Chicago star Zach LaVine, who had not played since removing himself from a Jan. 14 game against the Golden State Warriors, made the most of his return Monday night, scoring 23 points and helping the Bulls to a victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City.Read More
LaVine returns from five-game absence, lifts Bullson January 25, 2022 at 1:12 am Read More »
The Bucks’ Grayson Allen has been suspended for one game for the flagrant 2 foul on Alex Caruso that caused a fractured wrist for the Chicago Bulls guard.Read More
Bucks’ Allen banned 1 game for foul on Carusoon January 25, 2022 at 1:12 am Read More »
With six teams within 2.5 games of the conference lead, things are getting wild in the East.Read More
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was putting it on his own shoulders.
He had watched rookie Ayo Dosunmu clock heavy minutes in back-to-back losses with little to show for it, so he said he needed to do more to help the former Morgan Park and Illinois star find his way again.
Adding guard Zach LaVine to the starting backcourt after he had missed 10 days with a sore knee was one obvious solution Monday.
The other? Give Dosunmu the starting point-guard duties and get out of his way.
Dosunmu continued displaying his all-around evolution, scoring a career-high 24 points — including a 50-foot prayer at the third-quarter buzzer — to go with eight assists and five rebounds before fouling out.
Dosunmu showed his mid-range game, his three-point shooting and his ability to facilitate, and the Bulls needed it all. They blew most of a 28-point lead but held on for a 111-110 victory against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
”I felt like I was in the zone offensively and defensively,” Dosunmu said. ”I definitely have room for improvement. A much-needed win.”
Getting LaVine back was a huge boost, of course, especially on the day the Bulls announced guard Alex Caruso had wrist surgery and guard Lonzo Ball was headed for knee surgery at the end of the week.
Even though he had to go to the locker room to get a cut above his left eye bandaged, LaVine’s presence was more than felt. He scored 23 points in his return, despite a shaky 6-for-19 shooting night.
”Leadership-wise, presence out there, his ability to create,” Donovan said of what LaVine, who also had seven assists, brought back to the starting group. ”I think those guys have built a pretty good connection, him and DeMar [DeRozan] and [Nikola Vucevic] and the rest of the group.
”I think anytime you take that kind of scoring off the floor, you don’t necessarily feel like one person has to make that up. You have to do it collectively as a unit there, but [LaVine’s] ability to generate things for himself and for others is always something I think he does at an incredibly high level.”
And LaVine wasn’t the only big return for the starting lineup. Forward Javonte Green finally came back from a groin injury that had sidelined him the entire month. That’s why Donovan felt comfortable giving DeRozan a much-needed night off to rest.
It looked like a great decision when the Bulls opened a 28-point lead midway through the third quarter, but very little has been easy in the last month, so the Thunder naturally made a big run.
The Bulls led by only six with 1:28 left before Vucevic missed and the Thunder’s Lu Dort made a three-pointer. Then Coby White missed and the Thunder’s Josh Giddey made a layup to make it a one-point game with 14.8 seconds left.
Donovan called a timeout and got the ball into LaVine’s hands. He was fouled and made both free throws with 9.9 seconds left to give the Bulls a three-point lead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander then missed a three-pointer, and Green snagged the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first free throw but made the second with one second left.
The Thunder’s Mike Muscala made a three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was just window-dressing.
”We had way too many empty possessions,” Donovan said. ”I’m happy we won. . . . It could be a really good learning experience.”
Rookie Ayo Dosunmu has another showcase game as Bulls hold on for victory Read More »
The Chicago Bulls welcomed one star back for Monday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, while simultaneously resting another.
Zach LaVine was in the starting lineup on Monday night after missing the past five games with a left knee injury. Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan did not play against the Thunder while he rested on the second night of a back-to-back.
LaVine paid immediate dividends, though, scoring 23 for the Bulls in a 111-110 victory. Nicola Vucevic added 26 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
LaVine had not played since removing himself from the game in the first quarter on Jan. 14 against the Warriors after feeling soreness in his left knee. An MRI did not reveal any structural damage, but after the Bulls initially ruled him out until middle to late next week, his knee continued to improve enough for him to join the team on Monday.
In 38 games prior to Monday, LaVine was averaging 24.9 points, 4.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds on 49% shooting.
“Anytime you take that kind of scoring off the floor, you don’t want to necessarily feel like one person has got to make it up, but you’ve got to do it collectively as a unit there,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before Monday’s game about playing through this stretch without LaVine. “His ability to both generate things for himself and for others is always something he does at an incredibly high level.”
