Patrick Williams is having his worst year

[pipfan]

The TO in the 4th was SO predictable. The guy just has a really low BBIQ
Turning into a bust. I was a big fan and thought he'd be, at worst, a solid starter

Hopefully some team will roll the dice on him, and offer us expirings

[Ice Man]

Hopefully some team will roll the dice on him, and offer us expirings

Why would anybody want Pat Williams?

[greenwing]

He needs to come off the bench. Also, he’s a tweener and they should try him at the 3 which is where he supposedly wants to play, anyway. He has only ever put up good numbers when he’s the focal point of the offense and with the current starters he will always be the fourth or fifth scoring option.

Granted, I’ve been saying for awhile that I do not like his game and don’t think he’s a good fit for the roster. I would not have extended him. He might succeed elsewhere in a different system but Chicago is not that place unless utilized differently.

The Bulls should throw Buzelis into the starting role to develop him since he’s a better fit with those guys, anyway. And let Pat try to become a successful sixth man. Putting him in at the starting four position is tanking the team (unless that’s the plan, I guess).

For the life of me I'll never understand the "he's a 3, not a 4" line of thinking. There will be no difference whether he's labeled a PF or SF. He's not going to magically be able to dribble or finish at the rim because his label changes or suddenly become more athletic. He's still going to be on the wings spotting up. Nothing would change, there really aren't any positions nowadays other than maybe PG and big, everyone else is a wing.

I respectfully disagree. First of all, as a 4, you're still going to be given the larger of the two wings to guard on defense. Secondly, on offense as a 3, you're more likely to be positioned on the perimeter looking to slash or shoot with the ball in your hands as opposed to cutting to the rim and posting up at the 4.

Williams is a tweener. He's too slow to play a traditional 3 and not enough of a physical presence to defend the 4 position. He was billed as a modern day NBA 4 coming out of college because it was thought that he'd be strong enough to defend 4's while being faster that most 4's to score in an up-tempo game. When Williams has had his most success scoring, it's been with the ball in his hands at the perimeter and backing down modern under-sized 4's. But he struggles mightily against any physical guy with size and he's been reduced to a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup which he does not succeed at.

Just because the NBA, in general, has been allowing more undersized 4's to play like wings doesn't mean the power forward position magically disappeared. Look at some of the top teams in the league and tell me that these guys aren't 4's.

Evan Mobley (Cleveland) 6'11''
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milkwaukee) 6'11''
Jabari Smith (Houston) 6'11''
Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis) 6'10''

Now there are some other top teams that employ 6'8'' guys at that position but they are bulkier and weigh more than Patrick Williams who's reportedly 215 lbs. Guys like Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, OG Anunoby are all 230+ lbs.

I do think you're going to have to try Williams off the bench in a different role if you want to salvage his career. He's just not the right fit with the starters right now.

[GoBlue72391]

He needs to come off the bench. Also, he’s a tweener and they should try him at the 3 which is where he supposedly wants to play, anyway. He has only ever put up good numbers when he’s the focal point of the offense and with the current starters he will always be the fourth or fifth scoring option.

Granted, I’ve been saying for awhile that I do not like his game and don’t think he’s a good fit for the roster. I would not have extended him. He might succeed elsewhere in a different system but Chicago is not that place unless utilized differently.

The Bulls should throw Buzelis into the starting role to develop him since he’s a better fit with those guys, anyway. And let Pat try to become a successful sixth man. Putting him in at the starting four position is tanking the team (unless that’s the plan, I guess).

For the life of me I'll never understand the "he's a 3, not a 4" line of thinking. There will be no difference whether he's labeled a PF or SF. He's not going to magically be able to dribble or finish at the rim because his label changes or suddenly become more athletic. He's still going to be on the wings spotting up. Nothing would change, there really aren't any positions nowadays other than maybe PG and big, everyone else is a wing.

I respectfully disagree. First of all, as a 4, you're still going to be given the larger of the two wings to guard on defense. Secondly, on offense as a 3, you're more likely to be positioned on the perimeter looking to slash or shoot with the ball in your hands as opposed to cutting to the rim and posting up at the 4.

