McDermott thinks Bulls' changes were for the better

Associated press Bulls forward Doug McDermott didn't experience much roster turnover during his first two seasons with the team. Now that the Bulls have eight newcomers,the third-year forward talked about what it's been like with so many new faces.

The Bulls' roster barely changed at all during Doug McDermott's first two seasons in the league.

So when training camp opens with eight new faces on the projected 15-man roster, it feels a little strange. Three of the most important Bulls in recent years -- Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol -- have moved on to new teams.

"Yeah, it's weird. It still doesn't quite feel real," McDermott said Thursday at the Advocate Center. "But I think it's for the better. Not saying anything bad about those guys, obviously they meant a lot to this organization and helped me a lot.

"But I think we just needed a new vibe, and we got it with these guys. I just feel like the vibe is different. It's a much better vibe."

What McDermott was trying to say is the Bulls probably needed some new faces in the locker room after last year's 42-40 campaign.

Veterans Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo have helped set the tone so far in training camp, while newcomer Robin Lopez seems likely to start at center.

McDermott also shared some thoughts on how coach Fred Hoiberg has approached his second season on the job.

"He's been much more demanding on us," McDermott said. "He's been really vocal out there and I've really noticed the difference for sure. Obviously, he's real hard on himself about last year, as we are too, and we don't want that to happen again. So we're going to do everything we can to try to fix it."

During the first three days of Bulls practice, it's all been good news. Hoiberg has talked about what great summers every guy had and praised the newcomers for their vocal leadership. But the coach did talk about making his own adjustments.

"We had a productive summer with everything, with changing some things up, with going back and watching a lot of film," Hoiberg said. "Going back and making corrections to be a more consistent basketball team."

For his part, McDermott spent time this summer trying to correct defensive flaws with assistant coach Jim Boylan. After shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range last season, McDermott expects opponents to try to chase him off the line, so he also worked on finishing at the rim.

He spent a few days with the U.S. Select Team in Las Vegas competing against the Olympians. But the highlight of McDermott's summer might have been his annual visit with teammate Jimmy Butler. They got together in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for about 10 days for some conditioning drills on the sand.

"I had burns on the bottom of my feet because I didn't wear socks when we did those beach workouts," McDermott said. "He was smart enough to bring them and wouldn't give me an extra pair. It was really good. That stuff's good for me. Obviously, any of the lateral quickness stuff I can do can only help me. Jimmy's one of the hardest-working guys I've ever been around."

McDermott said the beach workouts took place after Butler returned from the Olympics, so the focus was more on conditioning than basketball. There's video of McDermott trying to match Butler on lateral slides, with the Pacific Ocean in the background.

"We got kicked off the part of the beach we were on because it was part of a resort," McDermott said. "So we went to a more low-key area. The beach stuff was pretty cool and the pool and obviously he has a pretty nice house where the views are good, so that doesn't hurt either."

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