After an 0-2 start to the preseason, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is conveying a simple message to his team: You’ve got to put the work in.
Originally scheduled to be an off day, Thibodeau held a two-hour practice on Wednesday afternoon. Afterwards, he reiterated his approach when it comes to the preseason and whether or not it should be taken lightly.
“The thing is, obviously winning and losing is important any time you’re keeping score,” said Thibodeau. “What you’re looking at more is are you putting the proper amount of work into playing so the results will take care of themselves? You have to do the right things. I know what goes into winning. I’ve been in the league a long time. When you skip steps in this league, it’s not going to be good.”
Veteran guard/forward Mike Dunleavy acknowledged the team’s need to clean things up a bit. The good news is that there are two more days to work on those things before facing the Bucks on Saturday.
“We’re 0-2 right now with some good, some bad and some ugly,” Dunleavy said. “We just need to sharpen up a few things on the offensive end, especially with some of our plays, make sure we’re in the right spots, things like that. It’s nice to come in and get that knocked out and have a couple of good practices before going to Milwaukee.”
Dunleavy also agreed with Thibodeau’s mentality regarding exhibition games.
“I think performance (matters),” said Dunleavy. “But any time you keep score, there is a scoreboard up there, you want to try to win. That’s where we’re at, we want to win.
“It’s always about putting the work in,” he added. “We have guys who are pretty good about that, continue to do that and will get ourselves ready for that opener on the 29th.”