The comparison was cruel for Patrick Williams. Against the Raptors, the 4th choice of the 2020 Draft finished with 6 points at 1/8 to shoot in 21 minutes. In the same match and with five minutes less, Javonte Green scored 17 points at 7/8 shooting.
It is a bit like the symbol of the distance confrontation between the two players, during this pre-season, for a starting place. Even if the former Boston prefers not to raise this issue.
“There is no competition”, he explained to NBC Sports. “It’s just about making the team better. No matter who starts, we trust the staff to put the players in the right conditions. I don’t care if I start or not play, as long as I contribute to the team. Whatever the coach decides is fine with me. »
So far, Javonte Green has done his best to deserve to start matches with an average of 16.7 points in the preseason, with percentages that are too good to be true: 77% shooting success and 75% at 3-pts. When Patrick Williams is 7.3 points on average and 33% in shooting.
In addition to his energy, in order to compensate for his small size for a strong winger position (1m93), the former Radford knows that it is his outside shooting that can permanently install him in the five major of Chicago.
“This summer, I dedicated myself to keeping the game out of the way to make things easier for Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. They are attracting the attention of the defenses and I am determined to put the shots open to relieve them. I’ve worked hard in this area, and so far it’s paying off. But there is still work. »
Patrick Williams on the bench?
Holder 45 times last season, Javonte Green had mainly benefited from the injury of Patrick Williams. There, the two players are in competition and Billy Donovan has already sent a first message by leaving his young player twice on the bench at the start of this preseason, against Denver then against Toronto.
“During training, I am often in both teams (incumbents and substitutes)so it’s the samecommented Patrick Williams for The Athletic. “I don’t think about that too much. When the coach put me as a substitute, I accepted. Javonte is an excellent player, who plays with a lot of energy. I saw that he could bring that and it worked well because we won. »
The Bulls coach immediately dismissed the idea of a “demotion”, but imagining Patrick Williams outside of the five majors this season clearly does not seem fanciful. Plagued by injuries since his arrival in the league, the latter is still struggling to show his potential and remains too timid and irregular. Whereas, as Billy Donovan observes, “when we put Javonte on the floor, we know what he will bring”.
| Javonte Green | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | BOS | 48 | 10 | 50.0 | 27.3 | 66.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.4 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 41 | 12 | 52.0 | 33.3 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.6 |
| 2020-21 * | BOS | 25 | 14 | 54.9 | 31.8 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 4.2 |
| 2020-21 * | CHI | 16 | 8 | 45.2 | 37.5 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 2.6 |
| 2021-22 | CHI | 65 | 23 | 54.2 | 35.6 | 83.3 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 7.2 |
| Total | 154 | 16 | 52.8 | 33.5 | 77.5 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.1 | |
