Coby White Scouting Report from a UNC Homer

[skiz2]

Hey all! I pridefully consider myself the biggest UNC homer on realgm. I try my best to make it to every board who drafts one of our guys and share my thoughts on them. Keep in mind my bias. I try my best to hold it in check. I want my guys to succeed a lot! That being said, I hope you enjoy.

I have some connections to Coby White and have followed him since his junior year of high school. My baby sister actually started dating one of his teammates at Greenfield High School. I made it to a ton of his games. When I first saw him play, I thought of him as a high 3 star to low 4 star guy. He was faster than everyone on the court. His games as you could imagine were Coby gets a rebound beats everyone down the court, or a quick outlet to Coby. That was probably why Roy Williams was drawn to him. Roy is known for his fast pace and hadn't really had a true speed demon since Ty Lawson. At the time, UNC was in a really good spot with Devon Dotson who ended up at KU. He had held onto his offer for over 6 months and Roy offered Coby White who accepted the offer 3 days later. I had thought at the time that we got the short end of the stick. Dotson seemed to be much more polished and more of a PG. I never really thought Coby had more to his game than beating everyone down the court and make some creative finishes. My sister told me that he is very quiet off the court and kept to himself a lot. Really has a small circle of people that surrounded him.

I caught a few of his AAU games the summer of his junior season and his CP3 Elite team was probably the 3rd best AAU team in the country. I saw a completely different side to him. His team was not overwhelmingly talented either, but they routinely beat teams they had no business being in the game with. He was much better in the half court then in high school. I had always wondered if he would be the fastest out on the court with division I talent and what would happen if the game slowed down. Coby routinely put the team on his back time and time again. He would get inconsistent scoring help from Jaylen Hoard and Aaron Wiggins. Sometimes he would get some from Leaky Black (who played PG mainly for CP3). But you could always depend on Coby to get you 30 if needed. I was impressed with his work in the half court and seeing that evolution. Still, I had questions about how well he would translate at UNC, due to still relying too much on his speed and a low (albeit, lightening quick) release on his jumpsuit, in addition to his high dribble.

His senior year of HS was absolutely insane. Gyms would fill up to see him play. He would drop 40 routinely against some above average competition. When he got to UNC, there was debate about who would start at PG between he, Leaky and Seventh Woods. Some thought that Seventh's experience would give him the upper hand, other's thought that Leaky would be the best at not making mistakes and others said, you live and die by Coby. I have several connections with UNC and they all told me that it was possible that Coby White was UNC's best player and i thought that we were in for a long season.

With all that said, when the season started, he won the starting job. The team looked better with Seventh Woods in the game though. Coby would take some bad shots, miss some open guys and didn't know when to push or slow down. When Seventh Woods went down before the Texas game, Coby broke out of his shell. That game he showed so much offensive force and he was doing it against a very good senior defender in Kerwin Roach. He had shown something that I did not know he could do consistently and that was his step back. Coby gets some incredible separation on his stepback. From that game on his stepback only got better and better. He slowly but surely started showing signs of being able to change pace. If you watch tape from his first game against Wofford and his last regular season game against Duke it is night and day difference from how far he grew. His footwork is incredibly advanced for someone his age and his handles got tighter as the season went on.

One of Coby's biggest assets that was once a weakness is his ball handling. It is still a work in progress, but he is very creative. He goes from high to low in the blink of an eye and goes from fast to slow and slow to fast in the blink of an eye. His hips are very flexible which makes him extremely slippery to guard. He can split doubles that most guards are unable to do. Due to his hip flexibility defenders are very hard pressed to know what he is going to do next when combining all those skills. He broke several peoples ankles, turned around several defenders as the season went on.

Coby is a very creative finisher. He is not the best leaper nor does he get a ton of lift, but he hangs in the air forever. When he is up in the air he keeps his eyes on the basket, does not let longer defenders arms distract him and can finish through contact. He is a bit on the skinny side as of now, but he is pound for pound very strong. I don't doubt that his frame will fill out and he will become a great finisher.

