Talking it up tops Coby White’s to-do list for Bulls

Bulls point guard Coby White won’t shut up.

And, to a man, his teammates and coaches are loving it.

“He’s a lot more vocal,’’ forward Lauri Markkanen said with a smirk during a Zoom call. “[White] talks a lot.’’

With training camp underway this week, coach Billy Donovan wants him to keep talking.

“I think one of the things that was really great for me was having a guy like Chris Paul last year or even Russell Westbrook; they are great verbal leaders,’’ Donovan said.

Those names came up as he was discussing the art of communication and White’s learning curve in the hard-knocks curriculum of NBA point-guard university.

Ah, yes, communication.

Last season, it was one of the main reasons for the Bulls’ struggles. At least that was the excuse that was frequently trotted out.

When questioned about all the defensive breakdowns in the paint during the 2019-20 season, the problem always came down to a lack of communication. The poor execution coming out of halftime? “Communication.’’

So Donovan is looking for improvement in that area across the board, and it starts with the lead guard having a voice, even if it’s only his second season.

“I feel like as a rookie coming in, you’re seeing all these new faces, and in college, the guys are near your age range, 18 to 22,’’ White said. “But as a rookie, I was 19. Then you got Sato [Tomas Satoransky], who’s, like, 30, and Thad [Young] and Otto [Porter] and all those guys are older, and all those guys have huge voices, too. So it’s kind of overwhelming when you first get to the league just to have that vocal presence.

“But coach [Chris] Fleming was the first one to tell me after the season: ‘One of your biggest growth [areas] is leadership and having more of a voice on the court and demanding more and commanding more of the ball.’ So I’ve been focused on that, and then when coach Donovan got hired, the biggest thing he said was: ‘Your biggest leap this year will be just to be more vocal and communicative on the court.’ So that’s all I’ve been trying to focus on.’’

Well, not exactly. With less than three weeks to go before the start of the regular season, it’s only one of the things White needs to upgrade.

Coming out of North Carolina, White admitted that he didn’t even understand pick-and-roll concepts, and now he’s likely being handed the starting point-guard role on a 22-win team that believes its poor record belies its talent level.

“We had nine months off, so I feel like I’ve taken a huge leap in my game, especially in my decision-making and playing off the pick-and-roll,’’ White said. “Coming into my rookie season, coming off the pick-and-roll was something that we really didn’t do at North Carolina. So it was new for me, and then different coverages. So this whole nine months I’ve had time to work on these different coverages, what’s open, what’s not, and how to attack these different coverages.

“And to shoot off the dribble more consistently, finish at the rim, those are things I focused on the most. The game has really slowed down for me these last couple of months. [I’m] still learning, obviously still learning. Can never take that away, but I feel like I’ve made a huge leap, and I feel like I’ve gotten better, for sure.’’

Keep talking, kid. Keep talking.