There’s a reason that Patrick Williams did not sound overly concerned about his sore left foot.
That’s because the Bulls forward said he very clearly remembered the pain he experienced with the injury last year before he underwent season-ending surgery, and what he’s dealing with now, well, “Not even close.”
“I couldn’t even really push off of it (last year),” Williams said on Friday. “Every step, every run was tough before the surgery. That’s kind of why I’m not worried too, because I remember what it felt like. It’s not even close to that.”
Evident by the fact that Williams sounded like a guy that wanted to suit up against the Hawks.
Instead, he missed his second consecutive game with what is being described as inflammation in the foot.
“I’m not really concerned,” Williams continued. “Obviously with this type of stuff just leaning on the doctors, obviously our training staff, the team I worked with back home over the summer. Nobody seems to be worried. It’s kind of a thing that happens post-surgery. First year after surgery is always the toughest. Try and work through different things.
“I think it’s an accumulation of minutes overall. It wasn’t a specific play or anything like that.”
The frustration with the latest setback for the former first-round pick is there is no real timetable for a return being put out there.
Until the inflammation and discomfort subside no one can really say when Williams will return.
“Until it gets calmed down, he’ll get a return to play, return to the court,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I just don’t know how long that will take. They didn’t think it would be too long, but like I mentioned (Wednesday), he’s definitely going to be out these (back-to-back) games (over the weekend). The biggest thing is he still has some soreness there, some discomfort there, so I think the doctor really wants to see that calm down and then get him on the court, back up.”
Torrey Craig started in Williams’ starting spot against the Bucks on Wednesday because of Milwaukee’s size in the frontcourt. On Friday, it was Ayo Dosunmu getting the nod because of Atlanta’s smaller lineup.
Expect that forward-by-committee to continue until a return is ready.
But the other unknown is will Williams have to go with a minutes restriction when he does come back since the setback with the foot was a result of a heavy workload?
“Once it settles down and he gets back, does this reoccur, does it not reoccur, is he totally fine?” Donovan said. “I don’t know, nobody knows. It wasn’t a situation where we’ve got to shut this guy down for a couple months or we’ve got to do something to the foot. None of that has been mentioned.”
Questionable
The biggest improvement rookie Matas Buzelis has made the last few weeks, according to Donovan?
The kid is no longer shy about asking questions.
“I think sometimes he needs to understand, as a young player, it’s okay to ask questions,” the coach said. “It’s okay not to get it the first time. What’s not okay is to be unsure, go out there and then not execute.”
With Williams sidelined for now, Buzelis was expected to see an uptick in playing time, especially when the matchup is right.