Williams is a tweener. He's too slow to play a traditional 3 and not enough of a physical presence to defend the 4 position. He was billed as a modern day NBA 4 coming out of college because it was thought that he'd be strong enough to defend 4's while being faster that most 4's to score in an up-tempo game. When Williams has had his most success scoring, it's been with the ball in his hands at the perimeter and backing down modern under-sized 4's. But he struggles mightily against any physical guy with size and he's been reduced to a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup which he does not succeed at.

Just because the NBA, in general, has been allowing more undersized 4's to play like wings doesn't mean the power forward position magically disappeared. Look at some of the top teams in the league and tell me that these guys aren't 4's.

Evan Mobley (Cleveland) 6'11''
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milkwaukee) 6'11''
Jabari Smith (Houston) 6'11''
Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis) 6'10''

Now there are some other top teams that employ 6'8'' guys at that position but they are bulkier and weigh more than Patrick Williams who's reportedly 215 lbs. Guys like Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, OG Anunoby are all 230+ lbs.

I do think you're going to have to try Williams off the bench in a different role if you want to salvage his career. He's just not the right fit with the starters right now.

Respectfully, what the hell are you talking about? Have you watched an NBA game in the last decade?

They have guys guard whoever the coach thinks they match up best with. Pat usually guards the other team's best player regardless of their position unless they're C or PG. It's not PF only guards PF, PG only guards PG, etc.

Playing at PF he cuts and posts up? Dude, Pat barely ever cuts and he's posted up like 5 times all season lol. This is utter nonsense. He just spots up behind the arc, which is the same thing he would do as the "SF".

I have never seen Pat back down modern under-sized 4s more than maybe a few handful of times in his career, and you're claiming this is what he did when he was at his best. He's best with the ball in his hands? Bro, what??? The dude cannot dribble or create for himself, he's a disaster with the ball in his hands. What am I reading?

He's always been a spot up shooter, even at his best, which was nothing to write home about. At his best, he used to have a one hand floater/push shot, was a consistent but low volume 3 point shooter, had a midrange pull up, and was capable of attacking closeouts with basic straight line drives, not posting up or creating with the ball in his hands or whatever you're talking about.

Like not to be an ass, but it sounds like you don't watch games or at least don't pay attention to Pat on the court.

And btw, Pat is 235 now. Someone posted the training camp roster with the real heights and weights a few weeks ago. He needs to get back down to the listed 215.

This is a wild post, no offense.

[WindyCityBorn]

This guy is worse than I could have possibly imagined.

[PJSteven22]

I’ll just say this, I never liked low feel, low motor prospects. They are a safe bet to never reach their potential. See Mo Bamba, Hasheem Tabeet, or Marvin Williams as examples. The only guy that turned out pretty good with those two issues was Andrew Wiggins and he’s a spectacular athlete.

[greenwing]

For the life of me I'll never understand the "he's a 3, not a 4" line of thinking. There will be no difference whether he's labeled a PF or SF. He's not going to magically be able to dribble or finish at the rim because his label changes or suddenly become more athletic. He's still going to be on the wings spotting up. Nothing would change, there really aren't any positions nowadays other than maybe PG and big, everyone else is a wing.

I respectfully disagree. First of all, as a 4, you're still going to be given the larger of the two wings to guard on defense. Secondly, on offense as a 3, you're more likely to be positioned on the perimeter looking to slash or shoot with the ball in your hands as opposed to cutting to the rim and posting up at the 4.

Williams is a tweener. He's too slow to play a traditional 3 and not enough of a physical presence to defend the 4 position. He was billed as a modern day NBA 4 coming out of college because it was thought that he'd be strong enough to defend 4's while being faster that most 4's to score in an up-tempo game. When Williams has had his most success scoring, it's been with the ball in his hands at the perimeter and backing down modern under-sized 4's. But he struggles mightily against any physical guy with size and he's been reduced to a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup which he does not succeed at.

