Patrick Williams' growth "is going to be a process"

Everyone wants to see Patrick Williams succeed. Though it can be frustrating, we just need to be patient with him.

“Sometimes you see a guy like Dalen [Terry] last night, he’s just innately (gestures to emphasize that’s he’s quote unquote got it), and sometimes I think Patrick [Williams] can maybe overthink, he can over-analyze,” Billy Donovan said. “And I think when he does get to that place, sometimes he can get to a place where maybe he’s thinking too much and he’s not being instinctive. And then he gets to that point where he looks passive.”

We’ve heard this story before with Williams. We’ve heard it before with Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. too. This is going to be a process.

“The reality is, you’re going to make mistakes and you’re an imperfect player, as we’re all imperfect people,” Donovan continued. “The standard is great, but can he, when he makes a mistakes, not dwell into that, where we get four or five possessions where it’s like, he had opportunities to be aggressive but he’s living with what’s behind him. That’s the challenge.”

The Bulls reportedly picked up Williams’ fourth year player option and will continue to develop that aspect of his game, because they know the combination of work ethic, physical tools and abilities he has.

“There’s some guys who it comes very naturally to,” Donovan said. “His athleticism and size and strength doesn’t come naturally to a lot of other people. So that’s what he’s gotta focus on. That’s where the challenge is.”

Watching Williams, it’s clear he is still trying to fit in. As someone who appears to be more comfortable with the ball in his hands, it must be difficult playing alongside Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. Williams has largely been a standstill shooter, and though he converts at a high percentage, he doesn’t look comfortable. His release is quite slow and his track record of volume and passed up shots indicates his lack of confidence.

Though Williams himself does need to be better, it’s also on the coaching staff to develop a system conducive to his success. Donovan is not going to gift Williams a handful of pick-and-roll opportunities to let him learn on the fly. The Bulls can’t afford to do that if they also want to win games.

Instead, he needs to learn how to capitalize on his chances through “randomness” they have preached in training camp. In this new system, he’ll have more opportunities to be involved as a screener, attack closeouts, back cut and grab-and-go in transition. He just needs

“Finding those opportunities is a little different this year because we have kind of a different offense, trying to move it a little bit more,” Williams said. “When the ball is moving from side to side, the defense is going to break down. That’s just the nature of it. The more you move it, drive, kick swing. I think it’s easier to read that way instead of having to go one-on-one.”

Side pick-and-rolls aren’t anything different from what we saw last year, but getting the ball moving side-to-side first does help disrupt the defense. We’re starting to see more off-ball relocation, like in this play where Ayo Dosunmu floats towards the corner and Williams moves into that newly opened space. If he can be more decisive driving on these spray outs, he’ll continue to have opportunities within the half court offense to create for himself.

Williams will also need to capitalize on transition opportunities. The Bulls are clearly encouraging him to run out on rebounds and use his athleticism in the open floor.

Just dunk this!

My read on this is that his age or games played or the fact that he missed time due to injury, none of those things really matter. This is a question of mentality, and Williams will be the first to tell you that. I’ve written before about what is realistic to expect from Williams, and listening to Williams open up about it actually made me more confident in his ability to get to that point, while acknowledging it may take longer than we originally hoped.

“I think whether I was the fourth pick or the 40th pick, if you have the talent, you have the skill, you have the size to do something, guys are gonna want you to do it. I think when I do it we’re a better team, I’m a better player when I do it,” Williams said.

“So I don’t really see it as pressure, because it’s something I know I can do, it’s something I’ve done in the past. I just have to do it more consistently and I know that. I think that’s part of the growth for sure.”

If Williams misses a shot and then gets beat on the other end, he cannot afford to disappear. Through “self-talk” in games and getting involved in the next play, knows he can stay present. But that may take longer to develop than any physical or technical skill.

So we’ll just need to keep being patient.

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