Luol Deng addressed his alarmingly low shooting percentage at 35,000 feet — or whatever altitude the Bulls’ private jet reaches.
Upbeat despite being mired in one of the worst shooting slumps of his five-year career, Deng said he talked to coach Vinny Del Negro on Tuesday’s flight from Orlando to Cleveland about finding ways to extract himself from his depths.
The Bulls surely need Deng’s shooting and scoring to rise to his more typically steady levels. Management didn’t give Deng a six-year, $71 million deal last off-season for grounded numbers like 10.3 points on 31.8 percent shooting, including 0-for-8 Monday night against the Magic.
“The way our offense is, I have to find a way to be effective,” Deng said. “I don’t know how yet, but I have to figure it out. I’m trying to find little stuff, cutting.
“It’s a different style, and I’m trying to figure it out. We’re penetrating, but guys are staying. I’m trying to shoot my shot, but there’s a crowd.”
Those references are about the Bulls clearing out the middle for rookie Derrick Rose, whose speed, strength and ballhandling ability are making him the offense’s focal point for now.
Deng, so adept in seasons past at cutting and slashing, has mostly stood in the corner and then forced shots occasionally in an attempt to find his rhythm. The two times Deng attempted to post up — on O.J. Mayo against Memphis and on Rashard Lewis against Orlando — Del Negro promptly replaced him.
“I don’t think I’ve frowned upon it,” Del Negro said. “I just think it slows us down a lot. I don’t think that’s a strength of ours right now. There are times we need to do that. But I’d like to get up and down more than we are now.
“He’s not leaving the page offensively. If he feels there’s an advantage or if there’s something we feel can work for him, we’ll [post up] in a second. Right now, it’s a feel thing for him. And we have to feel some things through ourselves.”
Del Negro said this includes incorporating plays on which Deng cuts to the basket. Such sets exist, but Del Negro said inconsistent practice time during an injury-marred preseason have prevented the Bulls from perfecting them.
One area in which Deng has excelled in the past is filling fast-break lanes and flaring out to drain midrange jumpers. But even with Rose leading the way, those shots aren’t falling.
“Hopefully, we can do a better job and work together to get Lu some easy baskets, some slashing, get him out in transition, get him some midrange shots where he’s comfortable,” Del Negro said.
Toss out Deng’s halfcourt heave to avoid a shot-clock violation and two tip attempts, and he actually took only five shots in 26 minutes against Orlando.
“We need his points and his activity,” Del Negro said. “He’s had good looks. But that’s part of the season — handling it, understanding why you’re missing, understanding where you can get going. We have to get him more involved.”
Deng it
Luol Deng is shooting 31.8 percent, far below his career mark of 48 percent entering the season. Throw out Deng’s 5-for-7 first half in the season opener against Milwaukee, and the fifth-year forward is 9 for his last 37, or 24.3 percent.
%% SEASON GM FGM FGA PCT
2004-05 61 280 645 43.4
2005-06 78 442 954 46.3
2006-07 82 630 1,218 51.7
2007-08 63 429 896 47.9
2008-09 4 14 44 31.8 %%
–K.C. Johnson
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
