What Does Hall of Famer Billy Donovan Need to PROVE for Bulls This Season? | CHGO Bulls Podcast

What Does Hall of Famer Billy Donovan Need to PROVE for Bulls This Season? | CHGO Bulls Podcast

What up, Bulls Nation? We’ve got a live CHO Bulls coming up for you all right around the corner. On today’s show, Billy Donovan is officially a Hall of Famer. Sights and sounds from his induction ceremony, plus some high praise from Kobe White, who was one of many current Bulls in attendance to show support for their coach. Also, what are some of the biggest challenges Billy Donovan will face this upcoming season now that his newly minted HOF? and we will set our own goals for Billy Donovan, what we want to see him achieve with this team this season. Next, [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Hey, hey, look at me. I just seen Will the go. What’s going on, Bulls Nation? Welcome in to the CHDO Bulls podcast coming to you live from our studios here in West Loop, downtown Chicago. I’m Peek Bulls Peek. That’s Big Dave. Bam. BWL sports will go perfectly qued as always. Will controls, the one and only KDW. What up, KA? I’ve already lost control of this show. I don’t know what’s happening. Baby, I missed you so much. I missed you so much. That peck is bad. Hey everybody, like Jordan wearing the four five to play games. Sorry to burst the bubble of all the pec haters out there. Bulls nation. Can’t get rid of me that easily. Hey, he’s back cuz he knows you need him. That’s right. Even though you don’t act like you don’t want him, you need him in your life. You got to have some pec in your life. You need a piece of pack. It’s a good t-shirt. We all just got to be real sometimes. You got to got to have a piece of paper. That’s right. What up, Strick? What up, Rob? Maddie, everybody. Tonius, uh, Stefan, what’s going on everybody? Happy to be back. Had some nice time away. Thank you everybody for holding down the fort. Uh, had some had some great guests while I was gone. Most recently, shout out my guy C. Red Fred, one and only. Uh, he is fully back on that big red bus. Yes, he is, baby. He’s on the bus. Grabbing it. All All passengers are welcome. Come on, get on the bus. I’ll I’ll catch the next one, but come on. Get on the bus. What is the craziest thing that Fred said? I had I haven’t listened to the whole episode yet. Craziest thing? Yeah. Oh man, I don’t think it it was too insane. Like it was kind of in the pocket. Yeah. Uh with Fred, he didn’t really get outside the parameters too much. Something no one has ever said before about C Red Fred. Yeah. Really in the pocket. He was in the pock. He didn’t really get outside. Totally measured takes. The craziest thing was, you know, the binder, the big red binder that he brought out and he was reading from and Katie actually put up a name when she put up his name and also put up the name Big Red Binder. I did I did see that for that hilarious. It that was probably the the craziest thing, but it was it was very friendly. The highlights for me were number one, just seeing how mad he was getting every time Mark Kay put something in the comments. Shout out Mark. That was funny. It was quite comical. I did hear a couple of pound sands at the end of the episode, too. He went on his little dose of pounding sand at the very end. And I’m I’m just It’s so iconic. It really is. So to hear that live is just it was a Every good podcaster needs a good catchphrase. I mean, that dude has been saying pound sand about since before Katie was born, I think. Yeah. Before I started writing about the Bulls, so that was 10 years ago. Uh has he been saying pound sand longer than Billy Donovan has been coaching basketball? Oh, probably. Maybe not quite, but close. Got to check the scientists in Idaho. Yeah. Uh yeah. Where where where are his fake mathematicians and scientists when he’s claiming his accuracy on takes? I think it’s northeast Idaho. Yeah, sure. It’s out there. It’s one of the most irrelevant places around. Very trustworthy scientists over there. Um all right. So, lots to get to today. Let’s dive right in. You guys talked about it leading into the weekend. Billy Donovan and many others. uh this year’s class, the Naymith Basketball Hall of Fame getting inducted. Also some other uh relevant names. Um Carlos Boozer, member of the Redeem team, also getting uh the Redeem team itself, the whole team getting inducted alongside Billy Donovan. Um, and I mean whether or not you love Billy Donovan as the last several seasons and coming into this season like head coach of Chicago Bulls, I think there’s no denying that his entire body of work and the dedicating his life to the game of basketball is Hall of Fame worthy. Agree or disagree? No. A agree completely. Um, back-to-back championships in Florida. Yeah, you go to the Hall of Fame. Like we ran down the resume of what his college accomplishments were and like just college alone for his resume, that’s a Hall of Fame career. If that was any coach, like if it was a Mike Shashesky, a Jean Katy or whoever you want to point to is that kind of coach and they had that kind of resume, it wouldn’t be any doubt, you know, it’ be no doubt at all that he is uh a Hall of Fame college basketball coach. And then just hearing the players, of course, Joe Kim Noah, who was always leading the charge for his love for uh Billy Donovan and just how appreciative of him he is, not as far as just his basketball career, but his life. So hearing things like that, seeing the accolades and all the things he’s done, he’s been to three championships. He’s won two, but he’s been to three. Yeah. Like that is just completely impressive. And back toback is just a ridiculous accomplishment in college. Like it just doesn’t really happen. didn’t happen for a long time again after they did it. Seriously, man. Florida Gator. Very special. I think from a from a body of work and obviously the college career speaks for itself. For sure. He’s a Hall of Famer. Um the NBA like has not been I don’t think it’s been like an Hall of Fame NBA coaching career, but I also don’t think that he’s like as a result of that like a bad coach. And it’s important to remember that it is the the basketball hall of fame. It’s not correct the NBA Hall of Fame. And so, um, yeah, from from a body of work perspective, all things considered, for sure. Um, but I think the NBA stuff is kind of what we’re going to get into today. For sure. Uh, and so there was a lot of coverage of the Hall of Fame induction. Uh, the Bulls put out some really fun stuff, not only pictures, uh, but videos, interviews of people who have been closely tied to Billy, whether they be his players or or coaches and mentors of his throughout the years in both college and professional basketball. Uh, the Bulls put out this little video um of Billy doing a voiceover talking about the honor and talking about his career. K, do you have that? We can play that real quick. Go for it. I never really thought about going into the Hall of Fame. I just kind of loved the game of basketball. Congratulations. That is good. I think it makes you reflect back on how I grew up, my parents playing for coach Patino, the opportunity he provided for me to be able to coach with him in Kentucky. You know, my my family and my wife, their sacrifices that they had to go through to allow me to do something I enjoyed doing. And then, you know, to be sitting up here in the Hall of Fame, you have to have great players. But just believe you’re only as good as the people around you. And I’ve been fortunate not only coached some great players, but great people as well. If you’re around not only special talent, but special