Cody's court vision is developing still. He was born to score first and taught to score first, but he made some passes as the season went on that no one else could think of. He also knows when to find the hot hand. Several games he would defer to Cam Johnson if he was feeling it and Coby was not. He is developing a greater sense of who to get the ball to. I was watching film of his summer league games and he made some skip passes that I did not see at UNC, which just shows that he is working hard and learning. There were a few posters that he could have fed Nassir Little that he missed while he was at UNC, but I don't doubt he will improve.

He won't ever be an elite defender, but he will play his heart out. He is not as quick laterally as he is fast north to south. His height and wingspan are pretty much the same. He does however have outstanding hip flexibility which makes up for some of it. I think he will be an average to an above average defender throughout his career.

He is a very very streaky shooter. I am not surprised that he had bad shooting games in the summer league, what I am surprised is that he never seemed to have a good one. At UNC he would normally follow up a bad shooting game with an out of world elite shooting game. He can generally find his spots perfectly. His release his quick, but low. I am hoping just as he gets used to the length of NBA defenders that you will see it improve as the season goes on.

Coby is still learning the PG position. I think he is in a great position in Chicago with you all signing Satoransky and having Arcidiacono on the team as well. Both are high IQ team first guys that I know Coby will soak up like sponges. He is still learning the correct pace, what is a good shot what isn't and when to make a risky pass and when not to. Those two are perfect for him to learn from.

Much has been said of Coby's work ethic and I want to say that none of it is sensationalized by the media. My sister's ex told me that Coby would be in the gym at 5 am before school would start, would stay after practice and always was enrolled in a weight lifting and conditioning course. My guys at UNC have told me that he is top 5 in terms of work ethic to ever play at UNC. The guy simply would not stop. He has a very very very short term memory, which is both a blessing and a curse for someone learning the PG position. If you ever have the chance to sit close to courtside at a Bulls game, do so. Coby talks nonstop to his teammates and has some good **** talking to whoever is guarding him. He lit up Josh Perkins a fifth year senior of Gonzaga and let him have it when he was on the court.

Coby's high school trainer is one of the best in the business. Check out this video of him:

Watch on YouTube

You can see the in game applicability and how Coby applied those skills in game film. Coby will eat up whatever is thrown at him and no one will outwork him.

His rookie year, I would play him around 24 minutes a game and split it up about 16 at PG and 8 at SG. He will change the pace when he is in the game. I would tell Coby to focus mainly on scoring and not put as much pressure on him to manage the team. I would make Coby and Satoransky watch a minimum of 10 hours of film together a week. Coby will eat it up and you will see him improve.

I would be 100% shocked if Coby White is a complete bust in the NBA. Unless he has a serious injury, I just can't see him not having a very long and prosperous NBA career. I have been wrong before, but he is special in terms of work ethic and has much skill to match his effort. At worst I think he is a 6th man on an average team. At best he makes a few all star games and is the number 2 option on playoff teams. I see him on a trajectory similar to Jamal Murray. You all are very very very lucky to have Coby White! I can't wait to see him develop as the season goes on!

Hope y'all enjoyed! Please feel free to ask any questions or have me clarify any of my statements.

[Chi town]

Fun and insightful post.

Top 5 work ethic in UNC history. 5am before class gym sessions. Great to hear. Sounds like the kid wants to be the best and he will get along with Zach great!

[The Senator]

Appreciate the rundown, interesting to hear from someone who's followed Coby for a good while and knows their ball.

[ImSlower]

Great write-up, sir. Good to hear, even through the heavy bias, that you think he'll do well for us.

[sco]

Great insights...Bulls fans thank you!

[Indomitable]

Excellent write up.

[bulls_4_life]

Great job. Thanks for sharing

[panthermark]

Nice write up!

[petebraun0]

I'd love it if Coby White ends up becoming the best point guard in his draft. We seem to do okay at number 7 on our picks. good luck Coby. Let's develop this kid the right way.

