Bulls hoping impressive defensive showing in preseason has legsJoe Cowleyon October 20, 2021 at 12:00 am

It was only four games, but the Bulls finished with the top defense in the preseason. Does that carry weight when the games matter?

It was a nice badge to earn, but the Bulls know it doesn’t mean squat when the ball is tossed up Wednesday in Detroit.

That doesn’t mean they were completely discounting finishing with the best defense in the league throughout the preseason.

“Just a stepping stone,” guard Lonzo Ball said, when that point was made to him on Tuesday. “We’ve just got to build on it every day. Defense is more about effort to me, and just playing for one another.”

If they can play with that mentality when the games matter, both the Bulls players and coaches know that if the defense is top rated, there will be enough offensive firepower to make the roster lethal on both ends of the floor.

That’s what Ball and Alex Caruso have been stressing to their new teammates.

“Defense is just a lot of effort at the forefront,” Caruso said. “You’ve got to care, the care factor has to be high, and after that be disciplined in the stuff that you do and put us in good schemes, good protections for us to execute, and if we go out there and play hard a lot of that takes care of itself.”

What will be interesting to watch – starting against the Pistons – is yes, the Bulls will be undersized against most teams overall, but they also have a lot of wing and backcourt players the same size and with athletic ability. That should allow the Bulls to easily switch.

The key, however, will be playing physical, especially against those taller teams.

“I think for us it’s just going to be being physical,” Ball said. “It’s just about getting into the ball and playing with that pride.”

Minute man

Second-year forward Patrick Williams is scheduled to get the start in Detroit on Wednesday, but like he did in the preseason finale, there will be close eyes on his minutes.

Williams severely sprained his left ankle before the start of camp, and was sidelined for weeks. His conditioning did look a bit iffy against Memphis, but that was to be expected.

“I think it’s something that the medical will want to evaluate,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I think coming into the first Memphis game there was a feeling of maybe 18 to 24 minutes, somewhere in there.

“We’ll probably talk on our way to Detroit about what that would probably look like minute-wise, if there is a minute restriction.”

Sky high

Veteran guard DeMar DeRozan has a friendship with Candace Parker, so of course he was thrilled to see her win the WNBA Championship with the Sky.

“It’s incredible,” DeRozan said. “Especially for Candace, having a relationship, friendship with Candace, seeing her go from LA to Chicago, you come back home and win a championship. Her story has definitely been incredible. I’ve been following her whole career. To be able to witness that, that’s incredible. That’s what it’s all about, supporting women’s basketball and especially Chicago Sky in a city I’ve just come to, to witness that was awesome.”

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