DENVER – The NBA loves to fall back on “minutes restrictions,” especially this time of the year.
As the Bulls proved on Sunday, however, they can be more like “minutes suggestions.”
Take Coby White for example: The Bulls guard was making his season debut in the game against the Jazz, and in coming back from a right calf injury that sidelined him since August, he was on a restriction of 24 minutes.
The 24 minutes came and went, but the end result in what was a must-win game didn’t. Not only did coach Billy Donovan give White a few more minutes in the first overtime, but added just under four extra minutes in the second overtime.
Sure, the coach ran it by medical, and White and Bulls medical talked throughout, but the goal for the organization is to win games, so restrictions become flexible. The good news on Monday? White came out of the game fine.
“I talked to him (Monday) morning a little bit and he felt really good, so I think that was a positive sign,” coach Billy Donovan said of White. “Nothing with playing maybe six more minutes than we anticipated. It was a medical and Coby decision, but he felt fine, he felt good.”
He was still out for the back-to-back against Denver, but that was always the plan. The Bulls have a back-to-back this weekend on Friday and Saturday, so White will be picking his poison then, as well. Considering Miami is a Cup Game in pool play, all signs point to White playing Friday against Miami and sitting out the next night against Washington.
All White was happy about was playing in an NBA game again.
“The first half I was pretty tired, I was a little winded,” White said of the 27-point outburst. “Second half I started getting my wind. My legs felt a little heavy so that’s why some of my shots were short, missed a lot of chippies around the rim, so that comes with timing.”
Timing he’ll continue to work on.
White will still be on a 24-minute restriction against Portland on Wednesday, and that will stay on until after the game in New Orleans next week. The Bulls then have three straight off days, and Donovan’s hope is the restrictions will be removed by then.
Zach attack
Those three off days after the game in New Orleans could be key for another Bulls player, as that’s also when Donovan was hoping to get reserve center Zach Collins (left wrist) back into the practice mix.
“Because he’s been in the splint he’s lost a lot of mobility, flexibility and strength, so he’s got to get that back, so there will be a lot of things he’ll have to do in the weightroom to get those back,” Donovan said. “
“I’m probably being a little eager and optimistic, but I’m hoping he can get into practice in one of those days where we can have a contact practice. Until they figure out how long it will take to get his strength back to be able to go into a practice remains to be seen, but he can start doing things with his hand.”
Close watch
Ayo Dosunmu was able to play his usual rotation spot in headlining the second unit on Monday, but he was dealing with hamstring and calf tightness, so according to Donovan he was on a minutes watch.
It was not deemed to be overly serious.