Luckily for Coby White, his teammates had a better defense for him than White did Monday night in a brutal loss to the humble Washington Wizards.
Shorted or not, the Bulls lost to a Wizards team that completed a rugby game, played 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 from the second half, coach Billy Donovan pulled the baton. White failed to score in the first half, missing all five shots. Tomáš Satoranský came in, saying he felt 100% after his attack with COVID-19.
“I gave up two layoffs, so I did not expect to stay in,” White said.
In honor of White, he finished with his 8 minutes, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and just one turnover in his 30 minutes, and he sank a big 8-foot jumper with 29.2 seconds to get on a clever play outside Donovan to play. . The shot pulled the Bulls within one and left enough time for them to regain possession.
But White shot 3-for-10, missing all four of the three points and struggling too often defensively on another conflicting night.
““Last year I went through the same thing, up and down, to shoot the ball,” said White, who is now at 40 percent off the field. “Just try to stay consistent and get more shots in the gym. ‘
Donovan has consistently said he will stick with White, who is in his first season as a full-time starter and plays more on the ball than last season. But with the number of possessions Zach LaVine has been playing catcher and Satoranský has been playing strong lately – including 9 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists – there could be more quick brackets in White’s future.
“Everyone has bad games and has low points. I think Coby, his first attempt, is always there. He’s always upbeat and wants to help guys, even if he does not have the best shooting night or the best game,” LaVine said. “So help him find easy problems, get him in a rhythm. And once he gets into a rhythm, I think it’s going to rise from there.”
Satoranský, although acknowledging White’s contradictory play, also had his teammate’s back.
“I think this is the most difficult transition for someone who comes from university and is at the point guard. I can say this from my own experience, and I was 25 years old when I came to the United States and tried a to be a point guard for an NBA team, ‘ Satoranský said. “I think his aggression is the best we can get from him, that he really plays in a rhythm. Sometimes he tries a lot from that point on to be a facilitator. And I always tell him, if 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 White at the point guard. He seems to procrastinate too often and try to get his five-man unit to play in rhythm. He has not posted a 20-point game since January 30 and has only played one 30-point game after registering three straight off the bench in the previous season.
“He needs to play the game,” Donovan said. “Just to start hunting shots, he’s going to have to play the game … He did not get many shots, but I think he remained quite aggressive. I thought he tried to play downhill early. He did not really try to his feet too late in terms of finishing at the edge, but I always told him: stay aggressive.
“We rely on him to manage the team and get us in and out of the offenses, and I saw a lot of growth in that. But I just think the piece of it, it has to be: Are people involved and help the team in terms of? ‘
Speaking of questions, did we mention that White’s teammates defended and supported him?
“It’s definitely hard for him. There is a lot of pressure. But he’s under that pressure, ‘ Satoranský said. “He was an amazing learner and did everything right in exercises and did all the hard work. So I have confidence in him. ”
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