people, a lot of unbelievable things can be accomplished. Very cool video there. Um, that was courtesy of the Chicago Bulls. Put it up on their Instagram and their Twitter. Uh that thing Billy says at the end of that little video, if you are around not only special talent but special people, a lot of unbelievable things can be accomplished. Facts. I mean, I think that’s the thesis of everything we heard from Billy, not only in his acceptance speech of going into the hall, but everything else he has said around this honor and getting this honor, like deflecting all praise uh to those around him essentially. And I think that that is why it’s very clear to see why. love him or hate him as a Bulls fan or even just want more from him as far as X’s and O’s tactician and better in-game adjustments and all the things we always hear about Billy Donovan from Bulls fans who aren’t fully bought in on him being the right man for the job. The reason you always hear his players say, “God, I love Billy Donovan.” is because it’s very apparent when he talks and we hear others talk about him that he coaches this game not only for the love of the game but for the love of the people he does it with. Yeah. And we’ve heard like over the years players talk about him and obviously like there have been times where we’ve heard news about like friction between some players. Um but for the like vast majority of the time all I’ve heard from players on the Bulls and even like players on other teams will come through and talk about him is like how personable he is, how he like values the relationships between the people and how that helps the players trust him. And um I remember actually like Patrick Beverly of all people when he came to the Bulls like he was so impressed and he kept on saying like Billy Donovan’s got some [ __ ] like he kept on saying that and uh which I thought was hilarious but it was also just like I mean that dude’s played for some of the great coaches in NBA history. Um and also a lot of coaches all the moves he’s made and so I think like players really get along with them because he takes those relationships seriously. I think he’s underrated as um an ex’s and no coach because that’s where sort of the shortcomings of his basketball uh his his NBA I should say um tenure have come is like in the playoffs at that level. But like Kevin Durant has you know really raved about him. Russell Westbrook Dear like Zack even after it was all said and done. Kobe last year said like he’s the best coach that he’s ever had. modest obviously um you know and his career is so young but like just all these guys really value him as a person as a coach and the relationships and I think that makes it easier to buy into what he’s trying to do and that’s how you get a coach who can take you from you know a halfcourt plotting offense to the fastest team in the league from not taking any threes to taking the most threes like I think it there it requires a certain level of personal relationships and trust uh that I think he’s that’s really his superpower uh that allows him to mold the team into the way that he sees fit with the roster that he has. Yeah, that that’s that’s very well said. Um I think we all have experienced it kind of firsthand just what Billy Donovan is like, you know, speaking obviously go you speak to him more than any of us. You can definitely speak on it. Uh just the time that I’ve met him uh and actually spoke to him, it it was, you know, hey, we’ve known each other kind of situation. you know, he talked to you like he really, you know, knew you like just telling you his whole schedule, what he was about to do that day and just one and just answering questions about the Chicago Bulls that I had in an airport, you know, just doing those thing I thought was cool. The I remember going to summer league for the very first time and being, you know, in the back area after the game and Billy Donovan was holding court, you know what I mean? Like he was holding court, bro. like all the players wanted to have a conversation with him whether they were young or whether they were old it didn’t matter all of them wanted to talk to Billy Donovan and he would oblige immediately anybody who wanted to have that conversation uh with him man and it was just really cool to see that and to look at that and say yeah man that’s that dude coaches my favorite team like that’s really cool to see now there’s definitely some other stuff I’m going to need to see I’ll get into that later but that kind of thing is really important you know you mentioned those relationships that that you cultivate and those relationships that you grow that it leads to things like free agency, you know, and getting players in here uh to come play for your team. And just hearing Patrick, you’re right, hearing Patrick say that kind of stuff is awesome to hear him say those kind of things and all these players and what they say about Billy Donovan is awesome to hear what he is saying about Billy Donovan, man. So now we just want, you know, to see it, you know, come to fruition with some more wins, you know, with the Chicago Bulls. A lot of that is out of his, you know, hands. And he’s doing the best with what he can, but you want to see more. You still just do want to see more. As uh Tony S in the comments just all as what you were alluding to, Dave, maybe some playoff wins, you know, a couple alongside those more. Not turn it down wins. Not turn it Uh, and you know, even in just that 60-second video that we just played mentioning all of these different players, I mean, it’s just some of the people you see coming up to him and showing big smiles and giving big hugs. Carmemelllo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and then of course on top of that some of his current players on the Chicago Bulls coming into the 2526 season. Kobe White, Modis Buzzelis, Iodumu, Dalent Terry, and Patrick Williams all showing out in support of Billy Donovan. Like clearly whether it’s players who uh played for him when he was at at Florida, players who have played for him in his various stops throughout his NBA journey, like it’s just like you were talking about holding court, Dave, at at summer league. He it just seems like Billy Donovan holds court wherever because he’s just wellliked by everybody in the basketball world. Yeah. And that and that’s a cool thing, you know, when everybody like kind of just wants to talk to you and whether it’s about basketball knowledge or about life or whatever, they want to have that conversation, you know, with Billy Donovan and that’s just really cool that that’s your head coach of your favorite team. Absolutely. Um, you know, saw some Al Horford in there and of course my guy Joe Keane. Uh, we got to knock out a couple ads real quick. When we come back on the other side, we will talk about what we heard Kobe White say when he was asked at the uh induction ceremony why he loves playing for Billy Don so much. We’ll talk about that next. Hit the like. Cory Brewer, what up? Today’s show brought to you by Circa Sportsbook. Whatever the sport, the app to bet is Circa Sports Illinois. Circus Sports is sports betting the way it should be. Circus Sports Illinois has high betting limits, low holes, and exceptional customer service featuring real human beings. I just took a break from Twitter for a week. It was great. I logged back on. I was like, “Grack, go away. I prefer humans. Circa has those. Bet on all your favorite teams in every game this season. Spreads, brows, futures, even in-game betting. Circus Sports has it for you. 