NEW YORK – On several occasions last season, Ayo Dosunmu was asked about his relationship with coach Billy Donovan, and replied, “I want to be coached hard.’’
Well, wish granted.
How’s this for some good old fashioned hard coaching?
Because of the Lonzo Ball injury, Dosunmu was a starter at the beginning of this 2022-23 campaign, then lost his job and was demoted to the bench, only to then watch playing time start to dry up the last 10 days as a reserve.
That included a season-low five minutes against Miami on Tuesday, in which it suddenly felt like there was a reason Dosunmu was a second-round pick in last year’s draft, and all of those concerns about him were being exposed.
So while Wednesday’s last-second win over Atlanta was huge for the Bulls, it in fact may have been even bigger for Dosunmu.
Right place, right time for the game-winning put-back at the horn? Sure, but Dosunmu also took it on himself to sprint through the lane on DeMar DeRozan’s shot attempt, positioning himself to make something happen.
Not bad for a 22-year-old who might have been dealing with some recent doubts.
“It’s all about your approach, your mental approach,’’ Dosunmu said of his recent ups and downs. “You’ve got to be mentally strong in this league, definitely. I pride myself on being a great teammate, being there for my teammates. [In Miami] I didn’t play the minutes I ideally want to play, just me being a competitor, you know, but I can’t take that out on my teammates.
“I knew that whenever my time did come I would be ready for it. I always say brick-by-brick, and sometimes you can’t always keep stacking ‘em. Sometimes you gotta take bricks away. That’s part of the journey.’’
And sometimes those bricks are taken away for you.
While veterans like Zach LaVine and DeRozan denied any strife with Donovan, as was reported on one platform, it’s no secret that while Donovan is considered a player’s coach, he’s also harder on the younger players than the veterans.
That’s not uncommon in the NBA, and Donovan even pulled the curtain back on how he discusses playing time with his role players.
“I’ll communicate with them if they’re not going to play,’’ Donovan said. “Obviously, how the game is going and how they’re playing will dictate how many minutes they ultimately will get.
“I think as it relates to those guys in particular, you’re always communicating with them, but if there was some reason they weren’t going to play I would certainly have a conversation with them and say, ‘Listen, this is what we’re doing tonight, this is where we’re at, this is what’s going on, and this is how we see the future.’ ‘’
What Donovan currently sees in the future for Dosunmu are still very good things, but also wants the former Morgan Park High School standout to know that gaining experience is sometimes a process with growing pains.
“I think for him, he has always been able to hang onto his competitiveness and competitiveness has always gotten him through,’’ Donovan said of Dosunmu. “But I think the further you go up the ladder from high school, to college, and now to the NBA, that is a huge component that you have to have, but there’s also the detailed part too. In terms of understanding who he is really guarding, trends, what the opponent likes to do, how he’s being guarded, what they’re doing to him. Are they going under in pick-and-roll?
“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s different for him from last year to this year in terms of he’s become a pretty regular player that teams now are game-planning for.’’
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/pTM1XIg
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