Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
UNC Basketball Product Adds Weapon by Watching NBA Blue Devil, Others
Coby White has become a legit candidate to win the NBA Most Improved Player Award. The 2018-19 UNC basketball guard's Chicago Bulls (13-17) have won three straight games and eight of their past 11, climbing far from the cellar in the Eastern Conference standings.
White's growth deserves much credit for their emergence.
On Thursday night, in the Bulls' 114-95 home victory over the San Antonio Spurs, he finished with a game-high 22 points, adding six rebounds and five assists across his team-high 36 minutes of action.
It marked the former lottery pick's 17th consecutive contest scoring in double figures. He's tallied 17 or more in all 10 December games to date.
As one can see in the following highlight, where the NBA Tar Heel shimmies past a No. 1 draft pick in 7-foot-4 Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, White is consistently exhibiting new dance steps in his repertoire:
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Joe Cowley recently broke down the most impactful stride White has made:
"What is coming to White, the former North Carolina standout, is even more important after another offseason spent gaining strength and studying the competition. His three-pointer is lethal, but he’s also becoming a serious problem for opponents in pick-and-roll — specifically his ability to get a defender on his hip and go at his own pace to get to the spot he wants."
He sounds hungry for even more moves and is picking them up by regularly studying the league's top-shelf guards, including former Duke basketball one-and-done Kyrie Irving.
"I've been watching a lot of different players," White explained to Cowley, "even on nights off at home, just watching games, scrolling through Instagram or Twitter and seeing highlights.
"[Luka] Doncic, [Jalen] Brunson does it a lot, Kyrie [Irving] is good at getting guys on his hip and getting to his spot. Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] does it a lot — lulls guys to sleep and then just knows when to attack, how to attack them. I feel like the league is full of really good guards that know how to do it, so I’m just trying to add that to my game."
Job well done thus far.
Moreover, Coby White is durable. He's played all 30 Bulls games this season. And he's leading all former UNC basketball players in the league with his 17.6 points and 4.9 assists per game. That's not to mention his career-high 42.3 shooting percentage from downtown.
The Bulls next host the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.
Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI.com for more UNC basketball news.