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This is really cool. Very, very cool. And nice cards right here. Removable here. Oh, and some stickers behind that as well. Oh, there’s some stickers for you. This is going on my own podcast set. Yeah, let’s go. Oh, man. Yeah, I saw Jay Zoski said he’ll sacrifice his just for the put it on the uh podcast set. So, shout out to him for that. Such a selfless act. Shout out to him. I will not be sacrificing. I will not be doing that. Give me a whole load of these. No, no, no. He’s awesome. Grab you a RC cola. Yo, yes. What up, Clen? Good to see you, buddy. Uh, as C Red and Bear Down, that’s right, Bears. We are getting close to kickoff, y’all. there. Um, okay. But in the meantime, we’re talking about Billy Donovan in the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies over the weekend. Kobe White, as we just uh saw in that photo, the team photo, one of several of Billy’s current players showing out in support. He uh was chatting with Casey Johnson of CHSN outside of festivities. And Casey asked Kobe why he likes playing for Billy so much. Kobe’s answer was as follows, Katie, if you will. Kobe said, “Billy, he’s honest. He pushes you. He’s going to get the most out of you for the most part. He’s always been upfront with me, but he also believes in his players. He gets his players to compete every night. He builds a relationship with his players, which often times you don’t see a good amount of in the NBA.” End quote. That courtesy of CHSN. Um, so look, it’s not like this is the first time we’ve heard one of Billy’s players speak very kindly and positively about him. I know Bulls fans in the aftermath of the news of Billy Donovan’s extension, the front office’s extension, which again were try, you know, attempted to be kept quiet by the organization instead of being celebrated loudly and proudly. Bulls fans are always like, “Hey, like what is it about Billy Donovan, right? Especially given the, you know, mediocre at best results of his track record.” And again, I I point to stuff like this. I point to answers like this when you talk to his players and why they like playing for him. Yeah, they they love it. And Kobe is definitely one of those honest guys and I will give Billy Donovan credit for his growth also as far as a leader uh is concerned because we just talked about you know how Billy Donovan holds court and you know players love him. Well, that means you have leadership skills and real leadership qualities. I think Kobe White has ascended uh to being a better leader uh around for the Chicago Bulls. I should say, and he’s talked about it himself, saying him him being more assert assertive and him holding himself uh more accountable. You also see him doing what you talked about, Matt, uh what Billy Donovan did in the uh video we were watching, and that’s putting the praise on others, right? Kobe does that all the time. True. When you try to give Kobe White praise of 40point game, he’s like, “No, man. All all praise goes to my teammates. This this player hit incredible shots. This player, we couldn’t have done it without his effort in defense. This player hit some big threes, got some big rebounds. He never is in the business of promoting himself or bigging himself up like that. That is an absolute Billy Donovan trait. I’m not saying he got it from him. I’m saying it’s been magnified uh under a guy like Billy Donovan. So, yeah, you give him that kind of credit when you see the growth of your players. And you want to see growth of your players, especially your best ones in any kind of capacity. I don’t care if it’s on the court or off the court, you need to see those kind of things. And Kobe White is definitely showing that. And that’s why like for me, and we’ll talk about like the, you know, direction of the team stuff and like the results and the general tenure of coaches when they’re under when teams are underperforming. Mhm. Um, but like the thing that always sticks out to me about Billy is like the Bulls will have like the Josh Giddy half court heave game and he’ll come out and do postgame media and he’ll just be like completely levelheaded and he’ll be like that was an insane shot and like we won but like here’s what we did wrong, here’s how we can fix it. Here’s what we need to work on for our next game and here’s why we can’t get too high on this and it’ll be the same thing after a devastating loss to the Miami Heat in the playin. it’ll be the same mentality. And that like level-headedness, I think, is really important for NBA coaches. And you see that across the board for the most part. Like there’s always guys that are really fiery. Um, of course, but like I think that sort of mentality rubs off on the players. Yeah. And when you’re talking about leadership and Kobe, like that’s what they those guys need to witness from like the front-facing people of the Bulls organization is like people that have it under control that are confident in their abilities that don’t get like, you know, thrown off their game because of a tense moment or a tough loss or an incredible win. Like that sort of uh composure and poise is really valuable. I think beyond just the X’s and O’s and I think that does rub off on the players and I think you see that with guys like Modus where he can like come out and say I want to be the best player of all time or you know whatever you know confidence that he wants to display like he can say that but it’s not like a cocky emotional thing. It’s just like a level this is how hard I work these are what my goals are and I think that really does come from the top down and and uh rubs off on the players in a way that helps them grow. And so it goes beyond just like the, you know, technical put your elbow in on your jump shot more. It’s like how do you be a pro? How do you handle the highs and lows of the NBA and the grind and the length of the season? Um, and I think Billy just sets a standard in that way. He talks about that too a lot. Like guys, you know, how you going to approach this game? He I’ve heard him talk about that so much throughout his tenure here is the approach to the game, you know, how you come in, you know, how you prepare, you know, all those things. And it’s like, you know, having, you know, the the little baby dogs just all run around all want to do stuff and he’s just trying to reel them in like, hey, all right, there’s a discipline to this. You’ve got to learn that discipline part of this. You got that part down. Now, let’s move forward to this. And it’s not like he’s doing it to not let you have fun or be great on the floor. He just really is trying to teach these young men how to be professionals cuz a lot of them didn’t know it and now they’re learning. And there’s also like times where you’d see, you know, I don’t want to like throw anybody under the bus or like criticize any other coaches, but there’s times where you see other coaches and they are, you know, unable to handle it in that way. And I think that can set a bad standard for your team and and, you know, keep them from preparing the way that they need to. And so you do see the coaches where they’ll come in and, I don’t know, say something about like a player needed to do this better. like he’s just so like I think what Kobe said about him being upfront is very true, but he does it in a way where it’s like this is what I need from you. This is where you need to improve, but like let’s get this done. It’s not an accusation. It’s like let’s move forward so that we can be better together. And I think that’s like a important distinction as well. You you guys are both talking about preparedness and what Billy does for his players in that regard. And that part of Kobe’s quote saying, you