Patrick Williams has been the 2nd best defender on the Bulls the past 3 seasons. He's also been the best 3 point shooter on the Bulls the past 2-3 years. As far as rebounds go he's average for a 3, which is his natural position. If you don't believe it check for the rebound averages of the best 3's in the league and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Patrick Williams biggest issue is playing for a coach that has woefully underutilized him. His 2nd biggest issue is playing alongside 2 of the worst ball stoppers in the NBA and a shoot first guard (whom MANY believe to be good for some strange reason) who mistakenly believes he's the 2nd coming of Sedale Threat. I believe that AK has seen enough and is doing his best to rectify the situation this summer.

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i hope you're right. My beef is he lays down and I don't care what 25PPG 3's rebound average is. When he averaging that, I'll shut up about rebounds.

In order for him to ever get anywhere near that, hid idiotic coach would have to begin to use him for more than just a 6-7 option on offense.

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its all the coaches fault

More than it is his, sure. Billy Donovan is the same dude that ran away from coaching a future MVP candidate and yet we are supposed to trust his judgment when it comes to "talent". You can. I'm not.

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Patrick Williams runs from the ball like a 7 year old playing in their first game. Not even Ben Simmons is that afraid of touching the ball. You can't coach heart. Blaming Billy D for this kid's flaws is ridiculous.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I lean in this direction. But I am glad they are clearing the decks and will be giving him the chance to show he is the guy LTG thinks he is.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Yeah, it doesn't really matter. They aren't competing for anything this decade. Maybe he figures it out.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

When there is only one ball and your coach has already said that there are only going to be 3-4 guys who touch and shoot it, how much of it is there actually to run from? Just Asking A Question

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Well that situation is going away, so he should be a top 2 option on this current team. So hopefully he shows what you think is there. I hope you are right.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Hopefully thar situation goes away. But they ain't gone until they're gone. And that includes Billy D. But I will at a bare minimum settle for Dero and Lavine for now. Once that happens then it's mostly on him.

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Low Key the Paw is already one of the better defenders in the league


https://youtu.be/gmod0nals-U?si=sCSF9M7QEpUJqJrb

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he's not, but when he fails miserably he can always revert to "the coaches didn't know how to use him properly "

What Billy Donovan has done to inspire so much confidence among CFMB's basketball intelligentsia no one will ever know! The way you dudes believe in him you'd think he was the 2nd coming of Chuck Daly or something.
He's a mediocre coach who allows his "star" players to coach him and coach the team. That was his M.O. in OKC with Durant, Westbrook, and CP3. And he did the same thing with the Bulls Lavine and Derozan also. It's why Vuc wanted to discuss a few things before resigning with them. A blind squirrel could see what was going on with them.

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Another solid pickup by AK.

https://sports.yahoo.com/bulls-sign-cen ... 26387.html

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It's not that anyone is inspired by Billy D. It's that I have eyes and can see this kid's struggles were more about him playing scared and intentionally hiding on offense. I can't think of a pussy who became a stud overnight. Maybe he'll surprise me.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Isn't he just a younger version of Vuc? He provides no rim protection.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

He is the same dude who has checked the very best players in the game on defense since he was a 19 year old rookie. "Gutless" and "Heartless" basketball players don't do that. If you want ever want to see where a hooper's "heart" is, you can always find out about it on defense much more than you can on offense.
Since he came into the league as a 19 year old, he has checked everyone from Kevin Durant to Lebron James to Kawhi to Luka. From Harden to Tatum to the Freak. From Deaaron Fox to Damien Lillard to Kyrie as a primary assignment He's taken covers on 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's. When the Zach's, Demar's and Gutless Coby White's of the world were in the witness protection program on defense, while shooting all the ball on offense, it was oftentimes him that was checking their man.
That ain't "heartless" as far as I'm concerned.

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He's much more athletic than Vuc. And cheaper. I mean at this point the Bulls could trade for Anthony Edward's and people are going to diss the move. For the first time in 3 years it seems as if AK has a plan. They have to get more size. And they have to become more athletic. And they needed a point. These are things that were glaring over the past 3 seasons. He signed a young talented kid for very little. Now they can move on from Vuc (whom I like but doesn't fit what they are trying to do at this time) and hopefully become a contending team again.

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Guys have anxiety for a variety of reasons. Even when he has a great offensive game he reverts back to hiding from the basketball. His offensive default is his offensive default. That doesn't change because he attempts to play defense.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Again "heartless" basketball players do not play lock down defense. And no player has ever been an offensive juggernaut playing in an offense that wasn't designed for him to be an offensive juggernaut. If Billy D structures the offense for him to be a 1 or 2 option, and he doesn't do shit, then that's on him. That has never happened. Patrick Williams isn't designing plays for himself to stand in the corner and wait for a kickout pass to come that is never going to arrive. That much I know.

This I will say. He hasn't produced yet as I thought that he would. But I place more of the blame on the Bulls org and the way they have chose to develop and utilize him than anything. If they want him to be "that dude" then they have to start acting like they want him to be "that dude'. That has never happened. Patrick Williams biggest problem isn't that he's a bum. It's that he defers, and has been made to defer by Bulls brass, to defer to players that are not as talented as he is.

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Of the guys in the Bulls regular rotation, Patrick Williams had the 8th highest usage rate last season. 9th or 10th if you count the entire roster. Which supports everything my "eyes" have told me for the past 3 to 4 seasons
https://www.basketball-reference.com/te ... /2024.html

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I don't agree with you about Williams, but I hope you're right. The draft pick and the doubling down look like a mistake at this point. He has 5 years to change my mind.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It looks as if they are finally going to make the kid a focal point of the offense. If so then it's on him to produce. They still have to move Lavine and Vuc though. Even though I like Vuc it's time for him to push on also. I'd also like Coby White to shake it also, but he's on a cheap contract and you can't trade everyone.

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I like Vuc too, but that Wendell Carter trade looks bad. If the Bulls land the #1 pick it was worth it.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

The only player that I'd actually want back from that trade is Franz Wagner.

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So much potential wasted.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Yeah It's a wrap for the Paw. At some point you just are what you are. Though playing for Billy D hasn't exactly been the best thing for his career.

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At this point I don't know if he even had potential. He didn't start his one year in college. He was drafted 4th on potential potential.

Yeah maybe potential isn't the right word.

But he had all the tools to be a really good player. It just didn't work out. He does not have that drive in him to be good. I do agree that Billy D did not do him any favors.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."