After the Chicago Bulls lost to the Toronto Raptors to drop to 5-12 on the season, DeMar DeRozan didn’t hold back while speaking to reporters about how frustrated he was.
“I can’t fake it. I’m beyond frustrated. And I think it’s rightfully so as a competitor,” DeRozan said. “Everybody in this locker room is frustrated. It’s from a good place of being a competitor and wanting to figure it out that badly. Put a couple wins together. I really truly believe that can shift everything for us.”
DeRozan, who was ejected against his former team with one second left in the fourth quarter, is in danger of missing the playoffs for the second straight season if the Bulls don’t turn their season around.
“We gotta challenge ourself. We can’t have those spiritual talks. We gotta challenge each other to leave it all the way out there,” DeRozan said. “That’s a good thing to be challenged. Ask something of yourself more than you ever have at this point, myself included. That’s where we’re at.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: DeMar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls Updates
DeRozan took exception to Raptors star Pascal Siakam attempting a 3-point shot with three seconds left in regulation and the Raptors leading by 12 points. DeRozan angrily yelled toward the Raptors bench and coach Darko Rajakovic, who told Bulls coach Billy Donovan that Siakam attempted the shot because point differential matters for In-Season Tournament ramifications.
“I don’t care about no In-Season Tournament points, none of that. Just respect for the game,” DeRozan said. “If the roles was flip-flopped and I had the ball, hold it. It is what it is.”
DeRozan finished with 19 points, three rebounds and four assists against the Raptors in 39 minutes. The six-time All-Star shot 7-of-16 from the field.
“The true standard of a person is who they become when adversity hits. We gotta stay positive, find some type of positivity. But it is frustrating losing and we have opportunities and it’s self-inflicted. It’s beyond frustrating,” DeRozan said. “Sleep on it. It’s going to be a long night. Got a day (Saturday) to dwell on it again. It’s all about how you respond.
“There’s enough here. It’s just about finding that right combination for it to hit on all cylinders consistently. It just seems like we’re kind of all over the place. We’ve showed spurts. We gotta figure it out. It sucks. It’s frustrating. We all hate losing. We hate being in the position we’re in, digging ourselves a hole. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We have to figure it out.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: DeMar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls Updates
“We can do it. That’s why I’m so frustrated. It’s not like we’re playing against the ’96 Bulls every single night. We can compete with and beat anybody. It’s just a matter of from the tip ball to end, playing the right way, putting the IQ in the game, understanding what we need to do and how hard we need to do it. We gotta figure it out.”
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