Billy Donovan says Chicago Bulls have to learn how to push past adversity

The Bulls have been struggling as of late, but Donovan still has faith in his team moving forward

The regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. At the moment, the Chicago Bulls have stumbled off the gates and are learning how to deal with adversity which has come in the form of a disjointed 6-8 start that included a 23-point loss to the Denver Nuggets last time out. 

Head coach Billy Donovan thinks that his team has the potential to be better, but they need to learn how to push past obstacles.

Adversity breeds character

The Nuggets came to Chicago with cruel intentions, drubbing the home team 126-103. The loss was a painful one, no doubt, but it also served as a valuable lesson for the Bulls. 

To be an excellent team in the NBA, you must be resilient when things aren't going your way. That much was clear as early in the first quarter as the Bulls got behind by double-digits and trailed the rest of the way.

"In a lot of ways, people look at adversity as being a really bad thing. In my view, I think it's the best thing. In my profession of coaching, if I never coached a game that we lost, I don't think I'd ever be stretched in ways that I've been stretched over 35 years. You go through things and have to figure them out," said Donovan on Monday.

Donovan said players have to have that next-play mentality and not get caught up in the outcome of the last one. The Bulls' head coach said the team has to make the right choices if they want to right the ship early in the season.

"How do we fight when things get difficult? How do we pull ourselves out of those situations? You have to choose energy. I think it's hard to be a good team or a good player if you're driven by feelings. You have to be driven by the choices you make," the Bulls head coach added.

Do-or-die mentality

Former NBA veteran Kendall Gill said the Bulls have to adapt more of a "do or die" mentality that some of the game's icons had. This will be tested on Wednesday when they face off against the New Orleans Hornets — a team that outdueled them 115-111 less than a week ago.

Donovan added that he's putting the responsibility on everyone — himself included — to change the team's fortunes.

"There are days where I'm sure you've gone to work and say, 'I just don't have it today.' It happens to all of us," Donovan said. "We all have to be responsible to ourselves individually to pull ourselves out of it and also to help the group."