know, he gets us ready. He gets his players ready to compete every night. I think as a Bulls fan I could nitpick that as saying that’s not entirely true. We’ve seen the Bulls come out and lay some absolute stinkers and look unprepared to play. Yes, plenty of time. How many, you know, like quite a few. Like last season, I feel like it wasn’t as egregious a couple seasons ago. Remember all the first quarter holes that they dug themselves? Oh, last year it was like that, too. It was like was it also like go down by 20 and then somehow come back and win? Exactly. First season. But when I saw that part of Kobe’s code, I was like, I don’t know about that. Ready to compete. I don’t know about that. And I think I saw somebody else in the comments with another nitpicky thing. Um, Andrew McCay saying, quote, “For the most part, he’s always been honest with me.” End quote. Was what Kobe White said. Andrew saying in the comments, “The cynic in me is curious about the other part.” And I was too, Andrew. There’s a reason that I left that full sentence in this quote cuz I saw it uh you know transcribed or aggregated whatever elsewhere with the for the most part edited out of it. Sure. And I’m like no Kobe said for the most part he’s been upfront with me. Okay. And I think that that’s fair to point to to say hey I think Kobe has been frustrated at times not knowing what exactly his role is on this team. Very true. going back to the bald-headed Menace days when he was just a rookie and a secondyear player all the way to this past season when after the Zack Lavine trade and of course before that Caruso and Demar leaving town taking a more prominent role on the team but his role much like Iodumu has changed countless times. Are you a starter? Are you coming off the bench? Are you bringing the ball up the floor most possessions every night or are you not? You playing off the ball. So maybe Kobe and Billy have had some growing pains in their relationship. Mhm. And I’m not saying that’s bad, right? I’m just saying Kobe, it seems, is just very upfront with it. And like for the most part, he loves playing for Billy. Yeah. There are also, I think, players who are aware that coaches aren’t perfect because players aren’t perfect. Nobody’s perfect. But that’s like when you talk about Dave, this isn’t just a giant Billy Donovan love fest. Mhm. We all know that Billy can do better, that Kobe White can do better, and they’re going to go try in another fresh season that starts, you know, in in a month’s time, but it’s where are they going to get better and what are the biggest challenges going to be for Billy and for his players? Oh, very true. Um, obviously he’s going to we’re going to need more talent. I’m not gonna again this is why we don’t put everything on Billy Donovan as far as why they’re not doing but I don’t absolve anybody from anything. You get it when you’re winning, you’re going to get it when you’re losing. And I’ve definitely watched games where I’ve come on this show after the game and been like Billy Donovan, no absolutely not. Absolutely not. They weren’t ready for this. This was I didn’t like this. I didn’t like this. Like I’m be honest about it, you know? But in the time of praise, you give them that praise. been in a time of criticism, you give him that as well. That’s how you, you know, be for real and be honest uh with people. And again, it’s not like I’m saying Billy Donovan is this, you know, a spectacular coach. He’s a good coach. You know, he’s a very solid coach. He’s got his flaws for sure. Um we just I mean, the Bulls had what, one winning season under his tenure. Yeah. Not all that is his fault, but that’s what the numbers are. That’s exactly what it is. He’s 10 games under 500 if I’m not mistaken. Uh with with his time here with the Chicago Bulls. That’s just what it is. Um, no coach of the year gear things coming up for him in this kind of situation. It’s not really happening like that. Yes, you need that talent and you need those things in there as well, but I’ve seen him get exposed by other coaches. Definitely. Uh, Eric Sper is the first one that comes to mind. U, so I’ve seen it happen for him. But he’s definitely helped these guys. He’s definitely helped them get better. I still think he’s a good coach for this young team to have to help them, you know, grow more, like I said, on and off the floor because both of those things are important. But winning at a point, it’s going to come a point in time where it’s winning time and the W’s are going to have to start coming. So until then, I understand I can’t, you know, fully put that judgment on him, but hopefully there will come a time and I’m saying it’s hopefully because that would mean we have the talent that we need here where I can just say, “Ah, thank you. done. Billy, you’re on. You know what I mean? So hopefully that time will come. We’re able to do that and hopefully that time he’ll shine as he did when we got actual talent on this team. The Bulls are really, really a good team. They were number one in the East for that first half of the season. Remember that? That was fun. Nope. Sure don’t. I’ll never forget it. Shout out Esot in the chat who said Troll Joey needs to meet his quota. Guys, drop some thumbs. That’s right. Yeah, hit the like or troll Joe will be sent after you by Katie. Um, hit that like button while we share a couple of ads. We’ll come right back and continue talking about this setting goals for Billy Donovan in this upcoming season. The challenges he will face. Hit the like cola. Today’s show brought to you by Eye on the Ball. I saw you guys had our pel red Fred home while I was gone. Definitely. You know, he coaches his kids basketball. Shout out to him. Shout out to all the coaches out there. Eye on the Ball is where you need to be if you are a coach and you’re looking for athletes to train. It’s simple. You create your profile, upload your background check, and boom, you’re in. You can also have a promo uh for coaches getting six months free, then just 50 bucks a month or 500 for the whole year. Athletes of all ages and all sports can find you directly. And here’s the best part. 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And of course, they got that matte peg broken broken replace. The head is gone. Couldn’t get it out, but the hat is out. And let’s say them glasses are on there. Cracked, splat, dra. But guess what? Put them into envelope pack, send them back, and right back on your face. Brand new shades. Let’s go. And we’ve teamed up with shady rays bring you exclusive offer. Head to shady.com. Use that code cho for 35% off those premium polarized shades. The traffic shady five stars over 300,000 people cuz shady rays y’all with a raise are oh so shady. Same old, same old. Hey, we’re back. Show Bulls rolls along on Monday afternoon just a few hours removed from Oh my god. Who else is ready? Katie, did I see that you put up a poll for today’s show in the comments which is just run through a brick wall and that’s all of the options? Yeah. The question The question is how are you feeling about the Bear season opener tonight? Every response is run through a brick wall. You want I picked the first one. I am the most ready to run through a brick wall. Yes, man. I’m ready. Um, are the Bulls, that’s a different question. Um, I before we dive into what we are setting uh for goals for Billy Donovan this season, what we want to see him achieve and accomplish, I think be to preface that, we could talk about what the biggest challenges will be that he’ll face in trying to achieve any number of goals and getting this Bulls team to the next level as opposed to play in exit