It had to be asked.
Billy Donovan had to answer it.
After yet another embarrassing performance in Friday’s 103-97 In-Season Tournament loss to the Magic, the Bulls coach was asked if he felt like his players were tuning him out or at least disconnecting from one another.
“I don’t sense anything like that,’’ Donovan said. “If they weren’t engaged, why fight like they do to get back into the game?’’
A fair point considering the Bulls (4-9) did score 64 second-half points, but that didn’t excuse yet another lethargic first half, and coming against a short-handed Orlando squad.
“If I had the answer to that we would try and get it corrected,’’ Donovan said. “We have to be able to sustain that kind of (second-half) energy for 48 minutes.’’
In Donovan’s estimation, it’s a roster that comes out testing the game, and then once it finds itself down big decides “we gotta go.’’
“Why not start it 0-0, we gotta go?’’ Donovan said.
A question his players were also unable to answer.
“We just got to come out with a sense of urgency,’’ veteran DeMar DeRozan said. “That’s on us, that’s an effort thing. We’ve got to be more conscious of that.’’
They need something.
The hope was that with a day of practice and another shootaround, the stink from Wednesday would have dissipated. Then add in the fact that DeRozan was back in the mix after spending several days away from the team for personal matters, as well as a new-look starting lineup, what could go wrong?
Everything, just not initially.
Still searching for a self-starting group out of the gate, Donovan went with a second change to his starting lineup since the start of the regular season.
Patrick Williams had the power forward job and then lost it, Torrey Craig took a few swings at it and lost it, and now Donovan went with Alex Caruso.
A genius move … for a whopping six minutes.
Right from the tip, Caruso made his presence felt, hitting three three-pointers and putting the Bulls up 9-4. The problem with Caruso, however, is he has a shorter shelf life than most because of his reckless style of play, so Donovan had to conserve him by putting him on the bench six minutes in. Orlando took full advantage of life without the only Bulls player with a pulse these days, going on a 19-7 run to close out the first quarter.
By the time Caruso re-entered the game with 7:11 left in the first half, the visiting team was up 16 thanks to an uncontested dunk down the middle of the lane by Cole Anthony.
There’s only so much even Caruso can salvage.
“I didn’t like the pace,’’ Donovan said of that first half. “We’re certainly digging ourselves out of a hole. That’s a tough way to live.’’
The effort was better in the second half, especially from LaVine, after he scored just nine points on 3-of-6 shooting through the first two quarters. Playing all 12 minutes in the third, LaVine went on a 13-point heater, hitting 4-of-5 from the field to at least bring the Bulls within striking distance and eventually the lead.
Before they could completely bleed out, however, Orlando finally found a Band-aid, as Gary Harris hit a corner three to put Orlando up two. After the two teams spent the next few minutes trading baskets, Caruso again came to the rescue, hitting a clutch three to put the Bulls up one with 26 seconds left.
Still not enough, as Orlando (7-5) again didn’t flinch as Franz Wagner made a driving layup and drew the foul.
Nikola Vucevic had a chance to put the Bulls up with 12.1 seconds left but missed a wide-open corner three. Two more Jonathan Isaac free throws and the game was on ice.