The Zach LaVine hype coming out of the first week of Bulls training camp was real.
Several of his teammates publicly discussed it, and practice onlookers privately commented about how explosive the two-time All-Star has looked, fresh off a summer knee clean-up surgery and a new five-year, $215-million max contract.
What will that mean for the Bulls in the final standings?
That remained to be seen.
But what isn’t unknown is the organization still feels like they have a devastating one-two punch in LaVine and DeMar DeRozan that few in the Association can match.
“It can be very exciting and scary for other people,’’ DeRozan said, when asked about Year 2 of the duo playing together. “I can’t tell you how many times I talked to him this summer, just checking on him. Getting that leg back together. I want to be with a healthy Zach. A full year of that is something I dream about every single night.’’
With good reason.
In DeRozan’s estimation a healthy LaVine makes life easier. Not just for DeRozan, but the entire offense.
Entering his 14th season, there were far too many games in the 2021-22 campaign that DeRozan carried the night. Single-handedly putting the carcass on his back, and willing it to a victory. Especially when LaVine was dealing with his knee issues, and couldn’t deliver on both ends of the floor like he did coming out of his Team USA run earlier in the summer.
That was exhausting for DeRozan, and by the end of the season and into the playoff series with Milwaukee, he looked worn down.
And now with DeRozan a year older at 33, and a year wiser in his estimation, while he was confident that Father Time still had no interest in trying to D him up, he would love for LaVine to be the lead actor in the upcoming sequel.
“A lot of my load last year was Zach being out,’’ DeRozan said. “We always talked about making things easier on one another. Being so up and down and not having each other made it tough on both of us. Having a healthy Zach and healthy me makes our job, and everybody else’s job around us, a lot easier.’’
That starts in the scoring department.
DeRozan is coming off a career year in which he averaged 27.9 points per game, which was seventh overall in the league. LaVine finished 17th at 24.4 points per game, down from his previous season in which he averaged 27.4.
If they each play to their potential, the only other duo that could match them in scoring would be Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. That’s good company.
The concern?
Was there actually a blueprint on how to slow them down discovered in the second half of last season, as both DeRozan and LaVine admitted?
All those double-teams and blitzes on the screen game will be tested, as a healthy LaVine could make that more difficult.
Then there’s the role coach Billy Donovan and his staff play in this, making sure there’s an adjustment in place to the so-called blueprint. While the Bulls weren’t expected to show much in the preseason games, a season-opener against a defensive-minded team like Miami will be a heck of a first test.
A test LaVine couldn’t wait for.
“We saw how teams defended us and adjusted throughout the season with different double-teams, me in pick-and-rolls, him in the post, so just try and use that to our advantage and be able to help each other get better,’’ LaVine said. “Better shots, easier looks, and help this team win. That’s what it’s all about. But having another year underneath our belt, I think it’s only going to get better, especially when we’re both healthy.’’
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/21ZLwRC
No comments:
Post a Comment