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Josh Giddey’s Honest Statement After Bulls-Pistons

Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey spoke out following their win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday,

Logan Struck

Nov 18, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) steal the ball and drives to the basket against the Detroit Pistons during the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images
Nov 18, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) steal the ball and drives to the basket against the Detroit Pistons during the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images / David Reginek-Imagn Images
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The Chicago Bulls' offseason addition of Josh Giddey was critiqued by many, despite the 22-year-old Australian guard showing plenty of potential through three seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Through his first 14 games as a Bull, Giddey averaged 12.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists, shooting a career-high 37.3 percent from three-point range. Despite the strong numbers, Giddey has been somewhat disappointing to start his campaign in Chicago.

The Bulls picked up a strong road win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday, led by stars Zach LaVine, Coby White, and Nikola Vucevic each scoring 25+ points. But, Giddey played a significant role in Chicago picking up their sixth win of the season.

Giddey contributed his third double-double as a Bull, dropping 11 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. Giddey posted a plus/minus of +13, his second-best of the season and third-highest on the team during Monday's win. While plus/minus does not always tell the whole story, Giddey felt good following his performance.

"Plus-minus can be skewed," Giddey says regarding his +13 in Monday's win. "But it is often a good representation of the impact a player has while they're on the floor. I'm very hard on myself. So I've always wanted to impact winning."

Giddey also pointed out how much better the team played from their 36-point loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Going from a blowout loss to a statement road win the next night is certainly what this team needed, and Giddey recognized that postgame.

"It was the right bounce back," Giddey said in the locker room following the win. "I think we played way harder tonight than we did on the first night of a back-to-back. We can't wait until things aren't going well to respond the way we did tonight. I thought we did a great job. In that fourth [quarter], I think Zach [LaVine] got really hot, [Vucevic] had a great night, and I thought complementary pieces around them were really good tonight, so it was a total team effort... I thought we responded the right way and got a good win."

Giddey has not had the ideal start to the season, but he is certainly one of the top X-factors for this Bulls squad. If Giddey can continue to elevate his game as the season goes on, it could help the Bulls get out of this early-season slump and make a run for the play-in tournament.

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Logan Struck
LOGAN STRUCK

Logan Struck is a writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's On SI since 2023

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