Just because the NBA, in general, has been allowing more undersized 4's to play like wings doesn't mean the power forward position magically disappeared. Look at some of the top teams in the league and tell me that these guys aren't 4's.

Evan Mobley (Cleveland) 6'11''
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milkwaukee) 6'11''
Jabari Smith (Houston) 6'11''
Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis) 6'10''

Now there are some other top teams that employ 6'8'' guys at that position but they are bulkier and weigh more than Patrick Williams who's reportedly 215 lbs. Guys like Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, OG Anunoby are all 230+ lbs.

I do think you're going to have to try Williams off the bench in a different role if you want to salvage his career. He's just not the right fit with the starters right now.

Respectfully, what the hell are you talking about? Have you watched an NBA game in the last decade?

They have guys guard whoever the coach thinks they match up best with. Pat usually guards the other team's best player regardless of their position unless they're C or PG. It's not PF only guards PF, PG only guards PG, etc.

Playing at PF he cuts and posts up? Dude, Pat barely ever cuts and he's posted up like 5 times all season lol. This is utter nonsense. He just spots up behind the arc, which is the same thing he would do as the "SF".

I have never seen Pat back down modern under-sized 4s more than maybe a few handful of times in his career, and you're claiming this is what he did when he was at his best. He's best with the ball in his hands? Bro, what??? The dude cannot dribble or create for himself, he's a disaster with the ball in his hands. What am I reading?

He's always been a spot up shooter, even at his best, which was nothing to write home about. At his best, he used to have a one hand floater/push shot, was a consistent but low volume 3 point shooter, had a midrange pull up, and was capable of attacking closeouts with basic straight line drives, not posting up or creating with the ball in his hands or whatever you're talking about.

Like not to be an ass, but it sounds like you don't watch games or at least don't pay attention to Pat on the court.

And btw, Pat is 235 now. Someone posted the training camp roster with the real heights and weights a few weeks ago. He needs to get back down to the listed 215.

This is a wild post, no offense.

I remember how aggressive you used to trash Vuc on this forum. I assume we are rooting for the same team, so I’m not going to disparage a fellow Bulls fan. But I don’t think you and I are watching the same game at all. Nor do I think you read my post correctly because I mentioned when he has his most success, not that he does that consistently by any means.

Go back to watching Williams when we played Milwaukee in the playoffs. He was featured in the last game of that series. If you watched him play that game (I did) he scored 23 points and was the primary ball handler for most of his scoring.

He has spoken publicly about how he wants to play small forward. And that’s because, like every NBA player, he wants to be featured. His handful of 20+ point games have always been when he was running the offense. And the Bulls typically have only allowed that when they’ve been out of a game already and are trying to find answers. The problem is he’s not good at it against NBA starters and especially not good at it when he’s contending for touches.

He is not a good spot up shooter. The Bulls have tried to utilize him that way and he can’t do it consistently. Go back and watch footage of his good games and maybe you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

That being said, again, I am not a fan of his game. I don’t like his fit on the roster. I’m concerned that given his level of play we may be stuck with him for the duration of his contract. So if we are then the coaching staff needs to figure out how to utilize his abilities better. Because right now he’s losing us games. He’s not the only reason by any means but he’s a large part of it.

[GoBlue72391]

I respectfully disagree. First of all, as a 4, you're still going to be given the larger of the two wings to guard on defense. Secondly, on offense as a 3, you're more likely to be positioned on the perimeter looking to slash or shoot with the ball in your hands as opposed to cutting to the rim and posting up at the 4.

Williams is a tweener. He's too slow to play a traditional 3 and not enough of a physical presence to defend the 4 position. He was billed as a modern day NBA 4 coming out of college because it was thought that he'd be strong enough to defend 4's while being faster that most 4's to score in an up-tempo game. When Williams has had his most success scoring, it's been with the ball in his hands at the perimeter and backing down modern under-sized 4's. But he struggles mightily against any physical guy with size and he's been reduced to a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup which he does not succeed at.

