SAN FRANCISCO – Trust is everything for Rob Dillingham.
It was crushed and then eventually lost in Minnesota by the time the second-year guard was traded last month, and it’s being slowly rebuilt in his new stomping grounds.
But as Dillingham is learning, it’s a two-way street with Billy Donovan.
The coach played him 20-plus minutes in the 130-124 overtime win over the Warriors on Tuesday but also knew in crunch time the moment was still too big for him. That’s why Dillingham was on the bench late in the fourth and into the extra stanza.
The two players that didn’t leave the floor for the Bulls (27-38)? Matas Buzelis, who scored a career-high 41 points, and Mr. Triple-Double himself, Josh Giddey. All the point guard did was mess around and get his 10th triple-double of the season, scoring 21 points, with 17 assists and 13 rebounds.
As for Dillingham, he’s hoping his time will come.
“That’s me as a person. I’m a trust person,” Dillingham explained. “If I’ve got your word, you got my word, and that’s how I look at it. When it comes to basketball you feel more comfortable, you feel more confident in what you do if you know your coach or your team is going to live with your mistakes and with your wins. But when it’s the other way around it gets to that, ‘Oh, if I mess up … ‘ Playing that way, no one can. The best players don’t play that way. That’s what makes the difference between being an amazing player and just being a player in the NBA.”
Very fair, but Donovan’s job is first trying to get Dillingham to be an NBA player. “Amazing” is still far down the road. What has complicated his progression, and him getting more minutes, is he’s been dealing with a cyst in right wrist that’s messed with his shot, and he also has to get out of some bad habits that have left his decision making questionable at best in some instances.
“I think the biggest challenge he has and we’ve talked about is I think he identified himself in high school, in college as a scorer. That’s what he did. Just put the ball in my hands and go score,” Donovan said. “Well, when you have Anthony Edwards and (Rudy) Gobert and Julius Randle, as a rookie (for the Timberwolves), second-year player, you’re probably not going to do that to the level of those guys, right? I’ve told him he’s got to develop into a point guard where he finds that balance between himself and his teammates.
“I don’t want him to be a traffic cop. What he does is get into the lane, he can put it on the floor. He does hold onto it a little too long, the decision making, but I think he – and a lot of players go through this – they get to this level for a reason but they are unable to get to that other level because it’s going to require some level of mentality and change in his game.”
Which Dillingham isn’t opposed to. He just feels that playing time and repetition will move that process along. He did score only five points against Golden State on a shaky shooting night (2-of-11), but he had four assists, three rebounds and just one turnover.
While Donovan is giving him more minutes than he’s gotten since being drafted No. 8 overall, he’s also had two games in the last several weeks in which he got single-digit minutes.
The positive part in all of this is player and coach are on the same page when it comes to communicating everything. Dillingham has made sure of that.
“He and I talk a lot,” Donovan said. “And I would say this about him which I really respect and admire, he’s always reaching out, wanting to talk, wanting to communicate.”
With good reason. Dillingham didn’t feel like there was much communication going on with Minnesota, so he doesn’t want that repeated.
“That communication piece with (Donovan) telling me what I need to do and how I can get better at it, what I can be the best at, it’s easier for me because I’m a communication person,” Dillingham said. “When I know what you need from me it’s easier for me to go out there and perform, and then at that point it’s on me. If I’m not doing the right things at least he told me and communicated that. That’s why communication is key.”
