_edited.png)
What does he even do?
- Cullen Vickroy
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
What does he even do? By Cullen Vickroy
This season, Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Although Donovan had an impressive college coaching career with the University of Florida, winning two consecutive NCAA titles, his NBA coaching career has been lackluster. He was hired in 2015 by the Oklahoma City Thunder and was let go at the end of his contract in 2020. During this contract, he coached the Thunder to a postseason appearance for five straight seasons. After he was let go in 2020, he was quickly picked up by the Chicago Bulls, which brings us to the present day. Donovan has coached the Bulls to merely one postseason appearance and three straight play-in tournaments, which the Bulls have failed to make it out of every time. Over his career in Chicago, one question has arisen time and time again: What does Billy Donovan actually bring to the table? Or, in other words, what does he even do?
As was mentioned earlier, the Chicago Bulls have finished their seasons in the play-in for three straight seasons. This season’s play-in tournament was different, though. Unlike the last two seasons, there was an expectation. With the addition of a core, all-star potential player in Josh Giddey, the long-awaited departure of Zach LaVine, and the continuing evolution of Coby White, there was an expectation that the Bulls’ young core finally had a chance to prove themselves as a team that was looking to move up in the East. Instead, the Bulls crashed and burned badly. Everything the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro did, the Bulls had no answer for. On the other hand, the Heat never looked uncomfortable or even unsettled during the game. In all aspects, the Bulls were out-coached, especially mentally.
Admittedly, I am a casual fan, so I know a very limited amount about offensive and defensive schemes. But even a fan as casual as I could see how many of our players just weren’t ready to play in their game against the Heat. It’s also no surprise that these players (namely, Coby White, Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry, and Matas Buzelis) all seemed like they had never played in such an intense context before. Terry dribbled into turnovers, Coby was forcing way too many shots, and Patrick Williams hasn’t looked like an NBA player for years. In fact, the rookie Buzelis seemed to have the best game out of these four despite shooting 44% from the field and 25% from three, totaling 9 points. Interestingly, all of these players began their careers with Billy Donovan as their head coach, save for Coby White, who was heading into his sophomore season as Donovan was hired.
On the other hand, the players the Bulls have acquired through trades were the only ones who had anything resembling a decent game. Guard Josh Giddey, who was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Alex Caruso, finished with a slightly inefficient 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists, while former Orlando Magic center Nikola Vučević had a similarly inefficient 16 points and 12 rebounds. Though these players didn’t have the best games, they still were the best Chicago had—and they all came from other teams, teams with coaches who taught them how to perform in high-pressure situations.
This stark difference implies that Donovan is not good at preparing NBA players for playoff situations. And that begs the question: if the Bulls have no chance of competing in the postseason due to Donovan’s playoff leadership struggles, what are the Bulls actually achieving by fighting for the 8 seed? A first-round collapse? The 16th pick in the draft?
As it stands now, Chicago’s basketball future looks bleak. Though Billy Donovan may be a Hall of Fame-caliber coach, he is not what the Bulls need, in any form. Hopefully, in the near future, Donovan and Chicago will part ways in a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Yorumlar