Ayo Dosunmu’s fast ascension to the place to begin guard place got here as a shock in his rookie season.
The plan was to separate the second-round draft decide’s time between the Chicago Bulls and the Windy City Bulls, permitting for a extra gradual development right into a rotational position. Instead, accidents thrust the rookie into the Bulls beginning lineup.
Expectations are greater for Dosunmu this season. And with Lonzo Ball’s damage stretching on indefinitely, the place to begin guard place is as soon as once more Dosunmu’s for the taking.
Coach Billy Donovan hasn’t proven his hand on a degree guard desire within the first week of coaching camp. After a summer season within the gymnasium, Dosunmu feels prepared for the competitors.
“I’m a competitor, so whenever I step on the court, whether I’m starting or not, I’m going to go out there and compete,” Dosunmu mentioned. “When you win, everybody eats, everybody looks good, and that’s the best thing I should do.”
After impressing as a rookie, the important thing to Dosunmu’s second 12 months is his capacity to start out — and end — the season.
Dosunmu’s manufacturing noticed a particular drop within the ultimate month of the common season. He didn’t rating a degree within the first two video games of the first-round playoff sequence towards the Milwaukee Bucks, struggling to make an affect even within the workforce’s lone win.
This rookie wall is a standard prevalence. Dosunmu notably felt the exhaustion in his legs, dragging because the size of the NBA season eclipsed the stamina beforehand wanted to outlive a 33-game faculty season.
Endurance turned Dosunmu’s fixation within the offseason. Before the season even ended, he knowledgeable assistant coaches Chris Fleming and Josh Longstaff he wished to organize each day summer season exercises to extend his stamina and pace.
“I want to be able to go up and down four or five times without getting tired,” Dosunmu mentioned.
Outside of a go to to his company in Miami and a workforce journey to Los Angeles, Dosunmu spent a lot of the summer season within the Bulls facility, logging exercises that started at 6 a.m.
Dosunmu mentioned he added 6 or 7 kilos over the summer season, elevating his weight from 194 kilos to round 200 to start out coaching camp.
“I feel a lot stronger, even just taking those bumps out there or trying to keep my defender in front or finish at the rim,” Dosunmu mentioned. “Every aspect of my game I wanted to feel stronger than last year.”
Physical preparation will help Dosunmu outlast the prolonged common season, however final 12 months’s drop-off was additionally affected by his opponents.
When the Bulls put Dosunmu within the beginning lineup to interchange Ball, he was an unknown amount. He hadn’t even performed a lot level guard in faculty, making a dearth in movie for opponents.
As the season progressed, Dosunmu and Donovan each observed opponents starting to be taught the younger guard’s habits.
“The more these younger players play and more players from different teams and coaches start to watch film, they’ll start to get a better pulse on how to guard someone,” Donovan mentioned. “That was certainly the case with Ayo.”
Despite his breakout success as a rookie, Dosunmu might want to do extra this season to earn the place to begin guard position. Donovan famous that Dosunmu lined the fundamentals successfully — defending the ball, limiting turnovers and staying regular in high-pressure conditions.
“Random” is a key phrase for Donovan, who felt the Bulls slipped into predictable patterns after they have been restricted by accidents final season. The youth of the Bulls roster amid accidents deepened their predictability — as younger gamers reminiscent of Dosunmu scrambled to maintain up with the tempo of the NBA, they struggled to research the sport with the pace of a extra seasoned veteran.
Donovan mentioned he spent a lot of final season teaching Dosunmu from the sideline, offering the rookie with performs extra often than he would to an skilled guard reminiscent of Ball or Alex Caruso. This season, Donovan will problem Dosunmu to push the tempo in transition and make performs relatively than counting on set schemes.
“As a point guard, he’s got to be able to balance the floor,” Donovan mentioned. “He’s got to get guys in the right spots. He’s got to be able to handle those things. That will be another step for him to learn.”
Dosunmu mentioned he’ll nonetheless contemplate himself a rookie till he steps on the court docket this season, and he approaches every day of coaching camp with that mentality.
At media day, Zach LaVine described Dosunmu because the “most inquisitive guy” he ever had met. True to kind, Dosunmu spent 20 minutes earlier than Wednesday’s coaching camp session with new guard Goran Dragić, asking the 14-year veteran about his profession.
The pure need to be taught is the foundation of why the Bulls have by no means lacked confidence in Dosunmu’s capacity to adapt and develop.
“I don’t really worry about Ayo in terms of challenges being presented to him,” Donovan mentioned. “He always seems to rise to those challenges.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com