It’s not easy to replace almost two offensive rebounds per game.
It doesn’t sound like a lot, but in a statistic where the margins are so small between the league’s elite offensive rebounding teams and the middle class of that skillset, the Bulls’ Torrey Craig not only sticks out, but is missed.
There was some good news on the injury front for the veteran forward, however, as he missed his 13th game with a plantar fasciitis sprain in his right foot.
According to coach Billy Donovan on Friday, Craig went to the doctors in mid-week and was cleared to start some light activity.
“They want him to ramp up activity as pain tolerates,” Donovan said of Craig. “So that would include doing some running on the treadmill. He can probably do some very light shooting. But a lot of it is how he responds to that with the injury. It’s a unique injury with what he’s dealing with, and they’re trying to be very cautious because it sounds like that it’s the kind of injury that if you don’t handle it correctly or he pushes too hard too much, he could set himself back a little bit and we don’t want to do that.”
The original timetable for Craig was about two months, which puts him about a month in. Criag did originally insist that he was a quick healer and would be back earlier than everyone expected, but that’s not likely the case.
In the 27 games he did play – seven as a starter – he was averaging 6.1 points per game but was third on the team in offensive boards behind centers Andre Drummond (3.4) and Nikola Vucevic (2.7).
“That’s the one thing he’s really impacted, and I think if you look at our offensive rebounding since he’s been out it’s taken a dip,” Donovan said of Craig. “Not to say it’s all him. Collectively we could all do a better job.
“He gets you a couple extra possessions and at this level it’s so tight that they do make a difference. Having him on the bench has been good so I feel like the leadership with his voice is there and we haven’t lost that.”
West side story
The Bulls will likely get a closer look at Lonzo Ball in a few weeks, when the team heads out on a West Coast trip, including Los Angeles where Ball was currently rehabbing.
Ball, who was still attempting to comeback from three left knee surgeries in less than a year, was ruled out for this entire season back in the fall but was expected to start running this month.
That led to Donovan being asked how he viewed Ball when it comes to next year’s roster – the final season of Ball’s contract with the team.
“The optimistic part wants to believe that he’s going to get back because you see just his attitude,” Donovan said. “But I do think he will need at some point when he’s cleared to play and this thing is moving forward in the right direction, he is going to need some time to be able to play.”
The tricky part as far as Donovan was concerned was how to get him into some sort of game shape after missing 2 ½ years of high-level NBA basketball?
“I think he’ll need some of that,” Donovan said. “But to see him back on a court to play, I am hopeful that’s going to happen and I want that for him.”
White out
Donovan was forced to cancel the morning shootaround on Friday because of the weather, which was a huge disappointment for the organization.
A good number of the former Bulls that were in town for the Ring of Honor were expected to attend the shootaround and interact with the current roster of players.