part four for Pete. Four of them things, baby. Like I what do you guys think? Because I aside from this team could use some more talent and I think most of us agree on that. Absolutely. Aside from that, working with what he has to work with, what do you see as the big biggest challenges Billy will face this season? Go. I’ll start with you. Is it, you know, fine-tuning his rotations compared to last year and maybe having more or less of certain pieces? Is it establishing that defensive identity the way AK was talking about this summer? Is it improving and growing upon the offensive identity that you started to build with positive yielded results last season? What like what is it? What’s going to be the toughest thing for Billy this season? Well, I do think that there is an element of this that you can’t really talk about this without addressing the like what are the goals here and like that is separate from the stuff that I think you’re right hoping that we talk about but like it is hard because like you are measured against your expectations and you know this is that that may be like unfair the teams might argue that’s unfair but like tanking teams like you’re measuring them based on whether they are one of the bottom teams. And obviously there is some luck involved with the lottery, but like if you’re a team that says you’re going to tank and you finish with the 10th worst record, like that’s a problem. Like you have to that’s a failure of the result that you were hoping for. Same thing goes the other way. If you’re trying to be a playoff team or a team that gets to the second round of the playoffs or the finals or whatever, like and you don’t like you have to be held accountable to that. And so I don’t think and Billy has been uh in his you know in the past has always said like I just want to get better day by day. And I do think that to a certain extent like that’s the coach’s prerogative. That’s like how they are supposed to talk. But like the front office has said that too. And I think that’s really problematic. But so I think that’s important to preface all this conversation with. I but I do agree that we should separate that out for this part of the conversation. And so for that, like to me, the the challenge that he’s going to have is, okay, this team says that they want to have a defensive identity. You go out and you trade for Isaac. Um, but you also say that you want to be fast and shoot a lot of threes. And so for me, balancing those two things together when you don’t have a lot of two-way players, I think, is the main challenge. You do not have a bunch of guys that you can throw in and say, “You’re going to give me a lot defensively and also offensively.” It is a lot of guys and not saying they can’t get better. Not saying that they haven’t been good at times in their career, but historically speaking, Giddy is kind of a one-way player. Kobe is more of a one-way player than a two-way player. Aoro is more of a one-way player than a two-way player. Like, you have a bunch of guys that have talent to be sure. That can help you in a lot of different ways. But I think if you’re going to really lean into the offensive side, you’re not going to be playing the defensive players as much. And that’s okay if you want to be a really offensively oriented team. But if you want to enhance your defensive identity now, you might have to start turning towards more players like Aoro. But what does that do to your offense? And so to me, that balance is a really hard thing to strike, especially with the personnel this team has. But if that’s the goal and that’s really the only thing that we’ve heard about what they want to do, they’re not setting win expectations. They’re not setting playoff expectations. Like they’re saying they want to get better. They want to uh build on the offensive identity while establishing a defensive identity. Finding that line and balancing that without sacrificing too much on either end, I think is a real challenge. Yeah. And the great teams can do that, you know what I mean? And obviously the Bulls aren’t on that level yet. But great teams find that balance all the time. They know when to be great offensively. They know how to be great defensively. And they have the talent like you just said, go like guys who just do one thing like that. Those other teams have the talent on both ends, you know, where you don’t have to where it makes the coach’s life so much easier. Um, and again, this is big up to Billy, you know what I mean? And and what he’s done for this team and how he’s turned it around in a year for what they’ve done because we used to say on this show Matt screaming about their offensive identity and why don’t you like shooting threes and why don’t you take more of them and why isn’t this better and then I’ll stay. I’ll just stay. I too like to live dangerously. Um, but that’s what they that’s what we were complaining about and then in one year we watched him flip that whole thing. Yeah. and we watched them just run run and become shooters and adding Red Velvet to to your team made you even more of a team that’s going to take uh those three-point shots. So, I’m want to see and I know that they want to have this balance, but I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Like, I’ve seen your best thing be your offense. Yeah. And I haven’t been able to say the Bulls have had a best thing in some years outside of Demar De Rozan. So, if that’s what’s working, I think that’s the identity I’m more concerned about establishing uh for other teams when we’re going to play them. Working on your defense is something, yeah, you’re going to have to do that. Yeah, it’s very important. But, do you know who your team is? Do you know who you guys are? And for me, right now, it’s a team that doesn’t really have an identity and the closest thing to their identity that they have is on the offensive side of the ball. Yeah. So, I think that should be the focus while trying to, you know, learn defense and things like that, but it’s in my head, it should be a 8020. Yeah. situation. And I don’t know how Billy looks at it. Uh, obviously he gets paid much more than me, and he should. He’s a Hall of Fame coach, so he’ll come up with something to figure it out and do it better than probably what I’m saying. But just on just as a fan on the outside looking in, that’s kind of how I see it. um is that focus of what Billy Donovan did to this offense and the great job he did uh in changing this offense around like I don’t think you want to go away from that and try to get something brand new uh when a team hasn’t really fully established themselves on something that we’ve seen work and it’s also you know Dave talking about identity on both sides of the ball and offense being Billy’s bread and butter worth pointing out I think and it wasn’t even as I recall if I recall correctly their hot start season when Demar and Zach were all stars 2122, but I think it was the first year of continuity plan the following season when Billy managed to coach the Bulls to a top 10 defense. He did and like yeah, Alex Caruso was still here. So, there’s that. But I think Billy and even even if he’s had some uh you know overturn in turnover rather and his assistant coaching staff can field a decent enough defense and yes maybe also with that get a little bit lucky uh on opponents missing open shots on certain nights to get some certain wins. But like AK talking about defensive identity this summer and that being a big thing for Isaac Aoro being you know traded for for Lonzo ball. Okay, I I am thinking that I agree with what you just said, which is let’s see if like we can take this