Chicago Bulls: Coby White’s star power shines bright in preseason finale
The Chicago Bulls look to have struck gold three years running with the No. 7 overall pick, as Coby White has put on a show in preseason play.
Last night, the Chicago Bulls had many players impress in a blowout 111-93 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Zach LaVine was electric as usual, scoring 23 points. Wendell Carter was back in full force in the paint, swatting away three shots. Kris Dunn played hounding defense and had an overall positive impact on the game without scoring a single point. That being said, no star shined brighter last night than Coby White‘s.
Thus far in the Summer League and preseason, White has not shied away from putting up shots. However, he seemed to have great difficulty adjusting to the NBA’s deeper 3-point line at first. He infamously only hit 3-of-30 shots from deep in the Summer League, a performance concerning for many Bulls fans.
He has since seemed to adjust nicely however. Last night, Coby exploded for 29 points and 6 rebounds while going 10-for-14 from the field. Even better, he nailed six 3-point shots on just eight attempts.
In case you missed last night’s action, check out some highlights from Chicago’s new rookie in last night’s game below.
https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1185025576316362752?s=20
Don’t be mistaken, this wasn’t a flash in the pan performance either. In just 25 minutes per game, Coby has put up averages of 19.2 points and 4.2 rebounds across five preseason games. He has also hit an astounding 43.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc on a sizable sample size of 7.4 attempts per game.
Of all rookies that have played in the preseason, White has averaged the second highest points per game — only behind Zion Williamson himself. He also has the fifth highest 3-point percentage of all rookies to participate in at least two preseason games, putting his name among the likes of sharpshooters such as Tyler Herro, De’Andre Hunter and Cameron Johnson.
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If this is version of Coby White the Chicago Bulls consistently get during the regular season, they will be genuine playoff contenders for the first time in three years.