It was a seamless transition for the Bulls so far.
The players went from summer pick-up games, to fall preseason games.
But now the intensity gets real.
Welcome to the “Hunger Games.”
That’s what awaits the Bulls on South Beach, as they tip off their regular season against Miami and the fabled “Heat Culture.”
Few with the Bulls know that more than Goran Dragic, who spent seven seasons playing in Miami.
“It’s way different,” Dragic said recently, when describing life with the Heat. “I mean they hold you accountable. You have to [have] body fat [measured] every week, have to come in and do pre-practice, practice, every practice is basically Hunger Games. You have to put the pads on, tape your ankles, and it’s basically like [regular-season] games. Iron sharpens iron, and that’s how they approach it.”
Basically, the very formula that the Bulls have struggled with the past few seasons, especially last year.
Teams with like or better talent, but more physicality gave this Bulls roster fits.
The 3-25 record against teams .600 or better last year – including the playoffs – wasn’t just a coincidence. It was who this team was.
An identity that has to be changed.
“Against those [elite] teams a year ago, we weren’t really as competitive as we needed to be,” coach Billy Donovan said of the opener against Miami. “Some of those games were close, but a lot of them, it wasn’t. And we’ve got to be able to take another step as a team.”
And quickly.
There will be no easing into the 2022-23 schedule for the Bulls. Besides dealing with the Heat right off the tip, the home opener is against the up-and-arrived Cavaliers, there’s two games against Boston, Toronto, and New Orleans within the first 15 games, as well as meetings with Philadelphia and Brooklyn.
Always a realist, Donovan knows what last season looked like, and wants an early test for this group to see if lessons were learned.
“I do like the fact that we’re playing against a Miami, we’ve got Boston several times, we’ve got Cleveland on a back-to-back … we’re going to be against a lot of those [elite] teams because the East is so good,” Donovan added.
Right or wrong, the starting core of this Bulls team feels they should also be in that conversation of elite teams. A core that also included Patrick Williams, after he was officially named the starting power forward on Tuesday.
Then again, they’re supposed to feel that way, but there’s also a toll that needs to be paid to go along with that confidence.
Few know that more than veteran DeMar DeRozan, who is not only embracing the rough schedule out of the gate, but anxious to see how his teammates handle it.
“I don’t want no cakewalk,” DeRozan said. “I don’t want anything easy. Playing against the best should bring out the best in you. If you’re talking about anything like being a good team or the best, you gotta compete against it. You can’t run from it.”
The good news for DeRozan & Co., they start the season relatively healthy. Sure, Lonzo Ball – arguably the best two-way player on the team – will be absent indefinitely after a second left knee surgery at the start of camp, but the coaching staff and front office knew this scenario was likely and had an entire camp to prepare for it.
Ayo Dosunmu won that starting point guard spot, and played well in all four preseason games, but the second-year player is about to really get tested.
He won’t be alone. Miami will test this entire group – starters and reserves.
“This is what you work so hard in the summer for, for moments like this,” DeRozan said. “You gotta look at it from that standpoint. That’s the beauty in it.”