offense that showed some signs of progress and as goat you were saying earlier totally flipped the offensive game plan on its head compared to previous years in the Demar era. Can you actually take a completely flipped on its head offensive game plan and take it from average to actually good, above average, do that really well? Yeah. And hopefully along with that make some modest strides defensively. If you can accomplish both of those things as Billy Donovan, then you’re talking about maybe actually being in the playoff mix in an East that appears to be outside of the top three. Pretty open. Wide open. Go ahead. Yeah. And you know, this kind of leads into the prove it that I had. Um, so I don’t know if we’re ready for that yet, but like I I will just say the Bulls offense last year was ranked 19th. They had a worse offensive rating last year than they did the year before. So in D Rozan and his final year when Kobe took a step forward, Zach was missing uh the year was the last year of Caruso. They were a 115.1 offensive rating, 19th in the league. Last year when they overhauled the offense and when they shot more threes and when they played really well down the stretch of the all, you know, after all-star break, they were still 19th in offensive rating. So, it did not change. They were actually one point per 100 possessions worse on offense than the previous year. On the other side of that, defensively, they were better. The last year of D Rozan uh and Caruso 116.9 defensive rating. That was 22nd in the league. Last year, 115.8. I’m sorry, 115.4. four, 18th in the league. So, they took strides. At the end of the day, they were 19th in offense, 18th in defense. Like, that’s better than being 25th in both, but like there’s still a lot of room to grow. And and I think hate to tell you, but but my point with that is that it is kind of especially when you don’t have a bunch of two-way players, it’s like you have to like titrate these things very carefully. If you get a guy who’s like offense only because you want to boost your offense, then you’re sacrificing on defense and now your net rating is maybe like staying the same, but like yeah, maybe you’re better at offense but worse on defense, so your net rating ends up staying the same. So I do think that it’s a very difficult line to walk uh especially with the personnel. But that’s that’s the challenge for me because we’ve seen now him flip the offense. We’ve seen him flip the defense. Uh, but the end result has been the same. They won 39 games last year. They won 39 the year before that. They were 19th in offense last year. They were 19th on offense the year before that. Yeah. And so I want to see like a change in the not in like the what we’re seeing on the floor, but in how it produces like what does that what does that turn into on the basketball court? Can you I what what were they ranked after the trade of Zack Lavine? So, that was another thing I wanted to bring up. Um, offensively, I’m asking, uh, last year after the All-Star break, last year after the All-Star break, they were 17 and 10. Okay. They were ninth in How can we forget? Ninth in net rating, which is really good. Top 10 top 10. Very good. Um, 16th in offense at 117.4. So, um, you’re talking about 114.1 on the season compared to 117.4 4 after the All-Star break. That means for the first 50 games they were a lot worse. But that they did make a a market improvement, but they were still 16th in offense after the All-Star break. So much better. Uh but only two spots up in the rankings because everybody gets much better. Sure. Sure. Sure. Defense was what was impressive to me. Okay. 12th uh I’m sorry, seventh in defense after the All-Star break last year. Top 10. Yeah, that’s crazy. 11 12.1 defensive rating. Um, and that’s pretty much on par with like the year when they were fifth. They were 112.5 defensive rating, fifth overall. So, um, a lot better from them in that regard. Um, but again, it’s like when you overload on one side of the ball, are you sacrificing on the other side? And can you do both those things at once? I think that’s again, we’ve talked about with Giddy, we’ve talked about it with Kobe, we’ve talked about it with Vouch. like all these guys need to prove that their second half of the year was not a fluke. It’s the same thing with the team as a whole. Like they need to be able to prove that that worked over the course of 82 games, not just 25. So here here’s what I my point I was trying to make uh on that is I think the offense fueled the defense. And I think the way that they played offensively is what fueled what what they were doing on the other end of the floor because they couldn’t wait to get that ball back and run some offense and, you know, get it going that way. So that’s why I say 8020 because I think that should be the focus for them is definitely that offense, man. Because it is fueling what they’re doing on both on the other end of the floor in in my opinion from what I just sat and and I watched and those numbers are crazy. You know what I’m saying? That is a crazy number to say. A top 10 defense from the Chicago Bulls. Did what? Did you think that they were top 10 on just off of your eyes? You would think that they were a top 10 more so in offense more so than they would be in defense. Yes, Matt Z, but you would think it would be more offense than defense just from looking at that way. But I think it was fueled because they really like playing that offense. Uh Nick P in the chat saying it’s hard to set goals for Billy because I don’t know what the team’s goals are while we patiently wait for AK’s vision to unfold. Hard to grade a treading water season for a team in the mid. Uh, and meanwhile, our guy Joel just said, “I don’t think Donovan has to prove anything really this year. It’s not a very talented roster. They’ll probably play better than their season win prediction. Take the over.” Lol. So, let’s get to it. And I agree, go. It’s hard and and as Andrew also said in the chat just now, like it’s hard to define the goals for a coach of a team when the goals for the team itself and the organization, shall we say, are uh a little That doesn’t mean we can’t set our goals for Billy and what we want to see him achieve this season. Guy who’s just got some more hardware on his already pretty impressive trophy case as a basketball coach at the highest level. Awesome ring. So, we’re going to make our prove it goals for Billy. We don’t know if we’ve ever done this. We do this with players at the start of every season. We’re doing it and decided to do it with Billy today because of the Hall of Fame stuff. So, I’m up first, Katie. It’s real simple. And I wanted it to be in I like Okay, Katie, put it in red. I’ll accept it. The way I said it to Katie was bold and italicized to make the distinction. And we all know quick there there are certain limitations in Photoshop. Fair enough. Fair enough. That makes the distinction. I I appreciate that you made the distinction. Yeah. And we all know that this comes, you know, with the preface of, hey, I am accepting as a Bulls fan that they’re going to try to win when I think it’s in their best interest to go for one of those top picks in next year’s draft. I don’t care if you’re sick of hear me say it. It’s the truth. You could disagree with me. You’re wrong. You could disagree with me. Okay. If they’re trying to win, what should the head coach’s goal be? Make the playoffs. The real kind. the not the playin participation trophy kind. Mhm. Simple as that. Don’t over complicate things. I was thinking about we were just talking about offensive rating, defensive rating. Do we want to see those