Don’t look now, but Ayo Dosunmu is playing some really good basketball for the Bulls so far this season.
Strike that, you better look now or you just might miss it.
Ah, life as the 10th man on an NBA roster … especially a roster with a coach in Billy Donovan that usually plays nine. But that’s where Dosunmu comes in. The former Morgan Park standout is taking his coach out of that comfort zone.
Dosunmu’s play is forcing Donovan to find minutes for him. It’s not always pretty – just nine minutes in the opening-night loss to Oklahoma City and only 10 in Wednesday’s overtime loss to Phoenix – but Dosunmu’s attitude is it’s better to get playing time and be a thought than sit and watch from the bench as an afterthought.
“I just feel like it’s a unique team that we have,’’ Dosunmu said. “Early in this season, this is just what comes with it. Of course, us all being competitive we all want to go out there and play as many minutes as possible, but in reality with just how the game is, this team is, it doesn’t always go like that.
“I just try and really continue to get better, work on my craft, doing whatever it takes to help the team win, and then over time if you show that consistent play and stay on that track of reaching my full potential, it will all take care of itself.’’
Dosunmu is definitely on a track.
Besides working on his game last summer, he looked like he spent some time getting jacked up on Venice Beach. In reality, Dosunmu hit the Advocate Center on an almost daily basis adding six pounds of muscle, while still maintaining his speed and burst.
It’s showing.
While he’s only getting 11.7 minutes per contest in a crowded backcourt so far, for analytics nerds that love to dig deep into his game there’s some treasure to be found.
Dosunmu is only one of four Bulls players with a plus in the plus/minus category (plus-15), and his plus/minus per 100 possessions on-the-court leads the team with a plus-10.4. His offensive box score plus/minus is second to only DeMar DeRozan, and his value over a replacement player is fifth on the team.
In other words, the Bulls extending him for three years, $21 million in July was probably one of the better decisions by a front office that hasn’t been great in that department.
“I definitely felt like they were committed to me,’’ Dosunmu said. “My mentality is show them I can keep getting better. I genuinely believe we don’t have a starting five, we have a legitimate nine or 10 people that can go out there and play.
“My mindset is do whatever it takes so that Coach has to have me on the court because I’m doing good things on both ends. Get better and leave the decision to Coach.’’
That he has, and that’s why Donovan is trying to find Dosunmu minutes, whether it’s a solid five-minute stint or a few minutes at the end of the half.
“I usually (play) nine guys, but because Ayo had a good training camp and has played well in this early part you try and find minutes,’’ Donovan said. “The unfortunate part sometimes is the guy that is in the role that he’s in there’s not going to be a lot of minutes. There’s just sometimes not enough minutes to go around.
“(Dosunmu) has done a really good job taking advantage of the time that he has gotten.’’
Don’t expect that to change.
“Just keep getting better,’’ Dosunmu added. “Make it hard not to give me minutes.’’
