Thankfully for Coby White, his teammates played better defense sticking up for him than White did Monday night in a brutal loss to the lowly Washington Wizards.
Shorthanded or not, the Bulls lost to a Wizards team that was finishing a back-to-back, playing without Russell Westbrook and entered as one of the worst defensive teams in the league.
When Raul Neto scored two easy layups in the first 1 minute, 32 seconds of the second half, coach Billy Donovan pulled the plug. Out came White, who failed to score in the first half, missing all five shots. In came Tomáš Satoranský, who said he’s feeling 100 percent following his bout with COVID-19.
“I gave up two layups, so I wasn’t expecting to stay in,” White said.
To White’s credit, he rallied to finish with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and just one turnover in his 30 minutes, sinking a huge, 8-foot jumper with 29.2 seconds to play on a nifty out-of-bounds play from Donovan. The shot pulled the Bulls within one and left enough time for them to regain possession.
But White shot 3-for-10, missed all four 3-pointers and struggled too often defensively on another inconsistent night.
“Last year I went through the same thing, up and downs shooting the ball,” said White, who is now at 40 percent from the field. “Just try to stay consistent, getting up more shots in the gym.”
Donovan has consistently stated he’s going to stick with White, who is in his first season as a full-time starter and playing on the ball more than he did last season. But with the number of possessions where Zach LaVine is playing point guard growing and Satoranský playing strong of late — including 9 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists on Monday — more quick hooks could be in White’s future.
“Everybody has bad games and has low points. I think Coby, his effort, first off, is always there. He’s always upbeat and looking to help guys out even if he’s not having the best shooting night or best game,” LaVine said. “So help him find some easy ones, get him in a rhythm. And once he gets into a rhythm, I think it’s going to take off from there.”
Satoranský, while acknowledging White’s inconsistent play, had his teammate’s back, too.
“I think this is the toughest transition for someone coming from college and being at the point guard position. I can say that from my own experience, and I was 25 years old when I came to the States and tried to be a point guard of an NBA team,” Satoranský said. “I think his aggressiveness is the best we can get from him, of him really playing in a rhythm. Sometimes he’s trying from that point guard position to be a facilitator a lot. And I always tell him, when he’s aggressive, he’s the best Coby I know. And I think that’s the best for the team.”
This is the price the Bulls are paying by trying to force feed White at the point guard position. Too often, he seems to defer, trying to get his five-man unit playing in rhythm. He hasn’t posted a 20-point game since Jan. 30 and only has one 30-point game after registering three straight off the bench down the stretch of last season.
“He’s got to play the game,” Donovan said. “Just to start hunting shots, he’s going to have to play the game… He didn’t get a lot of shots, but I think he stayed pretty aggressive. I thought he tried to play downhill early. He didn’t really try to leave his feet early in terms of finishing at the rim. But I’ve always told him: Stay aggressive.
“We’re relying on him to run the team and get us in and out of offenses and I’ve seen a lot of growth in that from him. But I just think the shooting piece of it, it’s got to be: Is it benefitting and helping the team in terms of are people involved?”
Speaking of questions, did we mention White’s teammates defended and supported him?
“It’s tough on him, for sure. There’s big pressure. But he’s up to that pressure,” Satoranský said. “He’s been an unbelievable learner and he’s been doing everything right in practices and doing all the hard work. So I have confidence in him.”
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