After suffering a left calf strain at training camp last month, Charlotte Hornets point guard Coby White felt like he needed to adjust his approach to the rehab process compared to what he had done in the past. Of course, he was allowed to be bummed that he couldn’t play for a few weeks, but the time off was going to be used constructively instead of feeling sorry for himself.
“The thing I wanted to do differently this year was being intentional while I’m out with what I’m doing,” said White following the team’s Monday morning shootaround. “Bettering myself, whether it’s through basketball or anything else. So, for me, before this season even started, I really picked up some great film habits, watching film, breaking down the game, and [figuring out] what ways I can help the team. Try to use [the time off] to my advantage and gain an advantage for when I do come back.”
“A couple of things that I’ve noticed from [White]; one, his body looks great,” said Hornets Head Coach Charles Lee before White’s season debut on Monday night. “That was something that he wanted to focus on, coming back and being in really good shape. You can’t really recreate basketball movements – stopping and cutting and going, the pace and physicality – but he wanted to make sure he was eating cleaner, and it’s definitely paying dividends. Then, it’s the engagement factor; the conversations he has with his teammates during games, the coaching staff and I have been phenomenal. Watching film with his teammates, putting together dinners with the guys, he’s just a phenomenal human being. He’s stayed engaged with all his teammates in all our games. I think that’s going to help him now when he’s ready to play because he hasn’t just sat there and sulked.”
During the Hornets’ 115-110 home victory over Miami on Oct. 24, White and Grant Williams, who is still working his way back from an early-September right hamstring strain, were both on their feet in the fourth quarter motioning and yelling out play calls to their teammates on the court. “I think just being vocal, being very intentional at practice, to the details, being vocal in the film room,” said White, when asked about how he found ways to contribute the past month. “I think just watching film a lot on my own and with the team, telling guys what I see.”
In his season debut on Monday night, White, who averaged 15.6 points on 46% shooting, 2.0 3-pointers on 39% shooting and 3.0 assists in 21 reserve appearances for the Hornets last season, finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, three assists and a +1 plus-minus in 16 minutes. It will take a few games for the eighth-year veteran to shake off some of the rust, especially because he didn’t play at all during the preseason and is temporarily on a minutes restriction. White’s shot-making and downhill driving should help kickstart a Hornets’ offense which thus far, has struggled mightily with turnovers and putting up points, although has been propped up a little by the league’s 14th ranked defense. The impending returns of Kon Knueppel, who became the first rookie to lead the NBA in 3-pointers last season, and Williams, a multi-positional, playmaking big, will also be crucial pieces to have back in the team’s rotation.
“We’re getting a lot of great looks offensively – they just haven’t fallen consistently over the course of the games we’ve played,” said White, on the Hornets sitting fifth in the NBA in wide open attempts (closest defender is six-or-more feet away) with 24.3. “I like where we’re at offensively. Obviously, we’re not where we want to be statistically, but like I said, our process has been really good in terms of creating open looks for each other and getting to our spots. The tide will turn and we’ll start making shots.”
Charlotte’s offense won’t instantly skyrocket to the top of the NBA rankings with their starting point guard back in the mix, but he will certainly help take some of the scoring load off Brandon Miller, Naz Reid and Grayson Allen. The Hornets won’t be asking White to deliver other-worldly performances either – all he needs to do is just be himself and the rest will take care of itself.