INDIANAPOLIS — Ayo Dosunmu looks inward when he errs.
It’s a trait that fits this Chicago Bulls’ culture and one that coach Billy Donovan has cited for one of the many reasons he places such trust in a rookie.
So it shouldn’t surprise that Donovan waited until Friday morning to talk to Dosunmu about his two crucial, late-game turnovers in Thursday night’s overtime loss to the Raptors.
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“It’s like one of those times where you get in trouble in school and you don’t know how your parents are going to react,” Dosunmu said Friday night. “He called me (Friday) morning and he’s like, ‘Ayo, let me talk to you.’ I’m thinking he’s going to be upset, of course. But he came to me and asked, ‘Ayo, what did you learn from (Thursday)?’ I told him: 'Picking up my dribble on the baseline and having better court awareness at the end of the game.' He was like, ‘Cool, you got it.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s it?’
“That exchange right there makes me want to come out here and go through a wall for him and compete for him. Because I know he believes in me.”
Dosunmu’s version of running through a wall was dunking on two Pacers for the dagger points in Friday’s hard-fought victory. That’s how he repaid his coach’s trust in him.
Adding another signature play to this highlight-filled Bulls season, Dosunmu took an inbounds pass with the defense focused on DeMar DeRozan, turned the corner and emphatically threw down a dagger highlight for the ages — and a five-point lead with 16.3 seconds remaining:
Then, instead of celebrating, Dosunmu hustled back on defense to help contest a Justin Holiday miss at the other end.
“My mentality is never get too high or never get too low,” Dosunmu said. “With that mindset, when I had those end-of-game turnovers (Thursday), I had that sense of disappointment in that moment. But I teach my mind that mentality so I’m always even-keeled. That allowed me to come here and be better (Friday).”
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Dosunmu did allow himself a smile when a team official showed him a replay of the sequence on a phone following his postgame interview.
“Tough,” he said as he watched the replay. “I got up high right there.”
Dosunmu finished with 15 points and a season-high 14 assists on 6-for-9 shooting. He had two turnovers in 37 minutes.
“He’s not really afraid of the moment,” Donovan said. “And I trust him.”
This is Game No. 52. The Bulls lead the East. And here Donovan is giving the keys to a rookie to make the crucial offensive play.
“We told Ayo, ‘Fake it to DeMar and see if you can’t turn the corner and get some penetration downhill,” Donovan said.
Granted, the Pacers trapped DeRozan consistently in an attempt to get the ball out of his hands. Yes, Zach LaVine sat with a sore back. And despite Nikola Vučević possessing a huge size advantage, Terry Taylor didn’t leave Vučević enough for Dosunmu to have that look.
“Originally when I came out of the timeout, I told Vooch be ready because he had a size advantage,” Dosunmu said. “But Taylor stayed back and I had the lane. So that was my adrenalin. That was just my best play to make.”
Indeed, it was.
Dosunmu has handled everything thrown his way in this most impressive of rookie seasons. With Lonzo Ball sidelined, he has become the starting point guard after playing off the ball the majority of the season.
Over his previous four games, he’s averaging 11.5 points and 10.5 assists. That’s starter-level stuff.
“My confidence is always high,” Dosunmu said.
Donovan first pointed out Dosunmu’s ability to process mistakes and learn from them back in the preseason. Teammates cited Dosunmu’s practice of habitually asking questions, seeking to learn.
So, again, nobody should be surprised that he authored this bounceback performance after what happened in Toronto.
“He doesn’t really lose belief or confidence in himself. He looks at all these experiences as an opportunity to grow,” Donovan said. “And you always feel like he’ll be better the next time out because it’s important to him.”
Dosunmu was better, right to Donovan’s final offensive play call.
“It means a lot. It means the trust he has in me and my abilities,” Dosunmu said. “Coach is hard on me. I tell him every time, ‘I like that.’ that’s the way I want to be coached. That’s the way he coaches. It’s a great relationship in that aspect.”