To Coby White, there’s only one way to judge his night. And it involves team points, not individual ones.
Yeah, his career-high 36 points is, in his words, “cool” and all, particularly since they came with seven assists and zero turnovers in his 40 minutes Wednesday night.
But the Kings’ 128-124 victory is what White took with him into a postgame weightlifting session with Garrett Temple.
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“We didn't get the win so (the career-high) doesn't really matter to me,” White said. “That's what point guards are judged on, wins and losses.”
With this mindset, is there any wonder why White continues to make progress in coach Billy Donovan’s goals for him? White probably never will be a pure point guard. With Zach LaVine taking over primary ballhandling responsibilities on multiple possessions, White is playing off the ball some -- and that’s even before Tomáš Satoranský’s return from COVID-19.
But White now has three games with seven or more assists on the young season. And that’s even with his scoring gene in full effect.
“I told him this: He got to this level because of what he can do scoring. But if you ask him what he really wants to become, he’ll tell you he wants to become a really point guard. But I think it’s going to be a work in progress with him,” Donovan said. “He has always had a mentality of looking to score and being aggressive. It’s OK to be aggressive.
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“But a lot of times as a point guard, you have to understand there are four other people that are relying on you organizing things, And obviously, I try to help him from the bench. And we’ve had really good discussions and really good film sessions together. And I want him to be aggressive. I want him to be who he is. But I told him he should evaluate his job based on what kind of shots we are getting as team, not maybe how well he is scoring.”
Donovan specifically cited White displaying “herky-jerkiness” and hesitation moves to be shifty while probing the defense. That’s growth in his facilitating.
As for scoring growth, White finished far better. He sank 11 of 12 shots from inside the paint against the Kings after entering the night shooting just 35.7 percent from inside the restricted area. Last season, White shot just 49.6 percent from inside the restricted area.
“Just trying to have little techniques around the rim instead of just trying to go straight through the big,” White said. “Just staying locked in and focused on the rim. Put my eyes on it early. I think last year I kinda went in there and I wasn't really focused on the rim. I was more so trying to get a foul call.”
And here's where we pause to remind all that White has started 10 NBA games.
Temple has been impressed by White.
“I can’t say enough about him,” the veteran wing said. “His mentality -- 10 rebounds last night. So he’s getting dirty. He fights on defense as well as he can.”
That’s the thing about White. He puts the work in to try to respond to challenges. Even if he ultimately isn’t a pure point guard, he’ll do whatever he can to grow in that area if that’s what the team needs.
And that’s what this team needs for now.
“He’s a hard worker. When you show him things to work on, he really responds,” Donovan said. “And I think he has a deep internal drive to be great.”
You can’t measure that dynamic on a scoreboard. Or can you?