CHARLOTTE, NC – The Bulls are in a weird space these days.
Defense is still optional far too many times, a seven-win Charlotte team can bring them into a street fight and make them continue to look underwhelming, and then they had a Nikola Vucevic benching to explain after Friday’s 129-126 win over the Hornets.
If this is what “competitive integrity” is supposed to look like, no thanks.
“You obviously want to be out there as a competitor,” Vucevic said of not playing the entire fourth quarter and the last 17 minutes in all. “Zach (Collins) and ‘Sticks’ (Jalen Smith) were playing great, they got us back into the game, gave us a big boost. (Coach) Billy (Donovan) made the call to stay with them, and obviously it was the right call. We won the game, and I’m just glad we won the game. It was a tough stretch for us.”
That was an understatement, considering the Bulls (10-14) were stuck in mud amid a seven-game losing streak, and midway through the third were on the way to No. 8.
Trailing by 13 and with 4:58 left in that stanza, however, Donovan pulled Vucevic and went with Collins and Smith both playing together or staggered.
Not a bad call since they not only ran Charlotte down by the start of the fourth, but then outscored them 40-34 in that final quarter.
Smith and Collins combined for eight rebounds and four offensive boards down the stretch.
“First of all, I think the thing for us, the consistency part, we had nine turnovers and nine assists in the first half, and the second half we get to the backboard,” Donovan said “Those are the things we’re going to have to do. I thought ‘Sticks’ and Zach were playing pretty well together.”
That didn’t mean there wasn’t a hold-the-breath moment for Collins and the Bulls. Up three with 10 seconds left, Collins was called for a foul on a three-point attempt by standout rookie Kon Knueppel. Donovan challenged the call because he felt Collins didn’t make contact until well after the shot was well out of Knueppel’s hands, meaning there was no secondary action.
The officials agreed and overturned the foul, crisis avoided.
But what about Vucevic? Is there a crisis brewing there where he loses his starting job? Highly unlikely.
“I wouldn’t go off just one game and make a rash (decision),” Donovan said. “And the thing I love about Vooch is even on the bench he’s encouraging those guys, talking to those guys, he’s incredibly positive. I’m sure Vooch wanted to be out there every minute of the game, but I really appreciated the way he handled himself on the bench in terms of clapping and trying to lift the guys up.”
There is a bigger picture in all of this, however, and it does go back to the idea of this banner the Bulls wave so vehemently of “competitive integrity.” This has been a failing season so far, and while coaching staff and front office/ownership are on the same page of what “competitive integrity” means now, could that alignment change soon?
Donovan knows that’s on the table.
“The message is clear every day in terms of what we’re trying to do,” Donovan said. “I think one of the things that gets hard is if you sit there and say, ‘Hey guys, don’t worry about the winning. All we’re worried about is we’re trying to get this guy minutes, this guy minutes, and we’re going to try and experiment with this, this …’ When guys come to work every day and the focus isn’t on the winning part of it, it’s, ‘OK, if I’m not included in this plan, what am I doing here?’
“That’s not to say that as time goes on (the front office and ownership) are looking at a bigger picture and taking a 30,000-foot view down on this thing and saying, ‘This is what we’ve got to do now. We’ve seen enough over a period of time.’ “
At least for one night in Charlotte, that 30,000-foot view could be tabled.