CHICAGO _ Wendell Carter Jr. has a life coach. His agency set him up with one shortly after the Bulls drafted him in June with the seventh overall pick.
Carter talks to him by phone about anything that's on his mind.
"It can be on the court stuff, off the court stuff. Maybe the NBA lifestyle, everything else I have going on," Carter said. "He has helped me a lot."
After another foul-plagued effort in Monday's loss to the Thunder, Carter may be seeking support again. The uber-competitor has posted only one double-digit scoring and double-digit rebounding game this month _ against the Pacers in Jim Boylen's first game as coach on Dec. 4.
That game marked Carter's fifth double-double. Since then, he has been off the court more than on it, picking up three fouls in the first 5 minutes of the second half against the Thunder to sit with five fouls.
"Yeah, for sure I'm frustrated," Carter said. "I feel I can be an effective player and help my team win. So (foul trouble) definitely frustrates me a lot."
Carter, 19, is averaging 3.6 fouls and 23.4 minutes in eight December games after closing November with a career-high 28 points against the Pistons. That's a full 2 minutes less than he averaged in November.
"There's a couple things with Wendell," Boylen said. "First of all, he's one of the toughest guys I've ever been around in my life, especially for that age. He also wants to please. He wants to help us win. So when he's in foul trouble, he feels he can't do that. So there's frustration there.
"Handling in-game failure, he has to grow there. And he knows it. He's so hard on himself. That's something we've talked about. He's so competitive, something we've talked about. It's just a learning thing, man. I'll take guys like him all day long. He'll be fine."
Carter admitted moving onto the next play is something with which he has struggled.
"It's something I've been working on with my life coach," he said. "Not even directly focusing on basketball, but just moving on when things are good or bad. Just always trying to find something positive to think about. Staying even-keeled and when something happens, go low for a minute. But you can't stay low for too long."
Even with all the foul trouble, Carter ranks third among rookies and 14th in the league with 1.5 blocks per game. His defensive instincts and footwork belie his rookie and teenage status. It's why keeping him on the court is so critical for his _ and the Bulls' _ growth.
Offensively, Carter has seemed to defer more since Lauri Markkanen returned from his right elbow injury. That, too, is a familiar spot for Carter, who has talked openly about the sacrifice he made in his lone season at Duke playing alongside Marvin Bagley III.
Carter is averaging 5.9 shots per game in December. That's down from 9.5 per game over the season's first two months.
Carter's talent is clear at both ends. Seeing it more consistently is both his and the Bulls' goal.
"I'm such a competitor," he said. "It's a learning process picking and choosing when to be aggressive. I thought I had it. But I obviously don't."
Sounds like it's time for some life coaching.
