the coronavirus last April.
A gold medal around the neck should only help that process.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3lx5aVL
No comments:
Post a Comment