Chicago Bulls rising star Coby White has not only found his stride on the court in his fifth NBA season. He’s also found his voice as a leader, something Head Coach Billy Donovan has commended him for before. White showed that leadership following the Bulls’ 109-91 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 15.

It was just their second loss in the last six games. But White’s message was clear.

“We gotta compete better,” White said via Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. “Be more locked in.”

Coby White also spoke to how the Bulls guards can help make opposing teams uncomfortable to eliminate offensive rebounds and second-chance points, especially against players like Jarrett Allen. pic.twitter.com/2GrobSMbXM

— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) January 16, 2024

The Cavs hauled in 13 offensive rebounds to the Bulls’ six, and they doubled-up the Bulls in second-chance points 26-13. They also shot just 28.1% from beyond the arc, leaving Donovan to note the Cavaliers outhustled them.

Cleveland went on a 29-10 run to end the game Chicago’s 81-80 lead in the fourth quarter.

A 9-0 Cavs run while the Bulls committed seven of their 19 turnovers – which led directly to 18 points for the Cavs – from that point on helped spark that turnaround.

White committed seven turnovers and was quick to shoulder the blame.

Coby White: ‘I Got to be Better Overall’
“I just got to be better overall,” White said. “In the fourth quarter, we got the lead and I need to manage the game better. Can’t turn the ball over. Just gotta be better if I’m going to be the lead guard for this team.”

He finished with a team-high 18 points with four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal.

But he was inefficient, shooting 5-for-15 from the floor, including 1-for-5 from downtown.

After sinking at least three three-pointers in five straight contests, White is now 1-for-8 over the last two games. He only recently emerged from a 3-for-31 slump from beyond the arc that also spanned five games.

“I think this is a great learning opportunity for Coby,” Donovan said, per NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson on January 15. “He’s been so elite, been so great.”

It wasn’t just an off-night for White, with the Bulls shooting 42.2% as a team.

“We shot it really poorly,” Donovan said. “We’ve got to be able to work our way through that when shots aren’t going. If we had cleaned up the defensive rebounding and blocking out, we wouldn’t have had such a hole.

“The thing that was disappointing was a lot of the stuff when we got up by one was self-induced. … It was all stuff we did to ourselves.”

Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu Dealing With Shoulder Injury
While the Bulls performed poorly on the floor, they also came out of the game a little worse for the wear, with Ayo Dosunmu aggravating a shoulder injury. Dosunmu originally picked up the injury against the San Antonio Spurs on January 13, per Johnson.

The third-year guard is optimistic about his outlook.

“I shouldn’t have to miss anything,” Dosunmu said, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic on January 15. “After like 30 minutes, after I got some work on it, it feels good. The initial pain is what’s frustrating.”

The Bulls will get a couple of days off for rest and travel before taking on the Raptors in Toronto on January 18, giving Dosnumu some time to mend.