numbers jump? You want to talk about win total in an 82 game season? Nah, keep it simple. Mhm. You keep talking about being a competitive team, but you ain’t one. Billy, show us more, man. I I have been a Billy defender many times over the last several years. I think he is not this organization’s biggest problem and it ain’t close to being the big the biggest problem of this organization. That being said, you have some talent on this team. The Eastern Conference is a joke. Abysmal. Get out of the playin tournament where you will almost assuredly be yet again this year and go back to the playoffs if you want to start having fans take you and your role as this team’s head coach fresh off another contract extension that some fans media and otherwise are questioning by making the damn playoffs. Go make the playoffs. That’s it. Would you be satisfied or would he accomplish that goal if they made the I guess I’m taking the would you be satisfied part piece out of that. Okay. Uh would this would this uh would he accomplish your prove it for him if they make the playoffs through the playin or does it have to be a top six seed? Good question. Good question. And I will gracious you would be satisfied with either. And I will graciously say yes. Making the playoffs through the playin would count towards achieving this goal. Say PC’s never done anything for you. Come on man. Come on. I’m trying to play nice around here. See, that route is interesting because to me, if if that’s what we’re I don’t want to say settling for, but if that’s what the prove it is, then it’s just, hey, prove that you can beat Eric Spolstra. That’s what I just heard. I just heard prove that you can beat. He’s 0 for three. I know. Yeah. Can we make it one for four? That’s not a seven. Speaking of setting low bars around here. Oh my gosh. in the Eastern Conference. If you are a team not trying to be at the bottom, I don’t think making it at the very least out of the playin tournament into a one versus eight or se two versus seven playoff matchup is that big of an ask. It’s got a point. It’s got a point, kids. Got a point there. Uh let me let me get to my pro it here for young William Donovan. My proof it is prove you’re not the reason why. Oh, okay. I was confused by the phrasing. I thought you were like absolving Billy of any No, no, no, no, no. I knew she couldn’t fit the whole thing in there. Billy, it’s not your fault. Yeah. Yeah. Look at me, Billy. It’s not your fault. Um, but I want him to prove he’s not the reason why. Um, Matt Peek. Yes, sir. Hey, how you doing, man? I am great, buddy. How are you? Good to see you, man. It’s really good to see you. I missed you. Missed you, too, bro. When the Bulls went to the playin in the previous season with Patrick Beverly and Kobe White was on the floor in the fourth quarter, what happened in that game? Uh they they Oh, when Kobe left the floor. Oh, he left the floor. Yeah. Yeah. Billy took him out. Oh, uh then they lost. Oh, okay. Okay. I I recall you having a a tidbit of an issue with that particular decision. And you were not the only one. Yeah. U this season that just happened. Uhhuh. Uh when the Bulls, you know, got stomped literally from the opening tip. Yep. They didn’t look prepared to play. When a team does not look prepared, who does that fall on, Matt? Uh the coach. The coach. Who that is? Yeah. Prove that it’s not on you is all I’m saying. Like when you when I can point directly to you and say this is the reason why this team lost the game, that’s a problem. I don’t want to do that again this year in the postseason. I think the Bulls again will get to another play in four times. Yeah, I think they’ll get there again. What I want is for them to advance and for not me not to point to Billy or even if they lose for me not to be able to point to Billy and be like this isn’t the reason why. Last year was for me was was just that just happened was really crazy cuz they just look completely unprepared to play that team that they had just played in the previous week and it beat the previous week. They were ready for that game. You saw it. They were ready, but Spo was studying. Spo said the excellent most ultimate draft. Yes. Oh my god. They were studying. They were clearly studying. Yes. Like they were clearly just figuring like letting it happen. But they just looked not ready for that team. They looked ready for it in the previous scenes before that and Kobe was the only one who could score for them and then he got taken out the game for Patrick Beverly. Game over. Uh after that. I don’t want to do that again this year with Billy Donovan. You are a Hall of Fame coach. It’s time to do Hall of Fame things. I want to see that in that postseason that my Hall of Fame coach is doing Hall of Fame stuff against these other coaches and getting the Bulls advancing in the postseason. Let’s go. I love that. Dave go. Yeah, mine’s kind of a combination of both yours with uh combo. Not as much like it’s a little bit more vague. Um although I do kind of regret not having more of a firm one. But in any event, um prove that the system works to me. Like it’s it’s cool that you can flip the offense, but as we talked about before, the offensive rating was ranked the same in the league. Uh it’s cool that you want to have a team that has more of a defensive identity, but at the end of the day, you were still whatever whatever number we talked about, 18th. Yes. Um like prove that it works. I I want to see this actually work. And whether that means, you know, proving that you’re not the problem in a playing game or just making the playoffs outright, like I do think at a certain point, there are going to need to be some expectations set on this team. If you’re not going to tank, that’s okay. But then you can’t just like float around in the middle. If you’re not going to really go for it and trade picks for players so that you can go for it, fine. But then you should really conserve draft capital and like value your draft pick. They’re not doing that either. So, at a certain point, like we can’t just accept that being in the middle is the answer. And I think um that’s going to come down to how do they perform when it matters in the postseason? Can they get there and can they get through? And clarify if you if you can and want to go, but it sounds like what you’re saying is some of the stuff you you were just describing is asking Billy Donovan to prove that AK’s system works. M like if you’re not going to go to the bottom, you’re not going to actually make big moves to, you know, try and swing your way to the top, but you’re going to be in like that. Deciding to be in the middle is not Billy Donovan’s decision, right? And that’s kind of what I when I preface that whole conversation by saying like it is kind of linked in a way that is hard to separate. Um, but for me, I guess what that means is like, okay, if then I think it is the playoffs part like you have to get there. You have to prove that this style of play can get you to the playoffs. have to prove that uh the player development like formula that you guys have been working on works and we have to see that from guys like Modis and Noah. Um you know that that Josh Giddy can be a player that gets you there. Like all those things are bets that the organization is making but I think it’s on both Billy and the players to prove that it works. And that’s kind of that’s kind of my point. That’s true. Uh Katie Queen Katie, you have a proven for Billy Donovan as well? I do. Um, mine’s pretty simple. Proof that you can develop youth. Oh, that’s a good one. You know, a lot was made of the way that he used modest last season. I