Just because the NBA, in general, has been allowing more undersized 4's to play like wings doesn't mean the power forward position magically disappeared. Look at some of the top teams in the league and tell me that these guys aren't 4's.

Evan Mobley (Cleveland) 6'11''
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milkwaukee) 6'11''
Jabari Smith (Houston) 6'11''
Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis) 6'10''

Now there are some other top teams that employ 6'8'' guys at that position but they are bulkier and weigh more than Patrick Williams who's reportedly 215 lbs. Guys like Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, OG Anunoby are all 230+ lbs.

I do think you're going to have to try Williams off the bench in a different role if you want to salvage his career. He's just not the right fit with the starters right now.

Respectfully, what the hell are you talking about? Have you watched an NBA game in the last decade?

They have guys guard whoever the coach thinks they match up best with. Pat usually guards the other team's best player regardless of their position unless they're C or PG. It's not PF only guards PF, PG only guards PG, etc.

Playing at PF he cuts and posts up? Dude, Pat barely ever cuts and he's posted up like 5 times all season lol. This is utter nonsense. He just spots up behind the arc, which is the same thing he would do as the "SF".

I have never seen Pat back down modern under-sized 4s more than maybe a few handful of times in his career, and you're claiming this is what he did when he was at his best. He's best with the ball in his hands? Bro, what??? The dude cannot dribble or create for himself, he's a disaster with the ball in his hands. What am I reading?

He's always been a spot up shooter, even at his best, which was nothing to write home about. At his best, he used to have a one hand floater/push shot, was a consistent but low volume 3 point shooter, had a midrange pull up, and was capable of attacking closeouts with basic straight line drives, not posting up or creating with the ball in his hands or whatever you're talking about.

Like not to be an ass, but it sounds like you don't watch games or at least don't pay attention to Pat on the court.

And btw, Pat is 235 now. Someone posted the training camp roster with the real heights and weights a few weeks ago. He needs to get back down to the listed 215.

This is a wild post, no offense.

I remember how aggressive you used to trash Vuc on this forum. I assume we are rooting for the same team, so I’m not going to disparage a fellow Bulls fan. But I don’t think you and I are watching the same game at all. Nor do I think you read my post correctly because I mentioned when he has his most success, not that he does that consistently by any means.

Go back to watching Williams when we played Milwaukee in the playoffs. He was featured in the last game of that series. If you watched him play that game (I did) he scored 23 points and was the primary ball handler for most of his scoring.

He has spoken publicly about how he wants to play small forward. And that’s because, like every NBA player, he wants to be featured. His handful of 20+ point games have always been when he was running the offense. And the Bulls typically have only allowed that when they’ve been out of a game already and are trying to find answers. The problem is he’s not good at it against NBA starters and especially not good at it when he’s contending for touches.

He is not a good spot up shooter. The Bulls have tried to utilize him that way and he can’t do it consistently. Go back and watch footage of his good games and maybe you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

That being said, again, I am not a fan of his game. I don’t like his fit on the roster. I’m concerned that given his level of play we may be stuck with him for the duration of his contract. So if we are then the coaching staff needs to figure out how to utilize his abilities better. Because right now he’s losing us games. He’s not the only reason by any means but he’s a large part of it.

Oh yeah, I was a certified Vuc hater for sure and I'll be the first to admit that. He's made a fan out of me with his play this season though. Pat could do the same if he ever turns it around, but that's a pipe dream at this point. Not sure what Vuc has to do with this discussion, but anyway.

For the record, I was at the home playoff game where Pat had 20 or however many it was against the Bucks. 300 section, but still there.

I just think you can't take much from isolated games. He's had what, like 15, maybe 20 truly high level games in his entire career including playoffs? Honestly that number feels kind of generous on my part.

I'm not saying he can never, ever do anything with the ball in his hands or that he never has before. 5 years into his career there's bound to be moments of flashes or even entire games where he's creating, he's finishing, he's doing everything the FO expecting when they drafted him but it doesn't mean anything because he can't do it consistently and every single player in the league can flash high level ability here and there. It's definitely not his strength, though.

