Tag: patrick williams

Bulls forward Patrick Williams has big defensive role against Bucks in playoffs

Young Patrick Williams has a big role on the Chicago Bulls as they face the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. Via the Chicago Tribune:

Patrick Williams is well aware that guarding two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is a difficult task.

Williams is seven years younger, four inches shorter, 30 pounds lighter, and four inches shorter than Milwaukee Bucks star Nikola Mirotic. He has never participated in the NBA playoffs and missed the entire regular season with the Chicago Bulls due to a wrist injury.

But the Bulls forward can not let uncertainty enter in if he wants to slow down one of the league’s top players.

“I feel like a lot of people in this league are scared or nervous to guard guys like that,” Williams said Wednesday ahead of Game 2. “Obviously (Antetokounmpo) is good. He’s a two-time MVP. But he puts his pants on the same way I do. He is good, but he’s not God.”

Despite his youth, Williams is a perfect match for Antetokounmpo’s defense. Williams is long enough to hinder Antetokounmpo’s shot around the rim while also being quick enough to disrupt his straight-line drives to the rim. [But] no one expected to slow Antetokounmpo down in a one-on-one matchup.

Game 2 of the series is tonight in Milwaukee at 9:30 PM ET on TNT TV.

Bulls forward Patrick Williams reportedly out with serious wrist injury

A talented young Bull will reportedly miss most or all of the 2021-22 NBA season, unfortunately. Via ESPN.com:

Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated left wrist and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, sources told ESPN.

Williams tumbled out of the air on a flagrant foul by New York’s Mitchell Robinson on Thursday night, landing on his left wrist and suffering a severe perilunate dislocation, the source said.

There’s hope that a timeline on a return could make it possible for Williams to return for the playoffs, a source told ESPN.

Official 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie teams announced

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards have been unanimously selected to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today. Ball, the 2020-21 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, and Edwards received NBA All-Rookie First Team votes on all 99 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Joining Ball and Edwards (198 total points each) on the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton (197 points; 98 First Team votes), Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey (162 points; 63 First Team votes) and Houston Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate (154 points; 57 First Team votes).

Ball led first-year NBA players in assists (6.1 apg) and steals (1.59 spg) and ranked second in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). He won the first three Kia NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards. Edwards, the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged a rookie-high 19.3 points per game. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month in each of the final three months of the season.

Haliburton, who won the first two Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards, ranked third among rookies in scoring (13.0 ppg) and second in assists (5.3 apg). Bey, the 19th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, made a rookie-leading 175 three-pointers and was named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 8. Tate, who was not selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Rockets after playing last season for the Sydney Kings in Australia’s National Basketball League.

The 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley (148 points), Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (88), Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (71), Cleveland Cavaliers guard-forward Isaac Okoro (53) and Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (50).

The media voting panel selected five players for the NBA All-Rookie First Team and five players for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at any position. Players received two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote.