Bulls plan to keep high-scoring Blakeney in NBA rotation
Antonio Blakeney will never surprise himself with scoring.
He scored a combined 79 points in his two appearances with the Windy City Bulls, then came through with 16 points in his first extended regular-season action with the Bulls against Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
He expects to score, and has the track record to back it up.
Three years ago, he scored 65 points in the first game of his senior high school season, leading Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge to a 1-point win over Liberty Christian Prep. Blakeney scored so frequently that night, he was originally credited with 63 points, before the total was changed to 65 after a review of the tape.
"I don't know if you've followed me in high school, AAU and college and stuff, but I've always been a scorer like that," Blakeney said Thursday at the Advocate Center. "Kind of that same confident person I've been my whole life."
The 6-4 shooting guard may turn out to be a nice find for the Bulls. Undrafted after playing two years at LSU, Blakeney starred for the Bulls' summer league squad and was signed to a two-way contract. He's limited to spending 45 days with the Bulls this season, but they could choose to convert his deal into an NBA contract.
"After summer league, I came here to start working out, just get more efficient, knocking down open 3s," Blakeney said. "I used to be kind of a high-volume guy. I'm trying to stay more efficient. But also work on my defense."
Coach Fred Hoiberg said Blakeney will stay in the rotation, so he'll get a chance to prove he's not a one-night wonder in the NBA.
"The thing Antonio can do is he can just go get you a basket when you need one," Hoiberg said.: He's a guy that can drive, get downhill, get into the paint and create his own shot. We need that on the floor right now for a team that's struggling to score."
Holiday ready to help:
Justin Holiday talked about the potential for a resolution to the Nikola Mirotic-Bobby Portis saga.
"I just hope it comes to a positive conclusion. I can't really put a time on that because it's not me doing it," he said. "I'm leaving that area for those two guys to figure it out. I'm just making sure I do support them both, let them know that I do personally care about both of them and how they both feel and how this does turn out for both of them.
"Sometimes, it just takes time to figure things out and see where you want to go. … And I'm not here to rush them."
WC gets road win:
Antonio Blakeney averaged 39.5 points in his two games with the Windy City Bulls. But even without Blakeney, the WC Bulls managed a road win Wednesday, beating the Delaware 87ers 112-110. Center Diamond Stone scored a season-high 25 points.
Besides Blakeney, Windy City's top scorers are Jarell Eddie (20.2 ppg) and Stone (17.4), while Ryan Arcidiacono is averaging 8.2 assists, which ranks fourth in the G-League.
Sorry starts
The Chicago Bulls have been terrible in the first quarter of their last three games:
Opp. Score FGs Turnovers
at OKC 7-27 2-16 8 Leading scorer: Markkanen 3
Opp. Score FGs Turnovers
at SA 15-37 7-20 4 Leading scorer: Portis 3
Opp. Score FGs Turnovers
vs. Ind 16-27 6-22 3 Leading scorer: Holiday 8