Why Temple thinks Bulls bench can be 'best in the league' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Garrett Temple entered his first season as a Bull with a simple goal in mind.
“The first game I played, we get the bench together before the tip-off,” Temple said after the Bulls’ 117-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday. “I told the bench, ‘We can be the best bench in the league, because of the experience, the talent we have.”
Lofty? Sure. But Temple’s logic has born out. Even as COVID-19 protocols have thrown the Bulls’ rotation into a constant state of flux, their reserves have consistently complemented a youthful starting unit with steadiness that stands out on the court and extends off of it.
Take Sunday’s game as an example, one in which the Bulls' bench outscored Dallas’ 61-22 and took hearty advantage of the Mavericks’ depleted rotation.
In moments where the Mavericks threatened to chip away at a once 19-point lead, timely buckets by Temple, Young and Porter -- who combined for 20 of the team’s 28 fourth-quarter points -- stemmed the tide. Ryan Arcidiacono’s five assists finished second on the team to Zach LaVine’s 10. Daniel Gafford’s seven points helped flip a first-quarter deficit into a second-quarter lead the Bulls never surrendered, and his two blocks fail to capture the myriad Mavericks misses he contested in the paint.
“You know Dallas is going to make a run,” Donovan said, referencing a stretch in the third quarter where they trimmed a 17-point halftime deficit to nine midway through the third. “But we responded and got it back up.”
Such resilience escaped the Bulls in a disastrous overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday that saw them surrender a 16-point lead in the game’s final four-and-a-half minutes. The practice sandwiched between that game and the Mavericks contest featured heavy film study, and a meeting of the veteran minds.
“Billy actually pulled us three (Temple, Young and Porter) aside during practice yesterday and talked about us being able to be the guys who can go on the court and settle down the team,” Temple said. “We have such a young starting lineup. But we have so much talent. A lot of top-10 picks, top-15 picks, and they’re guys who can actually play at that level… But that’s definitely something they brought me and Thad and Otto in for, to be that steadying influence coming off the bench doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Indeed, the Bulls’ current starting five is their most-used five-man lineup, exclusively features lottery picks and sports an average age under 22. Though that group's net rating of minus-17.3 requires the context of enduring two season-opening blowouts, and often facing other team's best units, it's telling all the same.
Temple, Young and Porter, meanwhile, own 33 years of NBA experience. On the court, it's translating. Temple and Porter are each above 40 percent from 3-point range while averaging more than four attempts. All three have been essential defensive presences. Young is up to three assists per contest.
And off the floor, all are embracing every aspect of their mentoring roles. Young, according to Donovan, made a point to laud LaVine and Coby White in the locker room after they combined for 14 assists -- 10 from LaVine in a points-assist double-double -- and each affected winning on cold shooting nights. Temple sang LaVine, White and Lauri Markkanen’s (29 points, 10 assists) praises in his postgame presser.
Even beyond steady floor-spacing, defense and playmaking, guidance outside the lines is as much a part of teaching this Bulls team to win as anything.
“Off the court -- whether it being in the huddles or on the plane ride back -- I watched film with the guys from the OKC game,” Temple said. “Me, Zach (LaVine), Pat (Williams), Wendell (Carter Jr.) watching film, talking about different things that we can change.
"In the huddles, Thad is really vocal. Myself. Otto. Just continuing to teach as much as we can. Not be overbearing, but let guys know what we see.”
And for the first time since Jan. 5, Sunday ended with the Bulls seeing a W in the win-loss column.
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