Second season is about 'growth opportunities' for Matas Buzelis

Before Wednesday’s game against the Cavaliers, forward Matas Buzelis ended shootaround by practicing post-up defense, absorbing body blows as he held his ground while most players were getting shots up.

Defending one-on-one post-ups isn’t the flashiest part of Buzelis’ game — the talented forward can deliver highlight-reel dunks and weak-side blocks — but as the Bulls experiment with him playing the power forward position, Buzelis has to get better at leveraging his strength into deterring burly opponents.

It’s been an uneven second season for Buzelis. His raw averages entering Wednesday’s game — 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 — are all higher than a season ago — but his impact on games can still fluctuate. Against the Pelicans, Buzelis played just 24 minutes and attempted just five shots. Coach Billy Donovan said postgame that the ball didn’t find Buzelis and that when the scoring numbers aren’t high, Buzelis has to find ways to impact the game.

Donovan also said that Buzelis’ minutes dipped because the Bulls needed better options — Patrick Williams and Isaac Okoro — to guard star Zion Williamson. All of Buzelis’ second year is about experiencing challenges and working to improve them. The Bulls’ season has taken a turn for the worse. Regardless of wins and losses, the team’s main priority should be the continued progression of Buzelis.

“He’s having to guard a totally different player than he had to a year ago,” Donovan said before Wednesday’s game. “He’s going against much better defenders guarding him than he did a year ago.”

Buzelis has started all 26 games and has played in only four games in which he didn’t cross the 20-minute threshold. Donovan said those experiences being guarded by the best and having more offensive responsibility are all “growth opportunities for him.”

Buzelis didn’t have a big role last season, so figuring out what he can and can’t handle is critical for the Bulls as they figure out how to escape the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“I saw [former Bulls center Joakim Noah] go through an amazing and incredible struggle his freshman year [at Florida].” Donovan said. “ I've never seen a player go through that, come back the next year and go from where he was as a freshman to maybe being the number one player taken in the draft.

“I said this before the season started, it's going to be this for him. It just is. To me, it's all [about] how he internalizes and how he comes out of it. If he doesn't come out of this better than it was for nothing. So we got to help him digest this.”

Fast starts

Entering Wednesday’s game, the Bulls were 20th in defensive rating (117.9) — the league average is 116.0. After allowing just 114 points against the Pelicans on Sunday, the Bulls recognized they need to bring that focus and intensity more consistently to escape their recent skid.

“It didn't take us going into halftime and getting on each other to come in the second half and play defense,” forward Isaac Okoro said. “Like when we started the game, the defensive mindset and energy was there.”

Injury report

Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu (sprained right thumb) missed Wednesday’s game. Donovan said he didn’t go through shootaround but would travel with the team to Cleveland.