For every 1 game where everything is working for him, there's 30 games where's he's dribbling the ball off his foot, getting stripped, the ball is slipping out of his hands, he’s stepping out of bounds, he's missing dunks, and he's blowing layups. So I don't think there's any evidence to suggest he needs the ball in his hands to succeed when we see him crap the bed every game when he tries to create something with the ball.

Ultimately I agree with you, I think we're watching two different games out there so I don't really wanna go back and forth over it.

[Bulliever2020]

I hear the Benny Hill theme every time he gets the ball nowadays. That 1 on 3 break in clutch time last night where he drove right into all those guys and turned the ball over was pure comedy.

[DropStep]

I feel like he should go to a team with a good, stable infrastructure and a good coach, where they can define a role for him, make things simple, and take advantage of his strengths - a Wiggins-to-Warriors type of trade. Heat. I think he could be a good role player on the Lakers, where he can ride the coattails of others' ball-dominance and playmaking and BBIQ, and provide some of the shooting and D they lack at a semi-affordable price.

I still think he could have productive minutes on a winning team. It currently doesn't appear we are that winning team (or any winning team), but I have hopes for him given a fresh start.

[Indomitable]

For the life of me I'll never understand the "he's a 3, not a 4" line of thinking. There will be no difference whether he's labeled a PF or SF. He's not going to magically be able to dribble or finish at the rim because his label changes or suddenly become more athletic. He's still going to be on the wings spotting up. Nothing would change, there really aren't any positions nowadays other than maybe PG and big, everyone else is a wing.

I respectfully disagree. First of all, as a 4, you're still going to be given the larger of the two wings to guard on defense. Secondly, on offense as a 3, you're more likely to be positioned on the perimeter looking to slash or shoot with the ball in your hands as opposed to cutting to the rim and posting up at the 4.

Williams is a tweener. He's too slow to play a traditional 3 and not enough of a physical presence to defend the 4 position. He was billed as a modern day NBA 4 coming out of college because it was thought that he'd be strong enough to defend 4's while being faster that most 4's to score in an up-tempo game. When Williams has had his most success scoring, it's been with the ball in his hands at the perimeter and backing down modern under-sized 4's. But he struggles mightily against any physical guy with size and he's been reduced to a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup which he does not succeed at.

Just because the NBA, in general, has been allowing more undersized 4's to play like wings doesn't mean the power forward position magically disappeared. Look at some of the top teams in the league and tell me that these guys aren't 4's.

Evan Mobley (Cleveland) 6'11''
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milkwaukee) 6'11''
Jabari Smith (Houston) 6'11''
Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis) 6'10''

Now there are some other top teams that employ 6'8'' guys at that position but they are bulkier and weigh more than Patrick Williams who's reportedly 215 lbs. Guys like Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, OG Anunoby are all 230+ lbs.

I do think you're going to have to try Williams off the bench in a different role if you want to salvage his career. He's just not the right fit with the starters right now.

Respectfully, what the hell are you talking about? Have you watched an NBA game in the last decade?

They have guys guard whoever the coach thinks they match up best with. Pat usually guards the other team's best player regardless of their position unless they're C or PG. It's not PF only guards PF, PG only guards PG, etc.

Playing at PF he cuts and posts up? Dude, Pat barely ever cuts and he's posted up like 5 times all season lol. This is utter nonsense. He just spots up behind the arc, which is the same thing he would do as the "SF".

I have never seen Pat back down modern under-sized 4s more than maybe a few handful of times in his career, and you're claiming this is what he did when he was at his best. He's best with the ball in his hands? Bro, what??? The dude cannot dribble or create for himself, he's a disaster with the ball in his hands. What am I reading?

He's always been a spot up shooter, even at his best, which was nothing to write home about. At his best, he used to have a one hand floater/push shot, was a consistent but low volume 3 point shooter, had a midrange pull up, and was capable of attacking closeouts with basic straight line drives, not posting up or creating with the ball in his hands or whatever you're talking about.

