It’s tough for coach Tiago Splitter to guess how many minutes Noa Essengue was going to get on Saturday against the Wizards.
The second-year forward has emerged in that rotation mix of the No. 9 or No. 10 guy, based on matchup, according to Splitter, and he insisted that he planned to lean more on Zach Collins, anyway, because of his physicality in the paint counters what the Wizards bring to the floor.
By tip-off Essengue’s minutes weren’t an issue, however, with the medical staff deciding that the light sensitivity Essengue was experiencing after he took a shot in the head during Friday’s victory against the Bucks was enough to sideline him for a night.
Not exactly great timing since Essengue had by far his most productive minutes of his career against the Bucks, but again a reminder that the 19-year-old is still a project.
At least he’s one that Splitter and the organization feel a little better about.
Not the case in July, when Essengue’s effort and his habit of being overly emotional didn’t sit well with Splitter. What ended up sitting well with the coach was Essengue, benched throughout Summer League.
Message received.
“It was a strong message,” Essengue told the Sun-Times last week. “To see my playing time cut in Summer League because they said I don’t put any force or energy on the court, it was something where it just forces you to change it, to put that force out there.”
That mentality earned Essengue 10 minutes of work in the blowout to the Raptors, but saw that bump to 17 minutes against the Bucks. And his role is simple: Be a disrupter on defense with his length.
Splitter did reiterate that Essengue’s presence on the floor was match-up based from game-to-game, but at least the forward is seemingly out of Splitter’s doghouse.
“There’s a feel of course,” Splitter explained on Saturday when asked about handling Essengue with tough love. “From the first meeting I had with him, he asked me to be coached hard, that’s what I did. I told him the truth, I was honest with him, and he reacted.
“Kudos to him to approach it differently. Yes, he can make mistakes but at least he’s trying to do the right thing and he’s playing hard. That’s my take on him.”
Odd man out
It continues to be very clear that Patrick Williams has not only fallen out of the rotation but is not even a thought come mop-up time. He was the only active player to not get minutes in the blowout loss to Toronto on Wednesday and didn’t sniff the court in the Bucks win.
That wasn’t an issue Saturday, however, with Williams being ruled out with a sore groin. It was not believed to be serious.
For openers
Even going back to the preseason, the Bulls’ starting unit hasn’t looked connected for extended period of times. Maybe it’s the group still trying to figure out Splitter’s system and executing it more consistently or maybe it’s just growing pains because of all the changes.
Rookie Caleb Wilson didn’t sound overly concerned with the starting group.
“Sometimes it does [look stagnant] but that’s just basketball,” Wilson said of the slow starts. “We’re all playing together, we have a new coach, a new system, some of us are new to the team, and I’m one of the focal points of the team and I’m a rookie in the NBA trying to figure it out myself.
“It’s stuff we have to work on and get the chemistry on, get better and better.”
