There’s going to be a lot of down time for Williams, as he’s headed for surgery that could end his regular season on Sunday. The second-year power forward suffered torn ligaments in his left wrist on Thursday, and has a long rehab road in front of him, according to coach Billy Donovan.
The ankle injury suffered late in the summer was a completely new experience for Patrick Williams.
It cost him a few weeks of voluntary workouts and three preseason games, leaving the second-year Bulls forward saying, “It was the first real injury I’ve ever had to deal with.’’
That was a bump in the road compared to the brick wall Williams collided with this week.
Torn ligaments suffered in his left wrist in the Thursday loss to New York now have Williams scheduled for surgery on Sunday, possibly missing the remainder of the regular season.
“It’s easy to look at it as something bad, but I’m just trying to not really think about that as much and look forward,’’ Williams told reporters on Saturday. “But it definitely sucks. There’s nothing good about being injured, nothing good about sitting out on the sideline.’’
Especially for the No. 4 overall pick from the 2020 NBA Draft just starting the all-important second season of his development.
There’s the concern for coach Billy Donovan, and the rest of the organization.
Not only do they have to keep an eye on making sure Williams is rehabbing and doing all the right things physically to get back, but that he stays engaged mentally.
“I think he’s still a little bit shocked,’’ Donovan said of Williams. “I think he’s trying to process it all. He’s never been hurt. He’s never had surgery before. This is totally new for him. My concern is he’s going to obviously keep his hand immobilized for a while, and it’s going to really inhibit the things he can do to stay in shape.’’
Donovan said that because Williams has to leave his hand bandaged a certain way for a while, even jumping on a stationary bike will be difficult because he won’t be able to grip anything.
Then there’s all the muscle added and conditioning Williams went through that will take more than a few steps back.
“We’re going to have to help him maximize his time because he’s going to have a lot of free time,’’ Donovan said. “His nutrition becomes heavily critical, how well he can take care of himself. He’s probably going to lose a significant amount of muscle mass in his upper body because he’s not going to be able to lift or do anything from that standpoint. The more we can keep him engaged with our team, because what happens is the season is going on and these games are coming, and coming, and coming, and he can feel like he’s over here on an island.’’
Green effect
Donovan had some options as far as how he planned to fill the void left by Williams in that starting lineup, and like he did in the preseason, opted to go with Javonte Green. His reasons were simple.
“I just think the energy he plays with, his aggressiveness,’’ Donovan said. “He’s versatile in terms of guarding multiple positions. He puts pressure out on the break. He’s extremely active on defense. His motor, is really what we need from him, and what he’s done in the preseason, what he’s done in the season coming off the bench.’’
Encore for Toni
Just two days after celebrating Joakim Noah, the Bulls honored Toni Kukoč and his induction into the Hall of Fame with the Class of ’21.
“I’m really, really happy that [former general manager] Jerry [Krause] stuck with that idea to bring me to the Bulls,’’ Kukoč said when he found out last spring. “Obviously he had a World Champion team there, but his idea of how can I fit in that team was something of him talking me into coming over there, and then giving it a shot was the turning point for me.’’
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3vXUGlr
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