Like not to be an ass, but it sounds like you don't watch games or at least don't pay attention to Pat on the court.

And btw, Pat is 235 now. Someone posted the training camp roster with the real heights and weights a few weeks ago. He needs to get back down to the listed 215.

This is a wild post, no offense.

Pat is bad because he is a worst Tony Snell.....

[jordanwilliams6]

I said this two weeks ago but how is he still in the rotation.

Last 10 games he’s producing 6 points on 29% shooting as a starter. He might be close to the worst offensive player in the league that plays over 20 minutes per game.

[sco]

I said this two weeks ago but how is he still in the rotation.

Last 10 games he’s producing 6 points on 29% shooting as a starter. He might be close to the worst offensive player in the league that plays over 20 minutes per game.

I think the hope is that he'll go back to at least what he was as a better version of himself while "showcasing" for a trade at the deadline. The offset is that he is helping the tank in the meantime.

To that end, we are losing with our best guys all healthy. Which has to be an eye-opener for a delusional FO regarding the feasibility of a "compete now" strategy.

IMO, nobody's paying positive value for Pat at the deadline (or likely next offseason). I think they'll give him the Coby treatment and move him to the bench after the deadline to light a fire under him to work hard on fixing his game in the offseason.

[MalagaBulls]

I said this two weeks ago but how is he still in the rotation.

Last 10 games he’s producing 6 points on 29% shooting as a starter. He might be close to the worst offensive player in the league that plays over 20 minutes per game.

Answer - Arturas will never let BD remove him from the starting rotation.

[GoBlue72391]

I feel like he should go to a team with a good, stable infrastructure and a good coach, where they can define a role for him, make things simple, and take advantage of his strengths - a Wiggins-to-Warriors type of trade. Heat. I think he could be a good role player on the Lakers, where he can ride the coattails of others' ball-dominance and playmaking and BBIQ, and provide some of the shooting and D they lack at a semi-affordable price.

I still think he could have productive minutes on a winning team. It currently doesn't appear we are that winning team (or any winning team), but I have hopes for him given a fresh start.

He has a simple, defined role. He's just failing miserably at it.

[GoBlue72391]

I respectfully disagree. First of all, as a 4, you're still going to be given the larger of the two wings to guard on defense. Secondly, on offense as a 3, you're more likely to be positioned on the perimeter looking to slash or shoot with the ball in your hands as opposed to cutting to the rim and posting up at the 4.

Williams is a tweener. He's too slow to play a traditional 3 and not enough of a physical presence to defend the 4 position. He was billed as a modern day NBA 4 coming out of college because it was thought that he'd be strong enough to defend 4's while being faster that most 4's to score in an up-tempo game. When Williams has had his most success scoring, it's been with the ball in his hands at the perimeter and backing down modern under-sized 4's. But he struggles mightily against any physical guy with size and he's been reduced to a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup which he does not succeed at.

Just because the NBA, in general, has been allowing more undersized 4's to play like wings doesn't mean the power forward position magically disappeared. Look at some of the top teams in the league and tell me that these guys aren't 4's.

Evan Mobley (Cleveland) 6'11''
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milkwaukee) 6'11''
Jabari Smith (Houston) 6'11''
Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis) 6'10''

Now there are some other top teams that employ 6'8'' guys at that position but they are bulkier and weigh more than Patrick Williams who's reportedly 215 lbs. Guys like Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, OG Anunoby are all 230+ lbs.

I do think you're going to have to try Williams off the bench in a different role if you want to salvage his career. He's just not the right fit with the starters right now.

Respectfully, what the hell are you talking about? Have you watched an NBA game in the last decade?

They have guys guard whoever the coach thinks they match up best with. Pat usually guards the other team's best player regardless of their position unless they're C or PG. It's not PF only guards PF, PG only guards PG, etc.

Playing at PF he cuts and posts up? Dude, Pat barely ever cuts and he's posted up like 5 times all season lol. This is utter nonsense. He just spots up behind the arc, which is the same thing he would do as the "SF".

