Message received: Williams taking Bulls' teammates advice to shoot more
Television viewers got some insight into the life of Patrick Williams, a young player trying to reach his potential with the Bulls.
Late in the third quarter in Orlando on Saturday, Zach LaVine drove into the lane, dished a pass out to Williams in the corner, then watched in dismay as Williams kept the ball moving and found an open Nikola Vucevic on the wing.
LaVine happened to be standing near a microphone, so everyone could hear LaVine shout, 'Oh my God, Pat,' when his teammate made a pass instead of taking the shot. Williams heard it as well.
"It was hard not to," he said with a laugh. "It's always good that you have teammates like that, that want to see you win, that want to see you shoot the ball."
That's kind of the way it's been for Williams during his three years with the Bulls. The 6-7 forward has plenty of confidence, but sometimes it seems like his teammates believe in his talent more than Williams himself.
In this case, Williams made a solid choice, because Vucevic buried the open 3-point shot.
"Luckily Vuc made it because if he didn't, Zach would have had a problem," Williams joked. "I could have shot it, but I saw Vuc. We've been trying to focus more on getting downhill. I think we're a really good team when whoever gets downhill and kicks out, because we have a really good shooting team."
Williams is having one of the best stretches of his career, scoring in double figures in six of the last seven games. On the season, he's been the Bulls' best 3-point shooter at 41.2 percent.
Asked if he'd like to see Williams shoot more 3-pointers, coach Billy Donovan had a different skill in mind.
"I think what Patrick can actually do for our team is generate more catch-and-shoot opportunities for others by driving more," Donovan said Monday at the Advocate Center. "I think that could help us. Yes, we want him shooting when he's open.
"But there's opportunities where he drives it and takes one or two dribbles and he takes that pull-up jump shot that he's good at. I also think there's times when he can get a little bit deeper to the rim. I think that would help us too."
The notoriously low-key Williams had another breakthrough in Orlando. After a second-half dunk, he kept his right arm in the air as he turned upcourt. It wasn't much, but by Williams' standards, it counted as a celebration.
"DT (Dalen Terry) and DeMar (DeRozan) have been on me about not doing nothing, but I'm really not a celebration type of guy," Williams said. "It just doesn't come natural to me.
"But that one did. I don't know why. That one just came natural. It felt a little awkward doing it, I'm not sure how it looked, but it felt awkward. Probably won't do nothing else again, just because it didn't feel natural."
During the Bulls' three-game road trip, Williams also visited his hometown of Charlotte, and had his jersey retired at West Charlotte High School.
Getting to spend two days in his hometown gave Williams a new appreciation for his basketball journey.
"I drove by that arena each and every day, so being able to actually play in that arena and my friends and family come to the game," he said. "I'm in the game and I hear people call my name. I turn and look and it's somebody I played basketball with when I was like fifth and sixth grade.
"Seeing those people again, living those memories again, it's always good, and it's always a little bit heartwarming to come back and kind of see the love that you get from the people that you didn't know you meant so much to. For me, I never take that for granted."
Williams has it all - teammates who want him to succeed, old friends who come out to watch him play. Just don't pass up any more open jumpers.
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