MILWAUKEE — It wasn’t forward Patrick Williams pointing a finger as much as just trying to make a point.
In discussing his consistent play recently, Williams told the Sun-Times, “What I know is you can never compare your journey to someone else’s. I mean, I came to the Bulls, and we were trying to win right off the bat, so development was never a priority.”
That statement could be taken a couple of different ways.
It helped that Williams went on to say, “We were trying to win, and that’s 100% of what I wanted to do.”
Coach Billy Donovan wasn’t about to hold it against Williams either way, but that doesn’t mean he was going to just let the comment go unchecked, either.
“I think part of the development is teaching guys what goes into winning and how to win, and I think for a guy that came in as maybe one of the youngest players in the league … it goes all the way back [to Williams’ rookie year], and this is not to embarrass Patrick, but when it’s an hour and 15 minutes or an hour before the game, and I’m writing stuff on the board, and this guy has two huge pieces of chicken cutlet parmesan sitting on his plate, it’s probably not a good thing to eat,” Donovan said.
“But there are things he’s got to understand that’s going into it, that’s what you want to do, be a winning player. I actually think it was good for him that he got thrusted into that situation.”
But that also led to some serious growing pains for Williams, especially offensively. It hasn’t been Williams’ inability to score as much as his unwillingness to overcome a veteran presence and be aggressive enough to take shots.
Donovan didn’t hide from that point, but in his estimation, Williams might not have learned as much if he was thrown onto a roster with a bunch of young players and allowed to develop that way.
“There are situations where it can be, ‘Hey, we’re just going to give you a bunch of minutes and you just grow, take your shots and figure out your game,’ ” Donovan said. “I think guys lose the perspective of, ‘What are the things I’ve got to do as a player to impact winning?’
“He probably as a rookie didn’t get the opportunity offensively to do that as much, but I do think that what he was thrusted into can help him going forward.’’
No Caruso
Alex Caruso (left ankle) gave it a go in warmups before the game Monday night against the Bucks, but the ankle did not respond well enough for him to play.
It wasn’t all bad news, however. The fact that he did go through warmups to test it was a small victory for the team.
“We didn’t feel like it was going to be anything significantly long for him, but he’s obviously still dealing with it,” Donovan said. “The fact that he was trying to go [through warmups] is a positive sign.”
The Bulls host Denver on Tuesday, and Caruso will test it again.
Common cause
There are numerous thoughts as to why the Bulls have played better with Zach LaVine (right foot) sidelined, but Coby White had his own take.
“We’re all just in it together,” said White, who has scored at least 23 points in four of the last five games. “Obviously, Zach is a hell of a player, and you can’t replace him, so we’re just trying to do it by committee. Everybody is locked in right now.”
