At the start of the season, everything was going downhill for the Chicago Bulls. It looked like they were headed straight for a rebuild, and they still might be. However, they have a few bright spots now, and the primary one is Coby White, who has been nothing short of amazing this season.
With Zach LaVine missing significant time, White stepped up in a big way. He’s been one of the driving factors for Chicago’s success, as he and DeMar DeRozan have been the leading scorers during the Bulls’ recent surge. However, at 23 years old, White still has plenty of room to improve.
White recently spoke about the next step in his evolution as a player – off-ball movement.
“Figure out how to move without the ball more,” White said via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I need to watch more film on moving without the ball, getting into those open areas. AC [Alex Caruso] does that really well, and JC [Jevon Carter] does it really well, finding open areas, knowing drives and where to be. I want to play off those closeouts because I feel that’s where I’m most impactful, playing off the closeouts with either catch-and-shoots or driving it and get my playmaking involved.”
So far this season, White is averaging 17.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 44.4% from the field and 39.6% from behind the three-point line.
If White can nail down his off-ball movement, his game with take another step forward. He has a real chance to be a star in Chicago.
