Patrick Williams on his continued struggles: I don't really have an answer for it
Even amid another losing season for the Chicago Bulls, the wing often fades out of focus by the final buzzer. Patrick Williams often struggles to score in double digits, gets outrebounded by guards, never leads the team in any meaningful statistic. Night in and night out, his minutes on the court only stir up increasingly frantic questions. How does it take five years for a No. 4 pick to record six double-doubles? How can a 6-foot-7 wing finish a game without a single rebound? What is it going to take to find his confidence again? What the hell is going on with Patrick? Williams meets most questions this season with mirrored confusion: “I don’t really have an answer for it.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
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Patrick Williams knows he isn’t living up to expectations.
But the former No. 4 pick still can’t tell what’s gone wrong — or how to fix it.
Went long with Patrick on the missed dunks, ball handling and shaky confidence that have defined Year 5.
chicagotribune.com/2025/01/16/chi… - 10:02 AM
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chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2025/01/… - 9:21 PM
Today marks another landmark day in NBA trade season. The following players are now eligible to be moved:
Nets: Nicolas Claxton
Hornets: Miles Bridges
Bulls: Patrick Williams
Pacers: Obi Toppin
Lakers: Max Christie
Grizzlies: Scotty Pippen Jr.
Heat: Haywood Highsmith - 9:47 AM
Trade restrictions have been lifted for the below 18 players.
96% of the league is now trade eligible.
Brooklyn: Nicolas Claxton
Charlotte: Miles Bridges
Chicago: Patrick Williams
Indiana: Obi Toppin
LA Lakers: Max Christie
Memphis: Scotty Pippen Jr.
Miami: Haywood - 7:50 AM
More on this storyline
Even as the game slows down for him, Williams is struggling to see the floor as a proactive attacker. For a player like LaVine, it’s almost second nature to see those half-second openings when he can slip between two bodies or beat a defender off the dribble. For Williams, those chances are still more clear in hindsight. “I’m watching film and trying to see where those opportunities are,” Williams said. “Opportunities change from the first to the third quarter or even between games. It’s something I got to figure out. I need it. We need it. It’s not something we can hold off on. It makes us a better team.” -via Chicago Tribune / January 16, 2025
The truth is, he’s just as frustrated as anyone else. He knows he’s not living up to expectations. Averaging 9.4 points and four rebounds in his fifth NBA season isn’t exactly fitting the bill of a promising young star. But Williams still can’t figure out what’s wrong — or how to fix it. “It’s obviously a challenge,” Williams told the Tribune. “I never want to be bad at anything on the court. I always want to try to make the right play. I work really hard at it. I don’t have one reason that I can give you for any of it.” -via Chicago Tribune / January 16, 2025
Williams went 51-for-54 on dunk attempts in his rookie season, according to Basketball Reference. He didn’t slow down in his second season, completing his first 11 dunk attempts before dislocating his left wrist in the fifth game of the season. When he returned from surgery five months later, Williams was a different player. Whatever edge he possessed as an attacker had dissolved during recovery. Williams became tentative on the glass and timid with the ball in his hands. And then the lowlights began — dunks that died at the rim, slipped from his grip to ricochet off the backboard, caromed off the iron to fly skyward. Since returning from the wrist injury, Williams is 94-for-132 (71.2%) on dunk attempts. This season, he has made only four of nine attempts, including the finish against the Pelicans on Tuesday. Two of his completed dunks this season occurred in the same game — a Nov. 13 upset of the New York Knicks, which also was Williams’ highest-scoring game of the season (18 points). -via Chicago Tribune / January 16, 2025
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Patrick Williams on his continued struggles: I don't really have an answer for it
