After 19 months in Chicago, Nikola Vučević is discovering consistency with the Bulls.
Growing pains have been anticipated for the two-time All-Star middle when he arrived in a March 2021 commerce, shifting from a major scoring function for the Orlando Magic to a facilitating job meant to enhance Zach LaVine and later DeMar DeRozan. But Vučević has taken longer than anticipated to heat to his new place.
His frustration was seen all through his first yr and a half in Chicago, expressing agitation on the court docket when his photographs didn’t fall from behind the 3-point arc or within the paint. But within the opening weeks of this season, Vučević appears to be shrugging away his off nights with extra consolation as he gives regular manufacturing for the Bulls.
“The good thing about the NBA is you play every other night,” Vučević mentioned. “I’ve been doing this for a very long time. I know how good I am. I’m a two-time All-Star, so I didn’t get to where I am by chance. I know the work I put in, I know the time I put in.”
Vučević is scoring barely lower than final season — 15.8 factors per recreation getting into Wednesday evening’s 106-88 victory towards the Charlotte Hornets, down almost two factors from his 17.6 common final season — however he has made a transparent leap on the boards.
He was averaging 12.3 rebounds getting into Wednesday, third within the league behind Rudy Gobert and Giannis Antetokounmpo and up from 11 per recreation final season. He stayed on tempo towards the Hornets, ending with 13 rebounds to go along with 14 factors and three assists.
“I’ve always been a good rebounder,” Vučević mentioned. “It’s something I take pride in being a big man. I’m just trying to stay aggressive. It’s something that we had issues with last year, the rebounding part, so I want to make sure I do my part on that end.”
The Bulls desperately wanted to enhance on the boards after ending final season twenty eighth within the league in complete rebounds per recreation (42.3) and twenty ninth in offensive rebounds (8.7).
Even with the addition of Andre Drummond, the Bulls are not often the bigger crew on the court docket. But they’ve clearly improved early within the season — particularly on the offensive glass, the place they ranked fifteenth getting into Wednesday (11.3 per recreation).
“It’s something we talked about a lot, it’s something that hurt us a lot last year,” Vučević mentioned. “We know we don’t necessarily have a size advantage against most teams. We’re putting a big emphasis on it. A lot of the rebounding part is just effort.”
For Vučević, sustaining his mentality might be a key to enhancing consistency all through this season. His streaky nature stored him from being as massive of an element as he hoped to be final season.
Although Vučević’s statistical manufacturing will all the time be decrease in Chicago than it was in Orlando, he feels he lastly has established himself in a dependable function.
“You’re going to have good games, bad games, great games,” Vučević mentioned. “I’ve been doing this for 12 years now. I’ve had a lot of very good games and some very bad games as well. It’s just part of it. It’s all about bouncing back.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com