Bulls safety Tre Jones

« I was a bit angry with him, I shouted at him a bit and he smiled at me », Billy Donovan reports about his exchange at the end of the meeting with The Three Joneses. This one, while the match was already won for the Bulls a minute from the end against the Pelicans, tried risky land in transition vers Isaac Okoro.

The latter, the author of a full match (24 points on 8/10 shooting) and who benefited greatly from the caviar of his teammate, failed to get hold of the leather. A loose ball that doesn’t spoil a magnificent evening for the Bulls leader. In 27 minutes, he collected 20 points, without a missed shot (7/7), and 12 assists with only one turnover.

« Yes, sure, it’s definitely a good way to end the year and start the new one on a good note », the playmaker laughs when a journalist points out how clean his static line is. The 25-year-old is quite used to making this kind of copy.

Averaging 12.4 points (53.5% shooting, including just 29.3% from 3-point range) and 5.2 assists, he’s closing in on his career-best average set in 2023 when he started with the Spurs. In Chicago, where the leader is more often a replacement, he almost doubled his production compared to last season, spent between the Spurs and the Bulls.

The Duke player makes sure to keep the same approach, whether he’s in the top five or not. ” I try to have the same impact on the game, regardless of the situation. It is not necessary to prove something to myself, but to do what I can to help the team. »

Assists/Tumbles: One of the best

What helps the Bulls a lot is his ability to take care of the ball. Tre Jones has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.92, one of the best in the league. Rango is dominated by… his brother, Tyus Jones, whom Billy Donovan remembers coaching as part of Team USA. Against the Pelicans, his team had 33 assists and lost the ball just 7 times.

« He’s a guy who does this really, really well. He has great security with the ball, is very intelligent, manages to organize others. He’s a real, real playmaker. And I think he knows when to speed up the game, he knows when to slow it down a little bit. Recognizes duels, who is defending against whom, what to do and what not to do. And he’s a very, very good communicator », greets his coach.

Billy Donovan claims that he has followed his career since his debut in San Antonio in 2020 and has respected him a lot since then, because of this style of play. The local coach believes the Bulls can be happy they were able to recover him last February in the three-team trade that sent Zach LaVine to Sacramento.

« He can really be a great catalyst, almost like an old-fashioned playmaker. With today’s game, leaders are often very focused on ‘hits’. You can’t say he can’t score, he scored today, but he doesn’t think about the game from that angle. He thinks about the game from the perspective of the other four, the duels, the defense, what’s going on. », describes the coach again.

« We look at his offensive line, but the other thing is that defensively he defends on a lot of different players and he’s really, really good on the ball and in pick-and-roll coverages. With Kobe (White) and Josh (Giddy) away, we needed someone to take on more responsibility and he did that », term Billy Donovan.

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How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / 3 points in an attempt; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.