Patrick Williams’ first NBA season was not yet free of newcomers. In fact, he had a handful in the Bulls victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.
It went beyond his stat line: 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2-for-7 goal shooting (0-for-2 of 3). On multiple occasions, Williams especially bypassed or hesitated to attempt immediate shots, especially behind the three-point arc.
“It happened quite the last game. “I thought he had a lot of shots and opportunities to shoot the ball, and I thought he bypassed it,” said head coach Billy Donovan. I think from myself and the rest of the team, we encourage him to (shoot more). Sure, after talking to him after the game and playing against Charlotte with the zone and the way they rotated, and the reading that was there, I think it made him a little indecisive. But there is no doubt that he must be aggressive. ‘
Donovan calls it his responsibility to put the ball in Williams’ hands more often. Williams did not want to give the chance.
“As a player, you want to correct yourself, “he said. But like I said, we have excellent vets. We have good guys in this team, and they always tell me to stay aggressive, to shoot the ball naturally when I’m open. ‘
And why would they not? Although limited (8 shots per game, sixth in the team), Williams shoots 46.7 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent from deep (34 total attempts) through 15 games. This includes 46.4 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s and 47.2 percent on pull-up 2s.
On top of that, he has the potential to deliver strong results, if he puts the ball on the floor in a determined way to attack loose shots:
Note the response of Zach LaVine in the lower right corner of the screen.
“Zach said he believes more in me than I believe in myself, which is sometimes true,” Williams said. “He just told me to just keep shooting the ball, to stay offensive and defensively confident, to make plays that the team knows I can make. Like I said, as a player you always want yourself ‘
Williams has talked in the past about the length and speed of NBA defenders in need of urgency as a shooter, and teammates like Garrett Temple advising him to kick the ‘rhythm dribble’ he often takes in front of jumpers. The adjustments were, as Donovan noted, read rapidly evolving defenses.
Williams has also been flashed for three trips and four offensive offenses this season. His only turnover of the night in Saturday’s loss to the Lakers, came a little out of bounds when he tried to scramble a late game from Marc Gasol.
“Talso to the other thing he was working on, because guys are starting to fly at him, because he shot the ball pretty well in the early part of the season … If he puts the ball on the floor, he has to eliminate the trip. “Donovan said.” He tends to shuffle his feet a bit, and that’s something we need to work on. But he must be decisive in shooting, driving or driving. ‘
Nobody sounds alarms here. As a 19-year-old who has an unprecedented whirlwind rookie season, Williams has impressed and fitted seamlessly into the Bulls series each time, starting every game in which he appeared.
Although the Lakers game also started in a rough way – he scored 2 points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half – Williams scored 11 points (4-for-5 FG, 2-for-3 3P ) in the final. two quarters. Garbage time or no, such a stretch can be a boost.
And with the encouragement of his teammates and the coaching staff, he is committed to smoothing out the twists and turns.
“We have a long season to go, so I definitely need to get better at it,” Williams said of his occasional hesitation shots. “And (I) will continue to get better at it.”
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