The first basket from Coby White didn’t come until the 8:42 mark of the opening quarter.
A three-pointer courtesy of a Patrick Williams assist.
The Bulls guard didn’t even score in the second quarter, taking just one shot against the Raptors on Monday.
An off night for White in the eventual 122-121 win for the Bulls?
Maybe, or maybe just White having a better understanding of the long game. An understanding of when to let the game come to him and when to go to the game and grab it.
By the time the third quarter ended, it was grabbed.
Thanks to White’s team-high plus-11 in the third, the Bulls put up 42 points to take control of the scoreboard, led by White scoring seven points, handing out two assists and even registering a steal in that stanza, all on a night that the starting backcourt was without Zach LaVine (back), the rotation was still without Dalen Terry (knee), and Josh Giddey eventually left the game with a rolled right ankle.
Old Coby White might have taken those absences as a chance for him to come out and have a three-point contest with him as the lone contestant.
But this is White with yet another lesson learned in his development. That there’s a long game to a game, a season, and a career. A lesson learned last year.
Playing heavy starting minutes for really the first time last season, White admittedly hit a wall. This for a player that always believed that more work fixes everything. The problem was he was physically worn down by the second half of the 2023-24 campaign. The numbers reflected that.
Entering the All-Star Break, White was averaging just under 20 points per game and doing so on 39.7% from three-point range and 46.3% from the field. After the break his scoring went down a bit to 18 points per game, but the efficiency was really the issue. White’s outside shooting dropped to 32.3% from three, while his overall field goal shooting was down to 41.3%.
That was the focus in the offseason. Make sure that wall isn’t hit, and if it is having the ability to run through it.
“I think the biggest thing that he is at least aware of is one, the length of the season,” coach Billy Donovan said of White. “He’s way more in tune with his body where he has to change his routine a little bit. Coby has always been kind of a worker, he just works. So if there’s something that’s not going well he’ll just keep working at it, working at it, and working at it, but I think there’s a balance for him in terms of his routine.
“I think when players get to that place where they’ve gone from this development stage to where they have kind of established themselves, and then they start to realize, ‘Man, this is a heck of a load to have to carry, not only every night but for 82 games,’ I think you start to evaluate and look at, ‘What are the things I need to do differently to take care of my body, make sure I’m somewhat fresh?’ I think he does have a better understanding of that.”
That’s why White isn’t overly concerned with stats and numbers through the first 27 games this season. He’s more concerned with consistency and finishing strong.
Even on a night up north where his team necessarily didn’t.
A 16-point fourth-quarter lead did shrink down to just a point with 2:28 left. White put the Bulls back up three with a finger roll and Nikola Vucevic all but iced the game with a baby hook off the White assist with 14 seconds left.