Bulls' Doug McDermott Finds Rhythm, Buries Raptors

By Cody Westerlund--

CHICAGO (CBS) – After submitting what he thought was perhaps the worst game of his career Thursday in a road loss to the Cavaliers, Bulls second-year wing Doug McDermott was approached for a chat by coach Fred Hoiberg on Friday after a film session ahead of the evening's home contest against the Raptors.

The meeting was short as they come, 25 or 30 seconds by McDermott's estimation, and it was a reminder more than anything.

"Just told him how much I believe in him and how much we need him out there and to step up and shoot those shots with confidence," Hoiberg said a night after McDermott was 1-of-6 from the field.

Come the evening, McDermott reminded everyone why he's important for a struggling Bulls team and why management traded two first-round picks (and shuffled three second-rounders too) to acquire him 11th overall in the 2014 draft. Rescuing a Bulls squad that entered the night losers of five straight, McDermott scored a career-high 30 points on ridiculous 13-of-17 shooting to lead Chicago to a 116-106 win.

McDermott rained in shots from deep, going 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He buried mid-range jump shots. He had an authoritative dunk.

His play was the biggest reason the Bulls rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit, as he scored 20 points in the second half.

"I felt it was very needed," McDermott said of his quick chat with Hoiberg. "Obviously, coach showing he has confidence in you means a lot as a player. That just shows the kind of coach he is.

"He has a way of getting his point across really fast, which a lot of us like."

McDermott and Hoiberg have a close relationship. They have shared Ames, Iowa roots. They didn't cross paths much there – after working in the Timberwolves front office, Hoiberg actually took over as Iowa State coach in spring 2010 after McDermott's father, Greg, left that post and as McDermott was graduating Ames High School – but their sensibilities are much alike.

"We'll have to check if he had a 30-point game, but I don't think he did," McDermott quipped of Hoiberg's 10-year NBA playing career.

McDermott's profile as a player is similar to that of Hoiberg in his younger days, as they're both sharpshooters. More to the goal at hand of winning basketball games, Hoiberg knows the importance of having a floor spacer and dead-eye shooter in the read-based, up-tempo, analytic-heavy offensive system that he'd like to run.

McDermott knows too and views this as his responsibility. After a tough January in which he shot just 38 percent, McDermott's averaging 13.1 points on nearly 52 percent shooting this month. For the season, McDermott's averaging 8.6 points and shooting 43 percent on 3-pointers.

"I'm my biggest critic, and I'm really hard on myself," McDermott said. "Sometimes that carries over to games. I can't allow that to happen.

"I don't really feel the pressure too much. I feel like I'm playing fine. I just got to keep building on it."

It wasn't a coincidence that McDermott and Derrick Rose (26 points) both shone Friday night. There was a symbiotic relationship between Rose's probing of the defense and McDermott stretching the floor and both finishing their chances off that.

On a late hoop that gave the Bulls a 112-106 lead with just more than a minute left, Rose hit a right wing jumper as the Raptors' nearest help defender stood statue-like, not wanting to leave McDermott in the near corner.

"Doug, he's so antsy sometimes," Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. "He can really score in all kinds of different fashions. He rushes it sometimes. We just got to keep talking to him.

"He's slowly adjusting."

Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.