Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer looking to use criticism for motivation – NBA Update
Chicago Bulls star Carlos Boozer has said that criticism coming his way hasn’t slowed him down at all before the start of the season. In fact, Boozer is confident he can use it as extra motivation for performing better next season.
"Criticism is all in how you take it," Boozer said Wednesday afternoon. "At the end of the day, some people take criticism the wrong way. I take it as motivation. Criticism motivates you. That's the way I've been my whole career.
And I'm very motivated , to say the least."
The Bulls power forward had been subjected to some serious vitriol the past summer after he was perceived to have failed to live up to expectations in his first season with the franchise. There have been voices calling for Boozer
to be traded while many others want him out altogether through the amnesty clause.
The player though isn’t too fussed about it. He has been in the game a long time and knows not to let such things affect him. In fact, he is just using it all to fuel his own fire.
Boozer signed a mega contract last summer with the Chicago Bulls, worth $80 million over 5 years. He didn’t get off to a great start because injury forced him to sit out a month. When he did return, he posted reasonable numbers
at 17.5 points per game and 9.6 rebounds.
That average though dropped in the playoffs to just 12.6 points per game amid concerns over a turf foot. The fans though didn’t see the injury and only saw that Boozer was letting them down when push really came to shove.
Carlos knows he wasn’t at his best because of injury, but he also knows he did some things wrong. The forward says he has taken the extra time off due to the lockout to work on some of the issues he faced last season.
"I was able to look at some of the things I didn't do well and go in the gym and work on them and be better for this year," Boozer said in a chat with ESPN. "I'll leave it broad like that. This year I want to play better 'D,' be
more efficient offensively, be a better leader, a better teammate and do whatever it takes for our team to win."
If the Chicago Bulls are to be successful, Boozer really has to all the things he just mentioned. The Bulls are a defensive team built around the spectacular offensive ability of point guard Derrick Rose. Boozer was supposed to
be the second wave of their attack, but his weak showing in the playoffs left Chicago embarrassingly short of options at the front.
If he can get his act together next season, the Bulls could mount a pretty serious challenge for the NBA World Championship.
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