had a lot of issues with it. We all did in the moment, but we’ve all kind of accepted that maybe it was the right way to do things. Um, however, I’m not doing that again this season. Okay. We’re not doing that. If he is on the floor, I don’t want to see him yanked off the floor every time he makes a mistake. You’ve got to let him figure it out now. Like, that’s where with Ma specifically or with Noah? With Ma specifically? Noah. Pull I don’t care. pull him out or like Well, it’s a good question because Dreads in this in the chat just said, “Prove it for Billy. Can he successfully develop Noah?” Noah Asen the same way he developed Modas. No, Noah’s young. Pull him off every time he makes a mistake. I don’t care. I I’m honestly not convinced he’s going to play any games in the NBA this season anyway. But with Modis specifically, like we need to develop the right way now. It can’t be you made a mistake, go sit at the end of the bench. That’s not where we’re at with Modus anymore. So my pro it is prove that you can develop youth. That’s a that’s a very good point because that could you could look at that as a knock on his resume here with the Bulls as far the development of the youth. The guys that I look at that have been doing stuff like I sumu I thought was ready made you know to come in here and do something and Billy knew it too. That’s why he played from game one and then after that rookie IO was a thing. Yeah, that was a thing. And after that I’m like like got and I do think some of that is Sorry. Go ahead. I was just going to say like some of that is on the players. Like I think if a guy is not going to be a good NBA player, it doesn’t really matter who his coach is. If a guy is going to be a good player but is stagnates with a coach and then gets better with another coach, that’s where I think you have the problem. So it’s always hard to to um you know specify who gets the credit and blame there. True. But I agree like this is going to be a very interesting season when it comes to player development because whether they admit it or not like they are they are invested in that they have now two guys that are lottery picks on this roster uh that they need to get better and then they need to turn into players like if they want this system to work it’s not going to be because Demar dragged them there anymore. It’s because the younger younger guys got better. And we’ve talked about like look, I I don’t really think we can call Kobe and Yao like young players so much anymore. They’re veterans at this point with experience. But yeah, I mean they’ve they’ve had a couple of misses with like I misses is strong. It’s not like the jury’s completely out on Dalen and Julian um and Patrick, but like those guys have not excelled and I do think that there needs to be some acceleration with some of these young guys and Modis is probably in the best position to take advantage of that. Yeah. Uh, Alex in the chat saying, “It’s exactly what Billy’s here for, Katie. Developing youth. I just hope we don’t develop youth for other teams.” Um yeah and the development uh the way IO has ascended the way Kobe has ascended into the players that they are and even the growth in one year from Modus. There’s also just as many examples of that not working with young players who have who have arrived here been drafted by the Bulls under Billy Donovan’s toutelage and under Billy Donovan’s leadership as the head coach of this team that have not partheses Patrick Williams. I saw somebody in the chat earlier today make a joke. Somebody was comparing Billy Donovan’s even keeledness with Pat’s even keeledness and they said Pat’s boat isn’t even in the water. Shout out to you whoever made that joke. I thought it was funny. Like if I want to be mean about stuff, I can say, you know, even players who were here that got traded and watch them grow and develop. I can point to a Daniel Gaffford. You know, I can I can do that if I wanted. If I’m being mean to a ghost, Billy Donovan’s first year Larry Markin is in that category as well. like you can sit and point to certain players and be like, I don’t know when they left this, they got better. And if I’m being mean, I understand there are definitely things underneath that in context that I’m leaving out. But what matters is the ones that are still here. Yeah. Gaffford is the past. Lowry is the past. Those may have been some misses both in trading and giving up on them office and the coaching in the coaching staff. But like Pat is an example. And again, it’s not all on Billy. I think it was Ki who reported at some point last season definitely not like as far as the development staff and assistant coaches numerous maybe all of them tried to work with Pat individually and they all struggled and Dalon and Julian you guys were talking about bench rotation while I was gone. Yes, we were. Are either of them going to be in Billy’s rotation out of the gate this season firmly? I can’t confidently say that right now. Uh so good goals. Katie, I like yours. I hope it’s true. Say that word again. How about make the playoffs? How about with the T? Prove the system works. How about prove you’re not the problem? Those are all good goals. We got to get out of here for now. 30 seconds. Give me a Bears final score prediction. Matt, go. Oh god. Bears tonight final score prediction tonight. Vikings 28, Bears 24. Okay, Dave. Bears 27, Vikings 23. Oo, will 24-7 Vikings. Okay. Katie. Yeah, Katie doesn’t make predictions. Katie doesn’t with the third person. Get out of here. Katie doesn’t make predictions. Get out of here. With the third person at another ego is crazy. I have to produce brick by brick later. So if I make a prediction, I could be wrong and then it could come back to bite me. I’m not ego is crazy. Wow. Wow. Katie don’t do that. Wow. Imagine if I said Will doesn’t make predictions. All right. I’d roast you for it. No. Say will the goat godly doesn’t make predictions. That’s how you say it. Wow. Uh, keep it locked right here on CHGO Sports YouTube channel. Still plenty ahead to come. We got Cubs coverage tonight and of course Monday Night Football. CSO Bears pregame starting at 6:00 Central I believe. And then of course after that, immediately following CS Bears postgame. After that, we got Brick by Brick. Uh, tons of more content right here. CS Sports YouTube channel. Keep it locked on. Uh, follow the goat goal. Big day battle. BWL sports. I’m Bulls_p. We are CS_Bulls. Shout out to the queen of the controls, Katie Duffy. Happy to be back. Missed y’all. Bulls nation. See rubby good. More importantly, bear the f down. Katie don’t make See you tomorrow. Four. Peace. Okay. Like the mayor.

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The CHGO Bulls crew discuss Billy Donovan’s induction into the Hall of Fame, and what he must do prove himself with the Chicago Bulls in the 2025-26 season. Several players who’ve played for Donovan – including current Bulls – showed up to support their coach, who’s seemingly beloved by all those who play for him. Coby White was among those singing his praises. But being well-liked isn’t enough to win at the highest level. So, what will be the biggest challenges facing Donovan this year? Peck, Big Dave and Will Gottlieb kick off their annual “Prove It” series, issuing specific goals for Donovan to accomplish this season.

0:00 Welcome to the show
1:25 Matt is back!
4:40 Billy Donovan inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame
16:50 We’ve got mail
18:40 Billy Donovan’s impact on Bulls
32:50 Biggest challenge Donovan will face this season
46:05 Prove it, Billy Donovan

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