Bulls coach Billy Donovan with only fond memories of Bobby Knight

DALLAS – Billy Donovan was an assistant coach at Kentucky when the Wildcats would have their annual run-in with Bobby Knight’s Hoosier teams.

“It was always hard guarding all that motion stuff when they ran it because there was really no way to scout it,’’ the Bulls coach recalled on Wednesday. “I think that’s where he probably branded what Indiana basketball was, was all that motion offense and the way they played the game. They were probably one of the first to do it, and he was obviously great at teaching it because a lot of teams couldn’t play that way.’’

That was the Xs and Os that Donovan wanted to share about Knight, who died at the age of 83.

It was their off-the-court time together, however, that Donovan really appreciated about the coaching legend. Knight was working for ESPN, and that’s when the two were able to get to know each other.

“For two years there, he had a lot of SEC games, so we got a chance to spend time like at shootarounds and after games, things like that,’’ Donovan said. “So I always really enjoyed him and got to spend some quality time with him.

“His program was filled with discipline. It was very, very demanding, but really got the most out of his guys, graduated players. I think some of the things that happened were obviously unfortunate for him because it kind of took away from his greatness as a coach. My time with him was always really, really positive, really good.’’

Brotherly love

Patrick Williams couldn’t have asked for a worse start to the regular season.

He was averaging a career-low five points and 3.3 rebounds per game, and doing so on just 33.3% from the field and a dismal 18.2% from three-point range. And yes, all happening in a contract year for the former No. 4 overall pick of the 2020 draft.

Going into the game with the Mavericks, however, teammate DeMar DeRozan remained not only in the big-brother role for Williams, but his biggest advocate.

“What have we got, 78 more games?’’ DeRozan said when asked about Williams’ start. “He’s fine, he’s going to be alright. We’re all going to have that slump, a couple games here and there where everything feels like it’s terrible. He’ll be fine. We’re all struggling of some sort, whether it’s making shots, not executing as close to 48 minutes as possible. It’s a learning process for us all.’’

DeRozan said he’s spoken to Williams often about the mentality of a contract year – coincidentally the same situation DeRozan is again in – and gave him simple advice.

“I always tell guys that you can’t carry a contract on your mental,’’ DeRozan said. “That will put extra stress on you. You can’t feed into what people say about contracts, family or friends asking about contracts. All you’ve got to do is control what you can control. I always tell him, ‘Don’t worry about that. It will take care of itself when it’s time.’ ‘’

Playoff atmosphere?

The Bulls will host Brooklyn on Friday, kicking off the team’s first in-season tournament game. And while Donovan said he was anxious to see how the entire debut of the idea will play out, he was hoping his players would approach it like an early-season playoff game.

While the coach would not show his hand as far as treating it differently from a rotation standpoint, he did say that he expects the intensity to pick up.