After slow start, Bulls' Donovan switches up starting lineup
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Chicago Bulls will host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
At this time last season, the Bulls were 15-8 and a game out of first place in the Eastern Conference. Fast forward to this season, and through 23 games, the team is six games under .500 and sitting in 12th place.
It's still early, but it's not that early.
Head coach Billy Donovan made some lineup changes as he tried to get the most out of his lineup after finishing the longest road trip of the season 2-4.
Donovan inserted Alex Caruso and Javonte Green into the starting lineup for Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams.
With Green out with a knee contusion, Williams is back to starting. For Caruso, he's ready for any assignment.
"Me and Billy don't have a huge communication on that stuff as far as starting and minutes because I'm just ready to call and he knows that," Caruso said. "I'm just a hooper, gamer, whatever you want to call it, by nature, so whatever he needs me to do, that's what I'm going to do."
Donovan explained his decisions, saying "I thought [about] switching up pairings and matchups, just to try to look at something a little bit different and I think guys like Alex and Javonte, just with their motor and their energy. Not to say that Ayo [doesn't]. I think Ayo plays with great energy and I think Patrick's got drastically better. But as veteran guys, I think them matching with Zach (Lavine) and (Nikola) Vucevic, and Demar (DeRozan) gives us a different look and maybe changes up the second unit a little bit."