Coach Billy Donovan agrees with Coby White's honest appraisal of Bulls

DETROIT — Guard Coby White pulled no punches Sunday night when assessing the Bulls’ lack of defensive effort in an embarrassing loss to the Rockets. On Monday, his coach followed suit.

“I think what [White] echoed after the game was exactly how I felt coming off the game,” Billy Donovan said. “From my perspective, I’ve always felt, as an opposing coach coming into Chicago, [the Bulls] have a great home-court advantage and a great crowd, and we need to do a much better job of using that for our advantage, because [fans] are certainly more than waiting for us to give them something to get excited about. In that [Rockets] game, the physicality part of it, we just didn’t . . . it wasn’t there. It was nonexistent.”

After the 143-107 loss at the United Center, White, according to one source, wanted to take his message public after first attempting to keep it in the locker room over the last week. It’s a page right out of the leadership playbook of former Bull DeMar DeRozan — holding everyone accountable, including himself.

“Giving up 140-plus in back-to-back games is unacceptable,” White told reporters. “It’s embarrassing. It’s a disservice to the organization, a disservice to the fan base.”

Said Donovan: “I understand where Coby’s coming from. We’ve talked a lot to [the players] — at least I have — of what it means to play here. I do think these guys have pride. I know Coby’s got pride, and I think the rest of our guys do, but you’ve got to be mentally tougher. . . . You’ve got to find other ways to make yourself competitive.

“I always say it comes down to the physicality part, to loose basketballs, to taking a charge. I mean, we’ve taken two charges all season. For our team as small [as it is], someone’s going to have to put their body in plays. We’ve got to be able to do more of that.”

Asked if dummying down the defensive coverages was on the table, Donovan said that has already been done somewhat. Watching the game film Monday morning, he and his staff agreed scheme had less to do with the Bulls’ defensive breakdowns than effort and communication.

Communicating is where the work is needed, especially for the younger players. Second-year wing Julian Phillips didn’t argue with that.

“That’s one of the most important parts of defense, the communication part,” he said. “Communicating coverages, communicating matchups, who is in what spot, all that stuff. So of course that’s something we’re definitely trying to always do, just so that everyone is on the same page. And when we’re not, that’s when we’re giving up easy layups, fouls, things like that. It’s definitely something we have to continue to get better at.”

The foot factor

With soreness in the same foot that required season-ending surgery last year, forward Patrick Williams was listed as only probable heading into Monday night’s game against the Pistons. Donovan said that’s normal, considering all the games Williams has played in a condensed November schedule.

Williams not only played but started, finishing with eight points and five rebounds in more than 33 minutes in the Bulls’
122-112 victory.

Hardest part over?

For those worried about draft placement and standings positioning this early, the Bulls currently have the fifth easiest schedule in the NBA for the remainder of the regular season.