Bulls forward Patrick Williams, who missed Wednesday’s loss in Milwaukee due to what the team referred to as left foot soreness, has been ruled out for at least Friday’s and Saturday’s games as well, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Williams returned to Chicago to undergo tests on his surgically repaired left foot and head coach Billy Donovan indicated that those scans showed severe inflammation, as Julie Poe of The Chicago Tribune relays. Further consultation with the Bulls’ medical staff will be required to determine a recovery timeline for the fifth-year forward.
“Obviously, he went on the injury report as questionable with the foot (Monday), and then I think in the game he mentioned that he was feeling it more at halftime, and after the game is when he really started to feel some … I don’t want to say significant pain but a lot more pain than he was feeling beforehand,” Donovan said, per Cowley. “When it felt like the pain was escalating, we wanted to get the imaging done just to see what’s going on.
“He’s got inflammation around that area, they want to figure out why, but it’s going to be at least a week or so to let that calm down and then there’s got to be a plan going forward of how to handle it.”
As Cowley writes, the hope is that Williams is just experiencing normal pain associated with the healing process for a surgery, but the inflammation is a concern.
With Williams unavailable, Donovan turned to Torrey Craig to fill the forward’s spot in the starting lineup, despite the fact that Craig had only logged 18 minutes across three games entering Wednesday’s contest. The veteran swingman acquitted himself well, recording 15 points, six rebounds, and a pair of assists in 28 minutes. He made 6-of-10 shot attempts and was a minus-two in the 16-point loss to the Bucks.
The Bulls also provided an update on point guard Lonzo Ball, who continues to recover from a sprained right wrist that has sidelined him since last month. According to Poe and Cowley, the hope is that Ball will be able to increase his activity in the coming week, but he’s still experiencing discomfort when he attempts to pass and shoot and isn’t expected to return until sometime after Thanksgiving.
“(The next week) will hopefully be when we start to see progress from him,” Donovan said. “I do think he’ll do more ball-handling, do more shooting, but for him to be really ramped up where we can see, it’s probably going to be (another week).”
Lol
No other words
With the ability to watch last night’s game for the first time all season (Thanks Jerry!)
Here is my brutally honest assessment of last night’s game.
1) Lavine looked like 2019/2020 All Star Lavine, with his shot making, his playmaking off double teams and being engaged and aggressive early in the game. I would keep him until the summer and hopes that his value increases given how he’s played so far into the young season.
2) Torrey Craig played his butt off last night, made valuable contributions on both ends of the floor. I’m hoping he can showcase his worth and we can possibly get some sort of future asset in teams that need him come playoff time.
3) Giddey looked absolutely lost out there last night. Didn’t contribute to anything on either side of the ball. He looked very uncomfortable and I was wondering when would he get benched for Terry or Phillips (which never happened).
4) This is the worst defensive Bulls team I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Nobody is picking up the roller, nobody is switching, nobody is really acting like it’s a “must stop possession” mentality late in games.
5) I see growth with a few of these guys but until Donovan is shown the door, Matas will never flourish in his rookie year, neither will Terry or Phillips. Too many inconsistent rotations by Donovan so far and it’s driving me nuts.
In response:
1) totally. He’s clearly bought in, at least enough to showcase that his stock is higher than most have given him credit for. While I agree that summer would make most sense, the question is whether keeping him till then jeopardizes their pick (while this team has still played badly enough to prolly make that moot, u never know w the state of the east).
2) Craig rly impressed me too. Don’t know why he hasn’t gotten playing time, he’s honestly the only 4 on the roster. Especially given this teams defense
3) mixed feelings on JG this year. He looked better at start of the year, did a nice job facilitating, pushing the pace, whipping the ball to the weak side, and sneaky rebounding. But as his play has diminished, feels like it reflects an identity crisis w this roster: they’ve prioritized uptempo jacking 3s, but that only works if JG has the ball. Seems too often that Zach & Coby have the ball instead, which makes JG useless off ball. It would prolly work a lot better without both Zach and Coby on the floor, wish Billy would stagger them a lil more. But regardless, Giddey has to pick an area to step up- either start knocking down a few more 3s or put a lil more on defense (first is prolly more feasible). Can’t be neither, he has to justify his presence if he wants to get paid.
4) yup :’) poor Stacey lmao
5) I’ve loved what I’ve seen from both terry and JP. Ayos struggled shooting but looks more decisive, the shooting will come back. Those 3 plus Coby/Pat should be the priority along w buzelis, especially since Matas has potential to be our 4 if he can bulk up, but clearly they haven’t trusted him for whatever rzn . They need to throw him into the fire to build him up, negative feedback loop regarding his confidence if he never plays
So now the Bulls don’t even have a BAD PF on the team and got creamed on the boards again. They will continue to do so until someone in the Bulls organization acknowledges that hey, It might be a good idea if we trade for one or draft one. You can’t trade Vujevic now or you have nobody on the team who can rebound except Sanogo. Ah what’s the use?
They kept telling us Polio Pat will be the starting 3 but I have yet to see it. They are still delusional and cannot see the holes in this team and continue to band-aid it lmao
Excellent analysis. I can see you did your homework. Enjoyed reading every word.
Thanks! Likewise. Certainly felt like homework w this team
Also polio Pat killed me lmao
LMAO I had too. I never saw a guy can’t jump off the ground for a dunk while being 6’8. Lmao
I feel bad for Bulls fans. You deserve better then this dumpster fire that has been raging for what feels like decades at this point.
All because of Jerry Reinsdorf. Shouldn’t be surprised that much because he owns two dumpster fires of organizations (Bulls and White Sox) and has been complacent by settling for middle of the pack. Hopefully he sells the teams to someone who actually cares about winning.
windycity i completely agree with you, as a chicago resident myself. I want nothing to do with Jerry’s teams because he makes Father Wirtz look like the 2nd coming of Santa Clause. We deserve better because this isn’t Oklahoma City or Portland, this is the 3rd largest market in the entire 50 states, and the most recognizable brand of professional basketball as a team in the entire WORLD.
Absolutely disgraceful.
I might watch the last dance during the holidays just to get my mental health back lmao. But then I see Jerry on my tv justifying breaking up a dynasty for the AGES when they were WINNING and i am back to square one.