Coach Billy Donovan trying to keep Bulls frustration free

Billy Donovan has worn a lot of hats lately.

So therapist is nothing new for the Bulls coach.

That’s what it had to feel like the last few weeks, as Donovan and his coaching staff have been dealing with a roster that was decimated by the league’s health and safety protocols, and a lot of players pretty frustrated with the entire situation.

“We’ve talked about it a lot,” Donovan said on Sunday, discussing what’s gone on behind the curtain with all the recent downtime. “These guys have been great in dealing with not only what we’ve had to deal with, but what everyone has had to deal with around the league. I think there was a hope and an expectation that when the season started we would slowly be moving out of this, with the fans coming back in the building, some of the vaccination rules, the masks being off, and you thought you’d be getting back into more of a regular season.

“I think it would be very easy for our guys to get frustrated or down. But I think our guys have handled themselves really well, and I really, really appreciate their professionalism and the way they’ve conducted themselves. The thing we’ve talked about it listen, we’ve got to be able to manage and control our frustration, anger, disappointment … that’s just not going to serve anyone well. It’s just not. These are the situations, we’re not making a lot of these decisions, the league is.

“We’ve got to follow protocols and try and keep each other safe. What we can really control is our attitude, our disposition, our approach each day, and how we do that is we’ve got to be productive. We need to be productive with what we’re allowed to do.”

Easier said than done for the Bulls since last weekend.

They not only had two games postponed during the week, but had the practice complex shutdown from all team activity except one healthy player, one basket, one coach to work with.

That changed on Saturday, when the league allowed the first practice of the week, and Donovan was able to get the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green and Coby White some much needed practice time.

Derrick Jones Jr. was able to get a little work in, as well as work on his conditioning during the Sunday shootaround, but the coach was still not close to having a whole roster, let alone having players that aren’t frustrated by everything that’s gone on.

“The train is going to keep on moving,” Donovan said. “We just have to roll with some of these punches and deal with it.”

Final Four?

The last group of players hit were Zach LaVine, Alize Johnson, Troy Brown Jr., and Ayo Dosunmu. Donovan said the other day that they could all miss games until after Christmas, and that hasn’t changed.

“You also have to feel comfortable putting them on the floor and being able to play with enough of a buildup where they feel they have some kind of base and foundation before they feel like they can come back to playing,” Donovan said.

Coach questions

What’s amazed Donovan throughout the last few weeks is while 10 players and two broadcasters have been put into the protocol, not one coach on his staff has been hit.

“I asked that exact question two days ago to our medical people,” Donovan said. “Why? We’re around these guys, we’re together, we’re in locker rooms, we’re in planes and buses. We’re in huddles. And the response I got was, ‘Count yourself lucky.’ So I don’t think there’s anything we’re doing as much as we’ve been very fortunate.”

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