In the NBA draft a few weeks ago, the Chicago Bulls used the 4th overall pick to select small forward Patrick Williams out of Florida State University. Williams taken so early was a shocker to many as fans and analysts alike scratched their heads at first.
Williams wasn’t even a starter for the Seminoles last season as a freshman. He was voted as the Sixth Man of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Despite coming off the bench, he earned an additional accolade with a spot on the ACC All-Freshmen Team.
Was Williams the best player available when the Bulls were on the clock at 4th? If not, what in the world were the Bulls thinking?
The same critique was thrown around when the Blackhawks took Lukas Reichel at the 17th spot in the NHL draft.
Let’s compare the supposed logic of picking Williams and Reichel in a little bit but first take a gander at another interesting comparison between the United Center co-tenants.
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In September the Bulls hired a new head coach in Billy Donovan. In just his first five NBA seasons coaching the Oklahoma City Thunder, Donovan ranks 17th in NBA history for best winning percentage by a head coach.
With the Thunder, Donovan came out like gangbusters in his first season with 55 wins. In the next four seasons his team rattled off 40+ wins (47, 48, 49, and 44) with that last season of 44 registered in ten less games due to the pandemic.
Prior to the NBA, Donovan was a long-time NCAA head coach starting in 1994 at Marshall University for two years then made his mark at the University of Florida for a stellar 19-year run.
Donovan led the Gators to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness) a whopping 14 times including back-to-back national championships plus an additional trip to the Final Four and three berths in the Elite Eight.
Contrasting with Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton, it’s no contest who is more accomplished and decorated. Granted, Donovan is 20 years older than Colliton so that needs to be kept in mind.
Although their track records are like night and day and despite their two-decade age difference, there are also similarities between these Chicago coaches.
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(The following quotes about Williams are courtesy of
Jamal Collier’s recent article in the Chicago Tribune.)
"[Patrick Williams] shoots the ball. He dribbles the ball. He’s big and strong and fast, can switch and guard all five positions," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "In the dictionary you see positionless basketball, his picture is right next to it. I just think he checks all the boxes."
Just like Williams plays positionless basketball, the same could be said about Reichel playing positionless hockey. Reichel knows how to play all three forward positions and is dependable in all zones.
That reliability also contributes to his effectiveness at even strength, power play, and penalty kill.
Before the NHL draft, I took a stab at
defining ideal attributes of the best player available when it would be the Blackhawks turn at 17th:
* Compete level
* Hockey sense
* Offensive skillset
* Defensive awareness
* Skating ability
* Coachability
* Resourcefulness
* Positional versatility
Based on several scouting reports and my rudimentary analysis, Reichel checked off all eight boxes.
So one would think the Blackhawks scouting staff felt the same way as FSU head coach does about Williams: “he checks all the boxes.”
"[Coming off the bench] just taught me to do my part and do it well," Williams said on draft night. "In the NBA it’s all about roles. Everybody can’t be a LeBron James from Day 1 or a Michael Jordan from Day 1. So you’ve got to kind of embrace your role and do your role well and then you’re trusted with more."
What Williams said about not needing to be a franchise player but embracing your role and doing it well instead is an accurate way to describe Reichel. Although the Hawks top pick isn’t going to be an elite player, he will be an impact one who can provide that reliable positionless hockey to help the team win.
But therein lies the rub with both Williams and Reichel as 1st rounders: did the Bulls and Hawks waste their #1 picks on players who are going to be really good -- even great -- but not elite?
It wasn’t like there were slim pickings for either team, especially the Bulls at the 4th spot and not by a longshot for the Hawks who could have drafted Dawson Mercer, Hendrix Lapierre, Braden Schneider, Connor Zary, or Mavrik Bourque.
However, are any of those five drafted after Reichel going to be elite players?
Maybe, but they could also end up on the same plane as Reichel. If so, then it boils down to who checks more boxes for what the team is seeking and what they covet in their prospects.