2 Related
LaVine returned to the court alongside guard Javonte Green, who had not played since Dec. 31 with a groin injury. While LaVine had been cleared to return to his normal workload, ending with 35 minutes on the court, Donovan limited Green to 25 minutes in his first game back.
The win represented the first time DeRozan, 32, had rested this season.
“With the stretch that we’ve had with these makeup games and so many games condensed, there would be conversations that we have,” Donovan said. “With DeMar, physically just where he’s at, he needs a break here.”
Bulls guard Alex Caruso had surgery on his right wrist on Monday morning, which went well, according to Donovan.
Guard Lonzo Ball is scheduled to have surgery on his left knee later, although Donovan did not have an exact date, as Ball continues to do prehab on his knee before his procedure.
LaVine returns from five-game absence, lifts Bullson January 25, 2022 at 1:12 am Read More »
It felt like a position of strength for the Bulls about a month ago.
Backcourt depth that few teams in the league were even close to having, and enough that if a trade was to be made by the front office, moving a guard would make the most sense.
That’s changed quickly.
Combo guard Alex Caruso had surgery on his right wrist Monday morning, and starting point guard Lonzo Ball was still rehabbing his knee in preparation for surgery later this week. Both were given timelines of six-to-eight weeks, but Caruso’s was for a re-evaluation of the wrist at the point, not necessarily a return.
With the Feb.10 trade deadline just a few weeks out, the Bulls are suddenly coveting their backcourt assets, needing all hands on deck for both guard spots.
“I have not talked to [executive vice president of basketball operations] Arturas [Karnisovas] about that in specifics, or [general manager] Marc [Eversley], but I would say this from my perspective – I think a lot of it is going to be the timetable of some of these surgeries with Alex and Lonzo, just finding out when would it be close to a return date,” Donovan said. “I’ve said this before, but I think for a lot of front offices it’s probably difficult to really evaluate teams because teams have been in such flux with Covid, and for us it’s been Covid and injuries, so I don’t know if it’s anything backcourt-wise.
“We’re thin there now, and we went from really having a deep backcourt – but our backcourt was never really deep this year because we were always dealing with something. It’s been a flux of guys in and out so we were never whole back there. So I haven’t had enough conversations with Arturas to really get into any details of what the thought process may be at this point and time.”
The Bulls haven’t been alone in that uncertainty.
While the health and safety protocols have simmered for most teams, the league has been dealing with a rash of injuries, as well as some borderline playoff teams deciding if they want to be buyers or sellers.
There has been some movement in the trade market over the last week, but obviously none that have involved the Bulls or filling the vacancy of the lack of size they still have at the four.
They do have time to at least see how Caruso and Ball are healing as the deadline ticks down, but it’s not an easy position to be in for Karnisovas.
Donovan does expect the coaching staff and front office to have a more detailed sit-down soon, discussing the roster from top to bottom.
Forty-one and done
One night after scoring 41 in the loss to Orlando, Donovan decided that consecutive games in which DeMar DeRozan had put in 38-plus minutes was enough.
DeRozan was sidelined for what was realistically load management, especially with the game in Oklahoma City the second game of a back-to-back.
“You guys had asked me a lot about this just with the stress we had with these make-up games, and so many games condensed, there would be conversations we had,” Donovan said. “And I just think with DeMar, just physically where he’s at he needs a break here.”
DeRozan, 32, led the Bulls with 34.8 minutes per game, which ranked him 17th overall in the league. Toronto’s Fred VanVleet led the league with 38.2 minutes per game.
Troy Brown Jr. started in DeRozan’s spot.
Bulls backcourt suddenly lacks possible assets as trade deadline nears Read More »
The Chicago Bulls are getting one star back for Monday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, while simultaneously resting another.
Zach LaVine is in the starting lineup on Monday night after missing the past five games with a left knee injury. Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan will not play against the Thunder as he rests on the second night of a back-to-back.
LaVine has not played since removing himself from the game in the first quarter on Jan. 14 against the Warriors after feeling soreness in his left knee. An MRI did not reveal any structural damage, but after the Bulls initially ruled him out until middle to late next week, his knee continued to improve enough for him to join the team on Monday.
In 38 games this season, LaVine is averaging 24.9 points, 4.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds on 49% shooting.
“Anytime you take that kind of scoring off the floor, you don’t want to necessarily feel like one person has got to make it up, but you’ve got to do it collectively as a unit there,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before Monday’s game about playing through this stretch without LaVine. “His ability to both generate things for himself and for others is always something he does at an incredibly high level.”
2 Related
LaVine returned to the court alongside guard Javonte Green, who had not played since Dec. 31 with a groin injury. While LaVine has been cleared to return to his normal workload, Donovan planned to limit Green to no more than 25 minutes in his first game back.
