The Bulls have Nikola Vucevic early, often winning against the Hornets

Nikola Vucevic is about the team.

It is seen in his willingness to get rid of the double teams, his desire to play the right game. And you can hear it in his post-game comments on Monday night after he posted a season record of 30 points. Chicago Bullsvictory over Charlotte Hornets.

“Obviously, going through the struggles is never easy, especially because you feel like you’re not helping the team. And that was the biggest thing for me because it’s a new team and we’re trying to create something, ”Vucevic said. “And when you feel like you’re not helping as much as you should, it’s just bothering and annoying you.”

In his most complete game of the season, Vucevic added 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. He scored from the first pass of the game. He scored an extra overtime in the fourth quarter as the Hornets cut a 23-point deficit to four. He dropped all six 3-points and raised his percentage from 26.3 percent before the game to 33.3 percent after the game.

If the Bulls become the kind of team they want to be, they need Vucevic, who may not make 30 points. But he can’t be in the recession of a shot that dominated his first 14 games, which included a break and the absence of seven matches after a positive COVID-19 test.

“Vooch is a big part of this team. He’s a great shooter,” Lonzo Ball said. “I think he’s going to have a lot more nights like that.”

Career averages support this theory. But there are numbers and nuances.

Vucevic has spoken openly about the challenge of playing a new offensive role where he doesn’t touch the ball as much — especially afterwards — and a lot of used offensive abilities like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. He does not choose from this; remember, he’s the first guy on the team.

But that’s different from his double All-Star days with Magic.

Vucevic’s occupancy rate this season is 22.1. That’s less than last season at Bulls, which had an occupancy rate of 28.2. And that’s well below three of the four seasons in Magic, where it landed at 28 or higher.

“I was the main character in Orlando for years and the ball was always with me. I knew I would get my shots regardless of the course of the game. Now it’s a little different, Vucevic said. “We have more talent and more friends in the game. I just have to find my own places and make sure I’m not in their way and that they get used to playing with a big man like me.

This process was just beginning to take shape when Vucevic’s test result was positive. Then not only was it delayed, but Vucevic had to rediscover his own make-up and rhythm for the game.

That’s why coach Billy Donovan told the Heat after the loss on Saturday that he had to find ways to get Vucevic involved more.

“Because we’ve tried to play fast and run more, he’s behind many times,” Donovan said. “If in any field he hasn’t had as much as last year, it’s post-ups. They’re down. And I have to find ways to produce more of him because he’s a good offensive player.

Donovan has praised Vucevic’s selflessness and ability to sacrifice his own statistics. But there will come a time when this can be detrimental to the player and the team.

If Vucevic and the Bulls hadn’t gotten to that point, they would have been close.

“I have confidence in my game,” Vucevic said. “And apparently I’ve been playing at a high level for a long time. So I knew it was coming. “

Now it has to stay.

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