Added Hamilton: "That says a lot about the confidence that he has that he’s doing whatever he needs for the team to be successful. He wasn’t pouting that he wasn’t starting because he was playing as many minutes as anybody else...He was always in the game when the game was on the line."
Again, this harkens back to playing positionless basketball or hockey and being counted on in all situations -- even high-pressure or high-stakes ones whether the team is up or down on the scoreboard.
And this drives home the point that Williams said about not needing to be a franchise player. If he plays his role and plays it to a T, then he’s done his job as a go-to player who coaches will lean on constantly.
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(The following quotes about Donovan are courtesy of
K.C. Johnson’s September article on NBC Sports Chicago.)
"Because I knew he could relate to the guys," [Joakim] Noah said (after being asked why Donovan would succeed as an NBA head coach). "Still to this day, I remember some of the things he used to say. It kept happening throughout my career, just some of the things he was always preaching on."
Colliton has been dubbed a good developmental coach. His communication style based on non-stop flow between him and his players have aided in bringing along prospects and other young players.
On the flipside, though, Colliton doesn’t seem to do as well relating to the veterans. He’s still only 35 and didn’t have a long illustrious playing career.
How do you coach your contemporaries who have more laurels than you do?
At least Colliton doesn’t need to develop the core; rather, he needs to get them on his wavelength about the direction of the team, about strategies and systems, and about mentoring the youth who are the future of the franchise.
Even then, many argue Colliton still isn’t the best coach to do that. Is that because a coach like Donovan -- who is a relator like Colliton -- gets automatic credibility by virtue of his extensive resume dotted with winning seasons, playoff berths, and championships?
That does make sense, no doubt. Yet, given time once Colliton is 55 years old like Donovan is today, will we look back and see a similar curriculum vitae on Colliton’s LinkedIn profile?
Added Noah: "The players always enjoyed him. I think that’s a big part of it. Keeping it organized, staying organized but at the same time giving guys their freedom to play free and play the right way."
It’s tough to say if players enjoy playing for Colliton. Perhaps the younger ones do but it’s hard to think that some of the veterans do, too.
Either way, Donovan and Colliton both stress that playing the right way is paramount to team success. In Colliton’s case, he emphasizes work ethic and competitiveness as the main ingredients. Can’t really claim that those are bad traits to place a premium on as a coach.
However, where there may be a departure from Donovan is whether Colliton allows his players to play free as Noah described his former college coach.
While it’s not always a good thing to have the team play fast and loose, structure with built-in leeway for players to be creative using their instinct and IQ engenders trust.
Furthermore, coaching up a strict system that doesn’t have a safety valve is a recipe for disaster.
For instance, take the Hawks defense: when the system breaks down, the players struggle to regain form. The safety valve is that latitude for creative energy predicated on hockey sense and IQ to weather the storm.
"Stay focused on the team. It was always about that. I feel like he has no problem, it doesn’t matter who it is, he’s going to call it out. And I think that that’s really important, especially in this day and age," Noah said.
This description of Donovan mirrors exactly what Colliton believes in as a coach: the team comes first, not the individual.
Additionally, like Donovan, Colliton isn’t shy to call out any player whether they have three Stanley Cup rings or three NHL games logged on their career meter.
This mentality can be taken a step further when factoring in TOI allocation and drawing up the lineup card for the next game as Colliton is unapologetically willing to prioritize the youth movement and opportunities for said players to grow at the expense of the veterans.
When thinking about that aspect of roster management, there is a stark difference between Donovan and Colliton. Is Donovan better than Colliton, though, in this regard?
Some would assert yes, Donovan’s style is more endearing while Colliton’s style is more alienating. But if we hypothesize taking the veterans out of the equation, Colliton could be more on par with Donovan.
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One final connection to make between the Bulls and Blackhawks: Stan Bowman should consider inking towering center Lauri Markkanen to a PTO. That’s a hockey name right there.
You also can’t go wrong with someone nicknamed the Finnisher.
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