Advertisement - scroll for more content
News reached Bulls players that Karnisovas made the decision to fire director of player development/shooting coach guru Peter Patton after the loss to Miami in Wednesday’s play-in game, leaving a core of current players “beyond pissed,” as one said in a text. “Coach Pete was the real deal … (messed) up,” another player said. Not just smoke coming from the locker room for the wildly popular Patton, but a full fire. Throughout this season, players like Coby White, Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry, Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis all publicly praised the work they put in with Patton and the benefits it had on their game.
KC Johnson: Bulls exec VP Artūras Karnišovas said Patrick Williams "had a tough year" and both Williams and organization had higher expectations. Said Williams now is fully healthy and he's excited to see how forward responds next season.
KC Johnson: Bulls list Josh Giddey questionable and Patrick Williams probable vs. Kings Zach LaVine isn’t on injury report and is scheduled to play after missing the Kings’ Wednesday victory for personal reasons.
KC Johnson: Bulls 121, Pacers 103 Bulls post second 3-game win streak of season Giddey 29 pts, 10 rebs (left with ankle injury) White 29 pts, 7 rebs (6 straight 20-pt gms) Huerter 13 pts Vucevic 11 pts, 11 rebs (off bench after 7-game absence) Williams 2 pts, 3 rebs (1st game since 2/12)
Advertisement
Jason Beede: Chicago won’t have Lonzo Ball (right wrist sprain), Nikola Vucevic (right calf strain), Patrick Williams (right quad tendon) and Ayo Dosunmo (left shoulder) against the #Magic tonight. Josh Giddey and Kevin Huerter are both AVAILABLE at Orlando, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.
KC Johnson: Billy Donovan said the plan is to ramp up Patrick Williams this week. Hope is that he may be available for Florida trip. That’s also soft target date for Nikola Vucevic return, per Vucevic.
KC Johnson: Patrick Williams is out vs. Knicks with right quadriceps tendon soreness. Williams banged knees in last game before break but Donovan said Williams practiced fully Tuesday/Wednesday
Advertisement
Julia Poe: Tre Jones said this locker room is a pretty natural fit — he’s been playing against Coby, Patrick and Ayo since they were all in high school. Feels pretty natural for him to join that young group of guys. pic.x.com/wcYYNGmNSx
KC Johnson: Patrick Williams played very well in last 2 games in a reserve role. With Zach LaVine likely to miss entire 3-game trip, and a Scottie Barnes matchup looming, Billy Donovan didn't want to commit to keeping Williams in reserve role. But Donovan acknowledged Williams' strong play.
KC Johnson: Celtics 122, Bulls 100 Williams 16 pts, 7 rebs White 16 points in 31 minutes (returns from 4-game absence) Vucevic 6 pts, 11 rebs (only 9 shots in 25 minutes) Bulls 40.2% FG Porzingis 34 pts, 11 rebs (career-high-tying 8 3s) Brown 28 pts, 6 rebs, 6 assists
Instead, Patrick Williams finally hit the breaking point after a relatively routine night of disappointment in Saturday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The wing faded out of the game for all four quarters. Less than 48 hours later, he was quietly benched in favor of Ayo Dosunmu for Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. It worked. Immediately. Williams came off the bench to rack up one of his most efficiently aggressive performances of the season, tallying 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes in an improbable 129-121 win. For the majority of this season, Donovan has been trapped. Williams wasn’t living up to his starting role — but there weren’t any other options.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement