GOAT 101: How the Chicago Bulls are getting Ayo Dosunmu open for easy layups

Hey there, Chicago Bulls fans.

Welcome to the first edition of a new CHGO Bulls newsletter called ‘GOAT 101’.

In this series, I’ll identify play designs, statistical nugget, salary cap minutiae or anything else Bulls-related that caught my eye for a deeper dive. The idea is to give a thorough breakdown into a granular topic, hopefully adding some context that explains what is happening and helping you learn more about the game of basketball both on and off the court.

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Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of a play the Bulls have been running quite a bit lately with Ayo Dosunmu.

Play Design

With the way Ayo Dosunmu has been playing lately, it’s clear Billy Donovan and his coaching staff are trusting him with more responsibilities in the offense. We’ve seen him initiating more pick-and-rolls, attacking closeouts and breaking down defenses on the ball.

Still, Dosunmu is at his best in the open floor. When he can get the ball on the move, he has the speed to beat anyone else down the court. So, in an attempt to replicate his success in transition, the Bulls have implemented a play in the half-court, an action stemming from the Pistol offense designed to get the ball handler running downhill for an opportunity for an open layup.

Here’s how it works:

The Bulls line up in Horns formation, where two screeners set up at the elbows. The ball handler, in this case Dosunmu, enters the ball to DeMar DeRozan at the elbow, and immediately takes off downhill. He uses DeRozan as a screener on the handoff action, allowing him to get a runway to the rim.

This has become a pet play for the Bulls, who ran it in four straight games out of the All-Star Break against the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings.

The first three times we saw it, it was on the opening play of the second half. Dosunmu got easy layups on the first two tries, and was fouled at the rim by Donovan Mitchell on the third, earning two free throws against the Cavs.

The fourth time they ran it was on the opening play of the game. The Kings had the play snuffed out, but Dosunmu was still able to finish through traffic.

Why it works

By manufacturing a runway to the rim, the Bulls are able to help Dosunmu find creases for easy points without forcing him to create something off-the-dribble, beat his man in isolation, or break down the defense in pick-and-roll.

“It’s a read,” Dosunmu explained. “It’s a read option. The more me and DeMar continue to do it, the more dynamic we become where it’ll be harder to stop: they take me away, now DeMar has an angle to drive it.”

“Why you trying to give away our secrets?,” he joked.

Even though the Bulls have put it on the backburner for now, there is a next progression on the play. When teams start to get ahead of it, they’ll have to dive under the screen the way Kevin Huerter did on the last play to beat Dosunmu to the spot. That leaves them susceptible to a pull-up jumper.

Defenses could also try switching DeRozan’s defender onto Dosunmu to cut off the drive. But if that happens, DeRozan should have either a free lane to the basket, or an advantageous mismatch to exploit.

“They gotta go under,” Dosunmu said of how to defend it. “It’s just the read, so I can stop behind and shoot it. Keep attacking and try to get to the rim, like Sacramento did a good job of guarding it but I still beat him to the rim. Or like I said, coming off of it, making DeMar’s defender have to step up.”

Though the Bulls have gone away from it in recent games, it’s likely to come back when they feel they can catch teams off guard by it. Look out for this play at the beginning of quarters, or out of timeouts.

Til next time,

Will Gottlieb
CHGO Bulls beat writer