TORONTO – Coby White wasn’t about to let it go.
Doubling as hype man/proud teammate, the Bulls guard was all in on Patrick Williams scoring just two points in an embarrassing performance against Philadelphia last week, and then afterwards defiantly declaring to the media, “I’ve got game.”
“I had to get that in there because I love that answer,” White said of Williams and his comment. “Just the confidence has never wavered. You can tell the confidence is high no matter what’s going on. Everybody remembers your last game. Everybody sure remembers that he got game.”
They do now, because suddenly Williams does.
Ever since the “I’ve got game” declaration and a demotion to the second unit, Williams looks like a different player. He actually looks like a fourth-overall pick that was just given a five-year, $90 million extension over the summer.
In his last three games, Williams has scored 11 points, 16 and 11, as well as grabbing eight rebounds, seven, and then nine in Friday’s win over the Raptors. This for a guy that was averaging 9.3 points and just 3.9 rebounds as a starter.
More importantly, he’s a total of plus-29 combined in the plus/minus category over the last three games, and the Bulls are 2-1.
“I don’t know what the reason was for him playing like he’s played the last three games coming off the bench,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I really appreciate and admire his unselfishness as it relates to our team. All these guys have egos, and they want to be able to compete, but for him to say, ‘Hey listen, if this is what’s best for the team right now we’ll see how it goes.’
“A lot of guys would pout or maybe be upset or disappointed, and he’s done the opposite. He’s come in and played better, so I give him a lot of credit.”
So what gives, Patrick?
“For one, just trying to look at it as an opportunity,” Williams said. “That second unit needs a little more scoring, they need someone to be a little more on ball, so just trying to fill in that role. Obviously with two all-stars (Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic) in that first unit, that second unit can play a lot faster. Teams don’t really have a game plan for that second unit because we play so fast, so just trying to integrate myself into it, make plays to make those guys better, make our team better.
“That’s kind of how I’ve approached it. A lot more shots in that second unit, a lot more touches, so I looked at it as an opportunity. Show what I can do with the ball in my hands. I think it’s worked.”
It has.
Toronto big man and shot blocker Jakob Poeltl can attest to that.
With just over eight minutes left in the game in Toronto, White and Williams got into a pick-and-roll action, Williams slipped into the roll before the hedge came, caught the perfect pass from White and went right at Poeltl for a nasty one-handed posterized dunk.
The dunk was one thing, the stare down after was another.
Not the usual reaction from the very reserved Williams.
“Just a basketball play,” Williams said when asked about it. “You get dunked on sometimes, you dunk on people sometimes. Part of the game.”
Part of the game that White loves seeing from Williams lately.
“I think it does wonders for his confidence, for his mentals for him to go out there and show everybody he got game,” White said.
So have the Bulls finally unlocked something with Williams in Year 5? That’s the hope. The stare down definitely said something.
“Did I show emotion?” Williams said with a coy smile on his face when asked about the stare down one final time.
When told yes, he paused and said, “Did you all like that?”
His hype-man sure did.