When the Bulls brought over head coach Billy Donovan from the Oklahoma City Thunder they were looking for someone to completely change the direction of this team. Year one didn’t go great but that was largely due to the makeup of the roster. Here we are in year number 2 under Donovan along with an almost completely new roster. Twenty-two games into the season the Bulls are 14-8 and the fourth seed in the East. This team was not given much love from the media going into the season. Most people labeled them as a fringe playoff team. A quarter of the way through the season and this team is looking great. A large reason for their success is head coach Billy Donovan. He was recognized by the NBA for his success so far.
Your Eastern Conference Coach of the Month… Billy Donovan! pic.twitter.com/dnXMMdDKc5
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 2, 2021
Donovan was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for all games played in October and November. Donovan has put this team in a position to succeed and compete. He’s had to battle through quite a few lineup changes so far this season and that hasn’t appeared to impact his coaching style so far.
Donovan has had to make a lot of adjustments
Going into the season Donovan knew he would be without guard Coby White to start the year. White played in 31.2 minutes per game last season and was a key contributor to Billy’s offense. While the plan was to have White come off the bench this season that was still a wrench thrown in Donovan’s plans before the season even started.
Now when the season started the Bulls obviously knew who their starters were going to be. The team was excited to get things started with a completely revamped lineup. Well after just five games that all changed. Bulls starting power forward Patrick Williams had a season-ending injury. For most teams, this would be a major blow. However, Donovan without hesitation moved to a small ball lineup and continued playing to his team’s strengths.
Donovan has done a terrific job maximizing the talents of veteran isolation scorers Zach LaVine & DeMar DeRozan, as well as unleashing the defensive talents of Alex Caruso & Lonzo Ball in small-ball line-ups after the injury to Patrick Williams. Well deserved honor! https://t.co/pABoqbbOx4
— Mark Schanowski (@MarkSchanowski) December 2, 2021
Donovan focused on getting his offensive weapons in shooting guard Zach LaVine and forward DeMar DeRozan in the best positions possible. He then continued to trust his highly skilled defensive players, especially in key final moments of the game. Instead of panicking Donovan made the right adjustments and lineup changes to help the Bulls succeed. While we certainly hope there won’t be any more season-ending injuries there is one thing we know the Bulls will likely have to deal with down the road.
Donovan needs to be ready at all times
Unfortunately for the Bulls, there’s one major thing looming over the NBA and the world. That is the COVID-19 virus. While it would be nice to plan on no Bulls players being impacted there’s no way to guarantee that. The Bulls have already had to deal with two positive cases so far this season. The first was with center Nikola Vucevic who tested positive after the team’s November 10th victory. He missed 7 games because of it and it was right before the team had a tough west coast road trip. Without panicking, Donovan came up with lineup adjustments and the Bulls ended up going 3-2 on that road trip and 4-3 overall. While the Bulls made it out of that COVID case in decent shape the team now has to do it again.
It was announced yesterday that guard Coby White tested positive for COVID. Yet again we will see Donovan make adjustments to the team’s lineup. The good news is that he already started the year without Coby and knows what to do in this situation. So far this year it seems like regardless of who’s on the floor Donovan is going to adjust the game plan to ensure everyone is playing to their strengths. A quarter of the way into the season and the expectation for Donovan is now set.
Donovan can take this team far
One thing in the NBA that seems to get overlooked is the coaching. It’s a fair thing to be overlooked to the star-caliber in the league. However, it’s something that truly matters when you aren’t a team with a once-in-a-lifetime player. While LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, and Ball are great players they still need a coach to put them in position a to succeed. The Bulls have exactly that guy in Billy Donovan. He isn’t asking players to change the way they play the game. He’s doing what he can to put them in a position where their best attributes are being showcased.
There’s still a lot of games yet to be played but if Donovan can continue putting the Bulls in positions to win this team is going to be a force. There will no doubt be lineup adjustments and moments in games where things need to be shaken up. But the Bulls are in a good position under Billy Donovan. This is a well-deserved honor and hopefully the first of many this season.
