Coby White isn’t sneaking up on anybody anymore.
The Bulls guard doesn’t need his coach to remind him of that. He’s been seeing it every game recently, drawing the likes of a Jimmy Butler on defense, and having opposing defenses run blitzes and double-teams at him on a much more frequent basis.
But don’t look now, the evolution of White adjusting to that is already underway.
That’s why Billy Donovan is excited about where White is. The guard is no longer playing checkers, he’s playing chess, and he’s seeing the board two moves ahead.
“He’s been guarded by a lot of different really good defenders, but I think the one thing that Coby has been able to do besides the scoring piece is he’s been able to play for his teammates, getting into the paint, doing other things, and maybe figuring out how he’s being guarded, how the game is going, and where he can kind of inject himself,” Donovan said. “When a guy like Coby has played consistently for a period of time at the level he’s played at there are going to be teams that are going to try and stop him and do different things to him.”
And that’s what’s made White special so far this season.
Yes, his scoring is up almost double from last season, but what’s really taken off is his understanding of what impacts winning. He’s not only scoring the basketball at a high clip, but his rebounds, assists and steals are also up.
That’s why Donovan wasn’t very concerned with how teams are adjusting to him.
“I really respect the way in two games – the San Antonio game and the (Dec. 16 game against the Heat) – he was 0-for-4 in a game and came back and responded (with 22 points). The game is long, you’ve gotta stay with it, and he’s already proven that if he doesn’t have a big-scoring first half, he’s more than capable of scoring in the second half.
“It’s just a matter of him making the right plays, and I think he’s tried to do that.”
What works in White’s favor is also his mentality. He rarely talks about himself or is looking to promote himself. Many of his media sessions lately turn into excitement about what his teammates are doing.
“I just go out there and try and hoop,” White said. “Whatever that adds up to or consists of after the game, I might check the stat line and that will be that. It’s did we win and how did we play? That’s what matters.”
The “O” in Torrey
The Torrey Craig plantar fasciitis injury does put a dent in the defense and three-point shooting, but where it might impact the most is in offensive rebounding.
Craig was averaging 1.9 offensive rebounds per game but doing so in about 21 minutes per contest. Offensive rebounding was a focus in the offseason and training camp, and Craig was delivering before he went down.
“Torrey is great at it,” Donovan said. “I don’t know if you have him out of the rotation if there’s necessarily one person that can make up for what he does do. Even the game in Miami (last week), I think he only played 13 minutes and he still had two offensive rebounds. We still have to have a mentality to keep going to the backboard and continue to rebound with the guys we’re sending. We’ve got to make that effort.”
Surprise number
The Bulls players with the second best plus/minus so far this season? Second-year guard Dalen Terry. Terry entered the game with the Cavs a plus-17. Patrick Williams led the team with a plus-55.