Last night, the Bulls blew a 24-point lead to the Indiana Pacers in their four-point defeat and now have been on the losing end in three of the eight largest blown leads league-wide this season. This is their fifth time losing after being up 15 or more, and this time was to a team in the Pacers that was 2-16 in their last 18 games. Although Chicago was short-handed and missing their All-Star DeMar DeRozan, the fashion in which they lost was still unacceptable. Head coach Billy Donovan for much of the season has dodged the majority of blame surrounding the failures of the 2022-23' Chicago Bulls, but now it's his time to come to the stand after the worst stretch of the year in the Windy City.
First To Worst
Rewind to this time last year, when Chicago was sitting atop the Eastern Conference, firing on all cylinders. Billy Donovan was firmly in the Coach Of The Year conversation, and DeRozan circled MVP conversations; things were looking better than they had in decades for the Bulls.
365 days later, they sit 26-32, 1.5 games out of the play-in tournament, 11th in the Eastern Conference, not owning the rights to their first-round selection in the upcoming draft, riding a 5-game losing streak, headed to play the Milwaukee Bucks on an 11-game winning streak, and missing their best player in DeRozan. Quite the 180-degree turn for the worse, so who's fault is it?
For much of the year, newly signed max player Zach LaVine was on the receiving end of much of the finger-pointing, and with his slow start to the season, he was an easy target. Starting his first two months of the year with arguably his worst two months in a Bulls' uniform directly after being paid top-20 in the NBA money, frustrations from fans were wholly justified with the two-time All-Star.
Other players who received early heat were third-year forward Patrick Williams, second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu, and fourth-year guard Coby White, for their lack of noticeable improvement from the year prior. Missing Lonzo Ball knowingly put more pressure on these depth pieces for Chicago to fill the critical role that Ball held in Chicago's success during the 2021-22' campaign. Now, it's time to turn to the third-year head coach Billy Donovan.
Losing The Locker Room
Two key differences between this year and last are the blown leads and the relationship with his players. Billy Donovan's relationship with his longest-tenured Chicago Bull is worsening, and he's echoing the same sentiment game in and out, leaving many wondering who can fix this team.
Most of Donovan's postgame interviews include his explanations of stretches in games where the Bulls convert from high-level basketball and effort on both ends of the floor to stints where the "compete" is missing, the isolation play returns, and the "composure" is not there. At some point, the repetitiveness sounds like a broken record, as he's admitted, but never solved. If the head coach cannot rally the troops, who will?
Not Enough Trial And Error
Some of the most common issues with Donovan are his reasonings for given lineups or rotations that he'll implement and his lack of experimenting with others. Let's run down a few examples where he's made fans and media members alike scratch their heads.
Andre Drummond
While Donovan's reasoning of playing small-ball lineups has analytically worked better for Chicago, Drummond has needed to see more court time all season long. Even if it is short stints, he's brought an energy and passion that no other Chicago Bull has possessed all year long. Even with his limited action and constant absence from the lineup altogether, both decided by Donovan, he's nearly leading the team in offensive rebounding and is leading the team in dunks. While that's not a glowing stat, it is a momentum one and a spark that has rarely been lit for Chicago this season.
Dalen Terry
The Bulls' first-round selection in the 2022 NBA Draft was Dalen Terry, who's yet to see consistent minutes and has only sparingly seen the court overall. Early indications show that he brings energy, speed, length, and youth to a lineup that can be stale and defensively weak. His jump-shooting has a long way to go, but with the point guard position being the most dier of needs for Chicago, it's puzzling why the young Terry hasn't gotten more opportunities.
Mixed Reviews
In reality, Billy Donovan will likely stay for at least next year and probably several more. This is despite his record in Chicago being a measly 83-89 and his career playoff record as a head coach being a mediocre 19-27. He inked an extension of his own this past offseason following his first playoff appearance with the Bulls in 2022 for "several more years," and the front office leader seems not to account this year's woes to Donovan's doing.
On the other hand, the fans were recently polled following a game where Patrick Williams was seemingly benched for his lack of hustle and effort early in the game. Although only 1,500 of them, those who voted were pretty unanimous in their opinion of Donovan.
While there have been murmurs singing his praises and those wondering if he's truly the man to reroute the Chicago Bulls back to success, he should be held to a higher standard than this season has shown. Like the stars of his team, Donovan is in a leadership position, and when adversity strikes, as it has this season, those leading the pack often ripple their reactions down the organization. His inability to create any urgency from a team well balanced with young talent and veteran leadership is alarming cause for concern about his ability to make deep playoff runs and win championships.
With this season all but over for the Bulls, would you want to see Billy Donovan back again next year?
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