Coby White won’t shut up.
And to a man, his Bulls teammates and coaches are embracing him for that.
“He’s a lot more vocal,’’ forward Lauri Markkanen said with a smirk in a Zoom call. “[White] talks a lot.’’
The message from White’s new coach with training camp starting this week? Keep talking.
“I think one of the things that was really great for me having a guy like Chris Paul last year or even Russell Westbrook, they are great verbal leaders,’’ Billy Donovan said, when discussing the development White continues taking in the hard knocks school of NBA point guard university.
Ah yes, communication.
The very fabric of last year’s team that was lacking — among many other things.
At least the excuse that was frequently given.
Asked about all the defensive breakdowns in the paint during the 2019-20 campaign, it was always “communication.’’ Poor execution coming out of halftime? “Communication.’’
So of course Donovan wants improvement in that area across the board, and it starts with the lead guard having a voice, even if it’s only Year 2 for him.
“I feel like as a rookie coming in, you know, you’re seeing all these new faces and you seeing, you know, in college, there’s guys, they’re not the same age but they’re near your age range, they’re 18 to 22,’’ White said, when asked about needing to take a major jump in the vocal department this year. “But here it’s like, playing as a rookie, I was 19, then you got, I think Sato [Tomas Satoransky] who’s like 30, and then like Thad [Young] and Otto [Porter] and all those guys are older and all those guys come out and have huge voices too. So it’s kind of overwhelming when you first get to the league just to have that vocal presence.
“But this year, you know, Coach [Chris] Fleming was the first during this offseason to tell me after the season, like, one of your biggest growth is leadership and having more of a voice on the court and demanding more and commanding more of the ball. So I’ve been focused on that, and then when Coach Donovan got hired, his biggest thing he said, your biggest leap for you I think this year will be just be more vocal and communicative on the court and so that’s all I’ve been trying to focus on.’’
Well, not exactly.
Being a vocal leader might be atop the White to-do list, but the list of improvements he needs to work on before the regular season tips off in less than three weeks is vast.
It needs to be for the guard who admittedly didn’t even understand pick-and-roll concepts coming out of North Carolina, and is now likely being handed the starting job for a Bulls team that feels like 22 wins last season was a slap in the face to its real talent level.
“We had nine months off so I feel like I’ve taken a huge leap in my game, especially in my decision making and playing off the pick-and-roll,’’ White said. “Coming in to last year’s season, coming off the pick-and-roll was something that we really didn’t do at North Carolina. So for me it was new, and then different coverages. So this whole nine months I’ve had time to work on these different coverages, what’s open, what’s not, and how to attack these different coverages.
“And for me to more consistently shoot off the dribble, finish at the rim, those are three things I focused on the most. The game has really slowed down for me, I feel like these last couple months. Still learning, obviously still learning. Can never take that away, still learning, but I feel like I’ve made a huge leap and I feel like I’ve gotten better, for sure.’’
Keep talking, kid. Keep talking.