This is also the first time DeRozan, 32, will rest this season.
“With the stretch that we’ve had with these makeup games and so many games condensed, there would be conversations that we have,” Donovan said. “With DeMar, physically just where he’s at, he needs a break here.”
Bulls guard Alex Caruso had surgery on his right wrist on Monday morning, which went well, according to Donovan.
Guard Lonzo Ball is scheduled to have surgery on his left knee later, although Donovan did not have an exact date, as Ball continues to do prehab on his knee before his procedure.
Bulls get LaVine back as DeRozan takes night offon January 25, 2022 at 1:12 am Read More »
Please send scores and corrections to [email protected].
RED NORTH-WEST
Clark at Lane, 5:00
RED SOUTH-CENTRAL
Simeon at Longwood, 5:00
WHITE CENTRAL
Dunbar at Hubbard, 5:00
WHITE SOUTH
Vocational at Harlan, 5:00
BLUE CENTRAL
Englewood STEM at Gage Park, 5:00
Excel-Englewood at Hancock, 5:00
BLUE NORTH
Alcott at Roosevelt, 5:00
Disney at CMSA, 5:00
BLUE SOUTH
Air Force at EPIC, 5:00
BLUE WEST
Douglass at Little Village, 5:00
Ogden at Phoenix, 5:00
INDEPENDENT
Elgin Academy at Latin, 6:00
Parker at U-High, 6:00
INTERSTATE EIGHT
Ottawa at Sandwich, 6:45
KISHWAUKEE RIVER
Harvard at Woodstock, 7:00
LAKE SHORE
Lycee at British School, 6:00
Wolcott at Beacon, 6:00
LITTLE TEN
DePue at IMSA, 7:00
Leland at Hiawatha, 7:00
METRO PREP
Hinsdale Adventist at Universal, 5:00
NOBLE BLUE
Baker at Mansueto, 7:00
Muchin at Hansberry, 7:00
Noble Academy at Golder, 7:00
RIVER VALLEY
Tri-Point at Gardner-South Wilmington, 6:45
SOUTH SUBURBAN CROSSOVER
TF South at Shepard, 6:30
SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST
Plainfield Central at Joliet Central, 6:30
NONCONFERENCE
Tilden 56, Hirsch 47
Bowen at King, 5:00
Bulls Prep at Payton, 6:30
Genoa-Kingston at Somonauk, 7:00
Holy Trinity at Catalyst-Maria, 5:00
Niles West at Niles North, 7:00
North Shore at Rochelle Zell, 7:00
Northtown at Chicago Academy, 5:00
Prospect at Highland Park, 6:30
Providence at Oak Forest, 6:30
UIC Prep at Senn, 6:15
Vernon Hills at Notre Dame, 7:00
Wheaton Academy at Rolling Meadows, 7:00
TRI-COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Seneca vs. Woodland, 7:30
Monday’s high school basketball scores Read More »
There’s a lot for the Bears to like about Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan, and they interviewed him for their general manager spot Monday.
Khan has an ideal combination of football and financial sense for an organization that’s simultaneously rebuilding its roster and moving toward a new stadium in Arlington Heights. With 21 years of experience in one of the most successful professional sports organizations, Khan could be the key to the Bears establishing the winning culture they’ve always coveted.
The Steelers opened Heinz Field and won two Super Bowls during Khan’s time with them. They’ve had a winning record in 20 of 21 seasons while Khan has worked there.
Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown also interviewed for the general manager vacancy Monday, pushing the total number of interviewees for the job to 13. The team has also been interviewing head-coaching candidates, but chairman George McCaskey said he would prefer to hire a general manager first.
Omar Khan, with 21 years in Steelers’ front office, interviews for Bears GM job Read More »
The Bears are looking at one of their former personnel men as a possible general manager.
Their search continued Monday with an interview with Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown, who was their assistant director of pro personnel from 2001 through ’07. The team also interviewed Steelers vice president Omar Khan on Monday as it began the third week of its search to replace Ryan Pace.
Landing with the Bears was Brown’s big break, and he parlayed it into becoming director of player personnel for Washington and vice president of player personnel for the Browns before joining Ballard in Indianapolis.
With the Colts, Brown was part of a staff that drafted three all-pros: guard Quenton Nelson, linebacker Darius Leonard and running back Jonathan Taylor.
After talking with Khan and Brown, the Bears have now interviewed 13 candidates for the general manager opening. They also need to hire a head coach and have said they prefer to finalize the general manager first.
Bears interview potential GM Morocco Brown Read More »
