A promising rookie is signaling his rise in the league in the Chicago Bulls squad. In just 7 games in February, 20-year-old Coby White is averaging 17.7 points, 4.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds every game, while shooting 35.7% from the 3 point mark, with an average of 8 attempts per game, a silver lining for the future of the Bulls.
The 20-year-old has already accomplished in the league what no rookie has ever done- consecutive career-high 33-point games, all on cumulative 55% field goal shooting. The Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen has been ecstatic with the youngster’s growth on aggressive gameplay.
“I think he's been aggressive in transition, I think his finishing has been terrific, he's had the ball up and out, he's got it out of his stomach, something he's working on,” said Boylen. “I think his work pre-practice, post-practice is paying off.”
Boylen stated that White’s defence in the game is also set to improve and shared the efforts being put in to achieve so.
“We make a defensive [film] edit on Coby after every game. And he and I watch it together… [Early this season] he had, of his 14 plays on the tape, you know, seven of them were good and seven of them were bad. Now it's like 10 are good and four are bad. He's climbing in that way.
“What he's finding out is: If you get into the game defensively and you follow your assignment and all that, good things happen for you at the other end. It just does. And I think he's locked in that way.”
White is the epitome of what one would refer to as the versatile player that acts with discretion on the court to turn the tables, all of which coalesce to making him an outstanding overall player. Though he may require work on his defence, his performance is set on a steep rise.
“It feels good,” White said of his recent shooting spree. “But I think now I look at the game differently than I did at the beginning of the year. Now, I just look at the games like I'm gonna go in and play hard on both ends of the court, that's all I'm gonna do. And then control what I can control — I can't control whether I miss or make shots, so. I'm just going out there and playing hard.”
Coach Boylen is reportedly coaxing the point guard to improve his defensive game.
“Coach Boylen was preaching to me, you gotta play defence, so I took it as a challenge. And I feel like I'm continuing to get better at it. I still can get better at it,” White said. “But he pushes me, he pushes me to be a good player, so I can't knock him for that and that's the type of coach I want.”
Coby White is the glimmer of hope the Bulls’ fans need, and their reason to stay tuned to the game for the remaining season.
