With the departure of Bradley Beal and pending the arrival of Devin Booker for the competition, Zach LaVine has taken on a new dimension with Team USA. The full-back comes out in addition to a good game against Argentina and there is no doubt that Gregg Popovich will expect more from him now.
The Bulls All-Star is also there to learn with players even more confirmed than him, stars who have already played the playoffs, the Finals and participated in international competitions.
“I have never been part of a culture of winning, so here I want to feel it”, he explains to NBC Sports when asked what he wants to take away from this Olympic experience. “We are surrounded by some of the best players in the league. Every player is an All-Star almost every year, they’re the best of their teams, All-NBA level players. For me, there is nothing better to learn, develop good habits and ask questions. That’s what I’m trying to bring back from all of this. “
Spending time with players like Kevin Durant or Draymond Green can indeed be invaluable for a Zach LaVine who was admittedly more mature this season, but still has not managed to bring Chicago to the playoffs.
” I talk a lot. I talk to the players that I like, I try to take elements of their game, their mentality and make them mine. I’m not afraid to ask questions, even though I don’t have the biggest CV in the bunch. They have had experiences that I have not had. I want to reach them. “
“In 2016, it allowed me to see where I was compared to others and I was very far away”
On the other side of the preparation, we find Patrick Williams, young member of the “Select Team” who put himself in “sponge” mode during these days in Las Vegas. A role of “sparring partner” that Zach LaVine knows very well since before the Olympic Games in Rio, in 2016, he was part of this young team against Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry, Carmelo Anthony …
“I’m with him a lot, I told him to take advantage of this experience and try to kill everything”, says the former Minnesota. “Especially not to overdo it, not to want to shoot every time, that’s not him. He must show why he is there: he is an incredible athlete, a strong defender, a complete player. Me, in 2016, it allowed me to see where I was compared to others and I was very far. “
How has the Bulls rookie been doing since the rally started?
« He looks very comfortable ”, confirms his teammate. “He’s like all young people, he’s still looking for himself and trying to improve, we’ve all been there. Experience will be his best teacher. On the second day of preparation he was amazing. He was scoring and defending, he even countered one of my shots from nowhere. I didn’t see it coming. He was in great shape. “
| Tirs | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Zach Lavine | 58 | 35.1 | 50.7 | 41.9 | 84.9 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 27.4 |
| Nikola Vucevic | 26 | 32.6 | 47.1 | 38.8 | 87.0 | 2.3 | 9.3 | 11.5 | 3.9 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 21.5 |
| Coby White | 69 | 31.2 | 41.6 | 35.9 | 90.1 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 15.1 |
| Lauri Markkanen | 51 | 25.8 | 48.0 | 40.2 | 82.6 | 0.7 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 13.6 |
| Thaddeus Young | 68 | 24.3 | 55.9 | 26.7 | 62.8 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 12.1 |
| Wendell Carter, Jr. | 32 | 24.7 | 51.2 | 36.4 | 73.9 | 2.2 | 5.6 | 7.8 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 10.9 |
| Daniel Theis | 23 | 24.9 | 52.2 | 28.1 | 65.1 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 5.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Otto Porter | 25 | 21.6 | 44.1 | 40.0 | 83.8 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 9.9 |
| Patrick Williams | 71 | 27.9 | 48.3 | 39.1 | 72.8 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 9.2 |
| Tomas Satoransky | 58 | 22.5 | 51.4 | 35.6 | 84.8 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.7 |
| Garrett Temple | 56 | 27.3 | 41.5 | 33.5 | 80.0 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 7.6 |
| Denzel Valentine | 62 | 16.7 | 37.3 | 33.1 | 94.1 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 6.5 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 13 | 18.2 | 52.7 | 33.3 | 83.3 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 5.5 |
| Daniel Gafford | 31 | 12.4 | 69.0 | 0.0 | 65.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 4.7 |
| Archdeacon Ryan | 44 | 10.2 | 41.9 | 37.3 | 65.0 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| Javonte Green | 16 | 8.0 | 45.2 | 37.5 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.6 |
| Devon Dotson | 11 | 4.6 | 52.4 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Luke Kornet | 13 | 7.2 | 33.3 | 26.1 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Chandler Hutchison | 7 | 9.1 | 27.8 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Al-farouq Aminu | 6 | 11.2 | 20.0 | 16.7 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Cristiano Felicio | 18 | 4.6 | 53.8 | 0.0 | 56.2 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.3 |
| Adam Mokoka | 14 | 4.0 | 36.8 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
