With Nikola Vucevic still in the health and safety protocols, coach Billy Donovan turned to DeRozan as the decision-maker late in games. One glance at the season DeRozan had in San Antonio shows exactly how well-versed he’s become at that craft.
DeMar DeRozan’s 6.9 assists per game last season didn’t happen by accident.
It wasn’t some sudden awakening for the veteran small forward.
No, his third season with San Antonio showed the rest of the Association what DeRozan already knew: That his talents as a play-maker and facilitator were somewhat wasted in Toronto.
The Bulls have been making sure not to repeat history.
With Nikola Vucevic sidelined on the five-game West Coast swing, that meant coach Billy Donovan had to get creative with his offense, especially late-game actions.
Sure, Vucevic has struggled with his shot this season, but he’s still well-versed in the art of play-making, whether it’s dribble-handoffs, pick-and-roll, or pick-and-pop.
Donovan calls it playing with gravity, which means defenders are pulled in the direction of the danger, and Vucevic is still dangerous from outside if left alone.
That option was off the table, however, thanks to the big man still in the league’s health and safety protocols.
No fear, DeRozan was there.
“They gotta pick either me or him,’’ Zach LaVine said after the win in Denver on Friday. “One of us is gonna get a good look or create a play for somebody.’’
In the fourth, it was LaVine getting a lot of the looks, but in the last five minutes of crunch-time it was DeRozan often with the ball in his hand, given the role of decision-maker.
It’s not that LaVine can’t handle that. He’s shown in the past he can.
But DeRozan is just better at it.
He makes smarter decisions, turns it over less in crucial moments, and his mid-range is a back-ache for any defense because he can get them with in-the-paint twos, out of the paint, or draw the foul. Throw help at him, like the Nuggets did on several occasions, and he found LaVine for an open three.
It was Basketball 101, and DeRozan was playing professor.
“We know Zach and DeMar, they have their chance to breakout,’’ teammate Derrick Jones Jr. said, when asked about the two. “And once they get going it’s real hard to stop them. I was on that other end last year and years prior. But now I’m with them. It’s different being able to be on the same team as them.’’
And don’t expect that to change late-game without Vucevic, either.
It generated open looks in the last four games of the road trip, especially in Los Angeles and Denver. Throw Golden State out the window. The Warriors have the top defense in the league for a reason. They were blitzing and double-teaming both LaVine and DeRozan all night, and have the personnel to recover and rotate when the ball did swing.
Not many opposing defenses can do that as effectively.
While Portland was a loss thanks to a second-half meltdown, it was more about DeRozan just going cold than not getting open looks. Just a bad night at the office for both players. That won’t happen very often.
And the biggest benefactor in DeRozan playing late-game decision maker? LaVine.
He no longer has to carry the pressure of ball-handler, facilitator, and shot-maker. Gotham has given LaVine another hero to play alongside of.
“To have a DeMar and when Vooch gets back healthy, and even Lonzo [Ball] who is another playmaker handler, Alex [Caruso] … Zach last year being my first year he had to carry an enormous load,’’ Donovan said. “A lot of times coming down the stretch of games like [Denver], maybe you can use a play coming out of a timeout, maybe you can use him as a decoy, maybe you do something, but most of the possessions you are going to have to find a way to incorporate him to get him to create.’’
Now there’s options. Now there’s help.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3CGhEiC
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