© Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bulls' consistency has to change, asserts Billy Donovan
After bringing back the same faces from last season’s underachieving squad, fans and experts were left asking, “What will be different with this Bulls squad this season?” From the looks of the team’s opening salvo against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it appears that head coach Billy Donovan is focused on creating a culture of consistency and accountability.
Game got away
The Bulls looked solid for most of the first half and in the early goings of the third. However, a brief surge led by OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder in front by 13 late in the third quarter.
The Thunder then took advantage of the Bulls’ inattentiveness on defense and drained three triples in under a minute at the start of the fourth to put the game away. After the game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan pinpointed consistency as a critical area of improvement for the team going forward.
“Consistency, sustainability of doing it for a long period of time,” Donovan said. “I’ve said what’s going to change? Same group, same coaches, same everything else. So to me, again, it’s the consistency piece of doing it.”
Gotta fight through adversity
As it often is, the NBA is a game of runs. The Bulls kept it close late in the third, but when it mattered, the Thunder took control to close out the quarter and never looked back. If Chicago is going to make a real push this season, they’re going to have to learn how to respond when things don’t go their way.
“You could just tell, guys get down, they get dejected,” Donovan said. “There’s got to be some resiliency and some fight to get through that. We have got to be able to sustain a standard of play on both ends of the floor.”
