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DEERFIELD, ILL.—Coming off a national championship at the University of Kentucky in April, then slipping to the 29th pick in June’s NBA Draft and having an uneven NBA summer league in July, Bulls rookie point guard Marquis Teague has been on a bit of a roller-coaster ride over the past few months.
Still just 19 years old, the Indianapolis native was perhaps a bit humbled by his up-and-down experience in Las Vegas and set out to improve his game by reporting to the Berto Center earlier than many of his teammates for intense instruction by the Bulls’ coaching staff.
While that doesn’t guarantee him minutes—even with All-Star point guard Derrick Rose currently sidelined, Teague is still behind free-agent acquisition Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson on the depth chart—it at least ensured that he wouldn’t be too far behind schedule when training camp opened this week, though there’s no substitute for experience.
“It’s been good. It’s been real competitive. Everybody’s just trying to get ready, going hard,” Teague told CSNChicago.com. “Coming up here earlier got me adjusted for pretty much everything we’re doing right now. I’ve been doing the training, drills and all that all summer, so I’m used to it.
“Just communicating. You’ve got to know where everybody is on the floor,” continued the younger brother of Atlanta Hawks starting point guard Jeff Teague, when asked about the biggest difference from the college level to the NBA. “You’re the point guard, coach on the floor, so just know where you’re supposed to be and know where everybody else is supposed to be.”
While Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is encouraged by Teague’s development, he didn’t completely rule out sending the youngster to the organization’s D-League affiliate, the Iowa Energy, to get him playing time if the opportunity doesn’t present itself during the regular season.
“Well, he’s a lot better now than he was in the summer. He’s 19 years old, he’s learning the league, learning a new system, learning his teammates. I just want him to concentrate on his improvement each and every day, learn how to be a pro, and we’ll see how where we go from there,” said Thibodeau.
“We’ll see. I like having him here. If it’s a situation where we want to get some playing time for him, we may use it. We may not. We’ll see how it goes. Right now, him learning our system and learning his teammates, I think it’s a lot better for him to be here, but we’ll see how the season unfolds.”
Still just 19 years old, the Indianapolis native was perhaps a bit humbled by his up-and-down experience in Las Vegas and set out to improve his game by reporting to the Berto Center earlier than many of his teammates for intense instruction by the Bulls’ coaching staff.
While that doesn’t guarantee him minutes—even with All-Star point guard Derrick Rose currently sidelined, Teague is still behind free-agent acquisition Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson on the depth chart—it at least ensured that he wouldn’t be too far behind schedule when training camp opened this week, though there’s no substitute for experience.
“It’s been good. It’s been real competitive. Everybody’s just trying to get ready, going hard,” Teague told CSNChicago.com. “Coming up here earlier got me adjusted for pretty much everything we’re doing right now. I’ve been doing the training, drills and all that all summer, so I’m used to it.
“Just communicating. You’ve got to know where everybody is on the floor,” continued the younger brother of Atlanta Hawks starting point guard Jeff Teague, when asked about the biggest difference from the college level to the NBA. “You’re the point guard, coach on the floor, so just know where you’re supposed to be and know where everybody else is supposed to be.”
While Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is encouraged by Teague’s development, he didn’t completely rule out sending the youngster to the organization’s D-League affiliate, the Iowa Energy, to get him playing time if the opportunity doesn’t present itself during the regular season.
“Well, he’s a lot better now than he was in the summer. He’s 19 years old, he’s learning the league, learning a new system, learning his teammates. I just want him to concentrate on his improvement each and every day, learn how to be a pro, and we’ll see how where we go from there,” said Thibodeau.
“We’ll see. I like having him here. If it’s a situation where we want to get some playing time for him, we may use it. We may not. We’ll see how it goes. Right now, him learning our system and learning his teammates, I think it’s a lot better for him to be here, but we’ll see how the season unfolds.”