Alex Caruso knows that at some point this season, talk of minutes played, protecting the Bulls guard from himself, concerns over how he flings his body around the floor, all of it will have to go away.
That time, however, wasn’t now.
Coach Billy Donovan admitted on Monday that he and the staff had kicked around the idea of inserting Caruso into the starting lineup last week, but couldn’t get over a few obstacles. Specifically, how to space out Caruso’s minutes.
While Caruso isn’t on a minutes restriction, the coaching staff does have a comfort zone in which they want to keep him – specifically in that 26-28 minute area.
Caruso, who is currently dealing with a sore elbow, has always been the ultimate soldier, doing what’s asked, but he also knows that at some point if the standings don’t improve for the Bulls, it’s time to take his leash off and let the dog hunt.
“You got to win games,’’ Caruso said. “I talked to my trainer, Arnie (Lee), (Monday) morning in just dealing with my elbow and being a little skeptical, cautious about it because I guard the best players every night, I do it in a way that’s physically demanding, but it’s one of those things where at a certain point in the season and a certain situation, you realize, ‘Alright, we gotta go now!’
“I don’t know if we’re at that point yet. We can easily win the next three, four, five games and things change. You just evaluate the situation.’’
Especially considering the value that Caruso brings.
Last season, he led the Bulls in plus/minus at a plus-199. The next closest was Coby White at a plus-146. This season, only Ayo Dosunmu was in the plus territory (plus-13), while Caruso was a minus-22. Not a big surprise considering the losses the Bulls have taken, and the fact that DeMar DeRozan was a minus-76, Nikola Vucevic a minus-55, and Zach LaVine minus-51.
Caruso, fresh off first-team All-Defensive honors last year, was obviously in Donovan’s closing lineup on most nights, and that’s where the minutes math didn’t add up. If Donovan was to start him, his middle stints would be difficult to manage.
“It’s one of those things where if you do start him, and you hypothetically give him three stints then his minutes in the first half are up around 15 or 16 minutes, and then you’re trying to close with him in a game … I’m not saying he can never do that, but I think the history shows us that if that’s done over a long period of time it becomes challenging,’’ Donovan said. “The most important thing with Alex is availability. He helps our team when he’s out there.’’
So until Caruso hears otherwise, his mentality is to just roll with the minutes he’s asked to play.
“I think my preference is doing whatever helps the team win,’’ Caruso said. “If we’re winning games then I think we’re doing the right things, and I think we’re still trying to figure that out.’’
Healthy return
After missing the last two games with an upper respiratory illness, Dosunmu returned to the rotation for the Bulls.
According to Donovan, Dosunmu went through the morning shootaround with no limitations, so was given the green light.
Mr. 10,000
In grabbing his fourth rebound against the Jazz on Monday, Andre Drummond became the 43rd player in NBA history to reach 10,000 rebounds. The big man joined Dennis Rodman and Pau Gasol as the only three players to tally their 10,000th career rebound while wearing a Bulls jersey.