PHILADELPHIA – Billy Donovan saw it every March in his days at the University of Florida.
Styles make the fight in basketball, and March Madness was the greatest example of that.
“Just being in college a long time, it happened a lot in the NCAA Tournament,’’ Donovan said on Friday. “Sometimes you get these matchups where, ‘This is just a hard matchup for us,’ or ‘We’re going to be a hard matchup for them.’ I think that happens in the playoffs in the NBA, and sometimes it happens in the course of the regular season.’’
That’s also what he’s seen his current Bulls roster go through this season, with the recent home-and-home series with Cleveland the best example of that.
The Bulls lost two close games to the Cavaliers, and did so with a very familiar formula. Two athletic bigs that hurt them on the glass.
“I definitely think with the way your personnel is there are matchups that can be very, very difficult,’’ Donovan said. “There’s no question about that. Both Cleveland games you’re playing against a team that’s really, really big, and then against Brooklyn we didn’t get hurt as much on the boards. Certainly for any team there’s styles, there’s personnel that create different challenges and difficulties for you.’’
No wonder the Bulls were thrilled to see 76ers big man Joel Embiid sidelined another game with a sore left foot. That left Philadelphia going very small, starting PJ Tucker in the middle.
Green day
Javonte Green missed his 11th game with soreness in his right knee, and wasn’t expected back anytime soon, according to Donovan.
Green had been in and out of the lineup since the beginning of December with the injury, so the decision was made to shut him down for about a week, rehab him, and then evaluate where exactly he’s at.
“Just the knee soreness he’s dealing with, they’re trying to do some intervention and some treatment for him that they’re hoping inside a week or so they can make some progress and feel better,’’ Donovan said. “He’s certainly not at that place today. When a week or so passes by, they’ll look and evaluate to see, ‘OK, has this really helped him or not?’ ‘’
Green said the other day he was frustrated with the continued setbacks.
The Bulls were also without Alex Caruso, after he tried to warm up in the pregame and test the right ankle sprain, but couldn’t go.
Drumm tolls
Veteran Andre Drummond never wanted to leave Philadelphia last February, and admitted on Friday that he felt blindsided when he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the blockbuster James Harden-Ben Simmons swap.
“I was definitely blindsided, but things happen and here we are,’’ Drummond said.
That didn’t take away how much he enjoyed his short time in the City of Brotherly Love.
“I think about how much a family this organization is,’’ Drummond said. “They welcomed me and made me feel very comfortable when I got here. We had one common goal, which was to win as many games as possible. Sad that we had to break things up in February. Definitely miss playing here. Had a lot of fun playing for [coach] Doc [Rivers], and someone I knew since I was a boy. I have so much respect for him. The city of Philadelphia, man, the fan base, is one of a kind. I loved it here.’’