I have never seen Pat back down modern under-sized 4s more than maybe a few handful of times in his career, and you're claiming this is what he did when he was at his best. He's best with the ball in his hands? Bro, what??? The dude cannot dribble or create for himself, he's a disaster with the ball in his hands. What am I reading?

He's always been a spot up shooter, even at his best, which was nothing to write home about. At his best, he used to have a one hand floater/push shot, was a consistent but low volume 3 point shooter, had a midrange pull up, and was capable of attacking closeouts with basic straight line drives, not posting up or creating with the ball in his hands or whatever you're talking about.

Like not to be an ass, but it sounds like you don't watch games or at least don't pay attention to Pat on the court.

And btw, Pat is 235 now. Someone posted the training camp roster with the real heights and weights a few weeks ago. He needs to get back down to the listed 215.

This is a wild post, no offense.

Pat is bad because he is a worst Tony Snell.....

He's better than Tony Snell, but not by a whole lot. You don't draft a slightly better Tony Snell 4th overall then give him $90M.

[HomoSapien]

These quotes are a little delulu, no? What exactly has he done in the league?

Read on Twitter

[GoBlue72391]

These quotes are a little delulu, no? What exactly has he done in the league?

Read on Twitter

Sounds like a young player who struggles with confidence grasping at straws to say something that sounds confident even though it's probably not genuine.

[HomoSapien]

These quotes are a little delulu, no? What exactly has he done in the league?

Read on Twitter

Sounds like a young player who struggles with confidence grasping at straws to say something that sounds confident even though it's probably not genuine.

I just listened to the actual full post-game interview with him, and that's a pretty solid takeaway, IMO. Body language was poor. Aside from the above quote, a few other things stood out

1.) Pat talked about how teams know they're one of the weaker defensive rebounding teams in the league and that opposing teams have scouted the Bulls well and are making an concentrated effort to crash the offensive glass. It's kind of mind-blowing that Pat can pick up that being a huge issue, but not do anything about it from his end as he's the weakest rebounding link on the team.

2.) He talks about how he's too good and how the Bulls are too good as a team not to get through this. Obviously it's important for him to believe both those things --- but again both these things are based on nothing. We have, what, 1 playoff win in 4 years? Pat has shown no growth in his career.

3.) He talked about how he felt like he was getting less steals than normal this season. He's actually right at his career average. For him to identify that as an issue makes me wonder if he really has an understanding of what isn't working in his game. Not a single person here would mention steals.

Read on Twitter

[HomoSapien]

Sorry last post on this:

Here's Billy's quote on why he isn't playing Matas more. It's a little hard to follow, but he's basically making the case against entitlement minutes because he thinks it hurts a players' overall development. Here's the quote:

“I basically told him coming off the floor — ‘They are going directly at you. You're gonna have to make a stance here, yeah?' I think that's a great growth thing. Instead of saying, ‘Hey, Matas, don't worry about it, just keep playing man, keep doing it.' Those are things there that a lot of people may not see as being valuable, but they're incredibly valuable because it creates clarity for him about what he knows he needs to do,” Donovan said, according to a post from Julia Poe. “And he and I spoke about it today, you know? And he felt that he's got to be a player. We can't take a young player and say, ‘Okay, we're just going to try to hide him on these different players so he doesn't have to be exposed to that.' And he had every opportunity to be in those situations. Those situations are good for him,” Donovan continued. “But he's got to understand too — listen, that's got to stop. So I put him right back in the second half (against Golden State) and gave him another shot again. But that's what it's going to be like for him a little bit, you know? And I've said this before, I just am not a believer, l've never seen it happen. Because I think what happens is sometimes you just teach a player — by just giving them a bunch of minutes with no responsibility — what they should do and how to impact losing. He needs to be and we want him to be a winning player.”

I can't help but think he's talking about Pat in the bolded part. And I don't think he's taking a shot at Pat -- Donovan doesn't seem like that kind of person -- but I think he's seeing a failed development project and is trying to do things completely opposite with Matas.