NEW YORK — On several occasions last season, Ayo Dosunmu was asked about his relationship with Bulls coach Billy Donovan, and replied, “I want to be coached hard.’’
Well, wish granted.
How’s this for some good old-fashioned hard coaching?
Because of the Lonzo Ball injury, Dosunmu was a starter at the beginning of this season, then lost his job and was demoted to the bench. His playing time as a reserve started to dry up over the last 10 days.
That included a season-low five minutes against Miami on Tuesday. That’s when concerns about why he fell to the second round in last year’s draft started to resurface.
So while Wednesday’s last-second victory over Atlanta was huge for the Bulls, it was even bigger for Dosunmu.
Right place, right time for the game-winning put-back at the horn? Sure, but Dosunmu also took it on himself to sprint through the lane on DeMar DeRozan’s shot, positioning himself to make something happen.
Not bad for a 22-year-old who might have been dealing with some recent doubts.
“It’s all about your approach, your mental approach,’’ Dosunmu said. “You’ve got to be mentally strong in this league, definitely. I pride myself on being a great teammate, being there for my teammates. [In Miami] I didn’t play the minutes I ideally want to play, just me being a competitor, you know, but I can’t take that out on my teammates.
“I knew that whenever my time did come I would be ready for it. I always say brick-by-brick, and sometimes you can’t always keep stacking ‘em. Sometimes you gotta take bricks away. That’s part of the journey.’’
And sometimes those bricks are taken away for you.
While veterans such as Zach LaVine and DeRozan denied any strife with Donovan, as was reported, it’s no secret that while Donovan is considered a player’s coach, he’s also harder on the younger players than veterans.
That’s not uncommon in the NBA, and Donovan even pulled the curtain back on how he discusses playing time with his role players.
“I’ll communicate with them if they’re not going to play,’’ Donovan said. “Obviously, how the game is going and how they’re playing will dictate how many minutes they ultimately will get.
“I think as it relates to those guys in particular, you’re always communicating with them, but if there was some reason they weren’t going to play, I would certainly have a conversation with them and say, ‘Listen, this is what we’re doing tonight, this is where we’re at, this is what’s going on, and this is how we see the future.’ ‘’
Donovan still sees a bright future for Dosunmu, but also wants the former Morgan Park High School standout to know that gaining experience is sometimes a process that includes growing pains.
“He has always been able to hang onto his competitiveness and competitiveness has always gotten him through,’’ Donovan said. “But I think the further you go up the ladder from high school, to college and now to the NBA, that is a huge component that you have to have, but there’s also the detailed part, too. In terms of understanding who he is really guarding, trends, what the opponent likes to do, how he’s being guarded, what they’re doing to him. Are they going under in pick-and-roll?
“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s different for him from last year to this year in terms of he’s become a pretty regular player that teams now are game-planning for.’’
