LOS ANGELES — Josh Giddey isn’t chasing it as a lot as it’s discovering him.
Call it the advantages of being a 6-7, pass-first level guard who has at all times held an affinity for rebounding.
After as soon as once more filling up the field rating in the course of the Bulls’ loss Friday to the Clippers, Giddey discovered himself in rare air — as in Michael Jordan.
A 20-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist stat line marked Giddey’s twenty ninth profession triple-double, passing Jordan for nineteenth on the NBA’s all-time record. It was Giddey’s eleventh of the season, tying him for second within the league with Nikola Jokic (26) and Jalen Johnson (11).
It’s surreal for Giddey.
“I had no idea until [Bulls senior manager of basketball communications Josh Schur] just told me,” Giddey stated of passing Jordan. “Anytime your name is mentioned with people like that, obviously it’s the upper, upper echelon of players, so it’s pretty special and surreal. But I guess the game has changed and triple-doubles might not be what they are today, but anytime your name is mentioned with greats like that, it’s always an honor and I don’t take it for granted.”
Especially with Celtics legend John Havlicek (31) subsequent on the record and 15 video games left this season. Considering Giddey is averaging a triple-double this month (19.5 factors, 11.8 assists, 11.2 rebounds in six video games), that’s very doable.
“I’m a big guard, so I’ve always loved rebounding,” Giddey stated. “That’s been the easy part for me. And I’m a pass-first point guard, so my job is to get guys shots. When they’re going, the assist numbers go up. That’s just who I am as a player. I love rebounding, I love passing the ball, so those two things go hand-in-hand.
“I’m not trying to put up triple-doubles or anything like that. They just kind of naturally happen, as long as I’m rebounding, kicking the ball ahead to get guys looks.”
That’s all nicely and good, however Giddey would commerce these gaudy numbers for wins. Those have been few and much between because the commerce deadline Feb. 5, when the Bulls welcomed seven new gamers and proceeded to go 0-11 for the month.
Such a purge would power most gamers to decrease their expectations. Giddey continued to battle, although by the center of the skid, the shedding was clearly sporting on him, and he was visibly pissed off after one dwelling loss.
“The expectation to win is always there, I guess,” he stated. “When you’re going through an 11-game losing streak, the frustration levels probably elevate. A loss [to the Clippers on Friday] is just as frustrating as any other loss we had all year. So as I said, it’s been challenging trying to adapt seven new guys into a team midseason, but we’re not going to keep using that as an excuse of why we can’t win games, why we can’t close out games and why we can’t do the little things to win games.
“I believe in this locker room that we have the personnel to be competitive and win games, but it’s got to be a full 15, 18, however many guys we have, effort. Offensively, our schemes are good, and when we execute them, we’re good. But just the little controllable stuff is where we’re lapsing. This has been a difficult stretch in terms of wins and losses, but I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
At least Giddey certain is.