[Am2626]

I'd love it if Coby White ends up becoming the best point guard in his draft. We seem to do okay at number 7 on our picks. good luck Coby. Let's develop this kid the right way.

Yeah for drafting so low it looks like the Bulls have added some nice core pieces.

[samwana]

Great read, thanks for your insight. Much appreciated!

Sent from my POT-LX1 using RealGM mobile app

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

What an effing post. I'll be sharing it with friends who aren't on RealGM.

Thank you.

[DuckIII]

Thanks for the insight!

[coldfish]

Good to read about him being a workaholic. IMO, that's what separates NBA players from busts.

[TeamMan]

This write up pretty much confirms what I'd put together from information that I'd found about Coby.

To surmise:

- Coby's father was a basketball player.

- He has a brother that's an assistant BB coach.

- He scored the most points in NC prep history. (No wonder people were excited to see him knowing that he was on pace for this.)

- He scored more points than MJ in his freshman year at NCU. (Mike's championship year)

- He was considered one of the fastest (maybe the fastest) player with the basketball in college last year.

- In an interview, he said that the NC coaches told him to always push the ball at full speed.

- IMO it's typical for players that have athletes as parents to have a high work ethic because they learn from a very early age that if the want to win then they have to outwork the competition. (same is true with Lauri and Zach)

- IMO it's also to be expected that a player that has a brother as a coach is also a student of the game, and is flexible and adaptable to different coaching and team members.

[ZOMG]

Guys... having watched the SL, a horrible thought just popped into my head.

I don't know why I didn't see it earlier.

Is Coby White just a young Kris Dunn?

The similarities in their games (and problems) are truly eerie.

Can't really shoot, trouble finishing at basket, quick but not elite athlete, high/loose dribble, likes to pound ball, questionable decisions, true PG instincts weak (used to be a scorer)... see what I mean?

Somebody hold me.

[Finfro]

Guys... having watched the SL, a horrible thought just popped into my head.

I don't know why I didn't see it earlier.

Is Coby White just a young Kris Dunn?

The similarities in their games (and problems) are truly eerie.

Can't really shoot, trouble finishing at basket, quick but not elite athlete, high/loose dribble, likes to pound ball, questionable decisions, true PG instincts weak (used to be a scorer)... see what I mean?

Somebody hold me.

I really don't share your worries. To me Coby seems like a good shooter and good finisher. I don't get it where the "questionable decisions" come from either.

[sco]

Guys... having watched the SL, a horrible thought just popped into my head.

I don't know why I didn't see it earlier.

Is Coby White just a young Kris Dunn?

The similarities in their games (and problems) are truly eerie.

Can't really shoot, trouble finishing at basket, quick but not elite athlete, high/loose dribble, likes to pound ball, questionable decisions, true PG instincts weak (used to be a scorer)... see what I mean?

Somebody hold me.

I really don't share your worries. To me Coby seems like a good shooter and good finisher. I don't get it where the "questionable decisions" come from either.

Maybe you missed the Bulls' summer league. I'm sure you can find some White clips showing all of the bad passes and missed shots.

[Michael Jackson]

Guys... having watched the SL, a horrible thought just popped into my head.

I don't know why I didn't see it earlier.

Is Coby White just a young Kris Dunn?

The similarities in their games (and problems) are truly eerie.

Can't really shoot, trouble finishing at basket, quick but not elite athlete, high/loose dribble, likes to pound ball, questionable decisions, true PG instincts weak (used to be a scorer)... see what I mean?

Somebody hold me.

While White shot poorly in SL I am yet to worry about it he was good in college. His shot looks fine just wasn’t dropping. Early season it likely won’t either I bet but by the end of the season if it looks ugly still I’ll be worried



OP nice write up thank you for the effort. Meaningful thought out posts like this are appreciated.

[MeloRoseNoah]

Yup. Coby White has an elite work ethic even by NBA standards.

Bulls nation is going to be very surprised at the development of this guy throughout the upcoming season.

It will be a joy.