Bulls' Williams still learning the NBA ropes
Since coming back from his wrist injury, Bulls forward Patrick Williams has spoken a couple of times about how he regrets playing at the start of the season because his preseason ankle injury was still bothering him.
Williams injured his wrist in the fifth game, so who knows what would have happened had he been sitting out when that game happened. Now coming off his best performance of the season Thursday against the Clippers, coach Billy Donovan talked about not losing sight of the fact Williams still has plenty to learn about adult life and the NBA.
"As much as people want to look at maybe where he was picked and what he looks like physically, he's still 20 years old," Donovan said. "There's a lot in front of him. I think the guys on the team have done a good job helping him. He's not afraid to ask questions now, maybe more now than he did earlier in his career. But this is all part of his growth and he'll get better from it and learn from it."
Williams admitted to reporters he arrived late to Thursday's shootaround. Donovan talked about some of the things that needed emphasis last season.
"The first week he said, 'Why do I have to go into the training room?'" Donovan said. "I said, 'Well, they're basically taking care of your body. You need to do that every day.'
"'But I feel OK.' There's a maintenance process you have to go through. 'Why do I have to do this in the weight room?'
"He didn't understand the importance of eating breakfast. I saw him last year pregame he had like two huge pieces of chicken parmesan pasta and we're playing in like an hour and 15 minutes. I went like, 'Patrick, you cannot eat that.' It's not to embarrass him, it's just that he doesn't know."
Donovan said he went through the same things during his brief stay in the NBA. After taking the bus to the airport during four years of college, he had to figure out how to get there on his own.
"The only way you can go through those things is to communicate and say sometimes, 'I don't know,'" Donovan said. "He's probably learned some lessons."
Baby steps for Ball:
The Bulls continue to see how injured guard Lonzo Ball responds after a 10-day break from running. But it's too soon to say if he will be able to play again this season after arthroscopic knee surgery.
"It's probably not going to be till early next week until they really start figuring it out," coach Billy Donovan said. "There's going to be a period of time that they have to build him back up and they're not at that point yet. In my conversations with medical, they thought by Tuesday, Wednesday, we'll have a much clearer picture of where he's physically at."
Repeat title recalled:
Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of Florida's 84-75 victory over Ohio State to win their second consecutive NCAA title. Of course, the game featured future Bulls coach Billy Donovan, first-round pick Joakim Noah and two other future Bulls, Chris Richard and Daequan Cook.
One Florida player who started that game, Taurean Green, has worked as a Bulls player development coach this season. Donovan said Green will be taking on a similar role at Florida when the NBA season ends.
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