Billy Donovan is facing a new headache in Chicago

During the first part of the season, Billy Donovan had a problem to solve with his group: how to build a team when most of the players in the Bulls were out of contract, so they will probably be thinking more about their future than the current season?

As of last week, the Bulls coach had a new problem: his team had been profoundly changed with seven arrivals and in front of him he has players with different physical situations. All without the alchemy of the previous group, which, at least, existed after 50 matches played.

Quite logically, it is not easy to make a team in these conditions… “This group is going to hit a wall. After the All-Star game ends, the physicality of the remaining 27 games will be a big factor.”, analyzes Billy Donovan.

Because, like Guerschon Iabusele or Jaden Ivey, certain new players from Chicago played very little on their old team and are starters there and/or have more playing time. And we know that the Bulls are developing at a very high pace. From then on, your breathing may be short and your legs will feel heavy.

The Bulls have a new team or soon

And it’s not the recent results, with five straight losses, including the last against the weak Nets, that will calm the home fans. But how can we build something collective with such a reorganized group?

“I tried to explain to them what our goals are and what direction our team should go. There are players who are out of contract, others who want to play, so we have to help each other, give each other and fight. I want to redirect things: how can we become a better team?”delivered by the coach. “I can imagine people wondering if we really want to win, and what this group looks like and what it’s going to look like, who’s going to come back and so on. I still believe that in this locker room there are those professionals who don’t want to work every day telling themselves we’re just going to do tests.”

Just one win back of 10th place in the Eastern Conference, play-in play is still possible. Can the Bulls find a formula over the next two months to give themselves a high-stakes game in April?

“We go through this together. This is how we learn, how we grow”Jaden Ivey recalls. “That’s how we improve each other and find solutions to win games. By talking to each other, by being there for each other. The more games we play, the more we will understand and adapt.”