Looking back on his first season as a head coach, the Windy City Bulls’ Charlie Henry doesn’t want it to end just yet.
“You’ve coached 48 professional games,’’ Henry said. ‘‘There are experiences in every game as far as decision-making, lineups, end of games, matchups and schemes. I definitely feel, much like our guys, that I’ve grown a ton. I wish we had 30 more games. I wish we played 82 like the big team. Unfortunately, it’s coming to a close at the end of the week.”
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Henry and Windy City (23-25) were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday, when they lost 104-93 to the Grand Rapids Drive, the G League affiliate of the Pistons. Windy City got itself into the postseason hunt with a six-game winning streak but dropped its last three games, all at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
“Would’ve liked to have played better these last three games, but I thought we were playing pretty well heading in,” said Henry, who’s planning to return to Windy City next season. “I think that’s what makes it tougher.”
Winning in the G League, while important, isn’t everything. Player development is the league’s main raison d’etre, and Henry saw a lot of individual growth during the season.
Antonio Blakeney — a two-way player who has appeared in 32 games with Windy City and 19 with the NBA Bulls — averaged a G League-best 32 points per game but also made strides on the defensive end.
Fellow two-way player Ryan Arcidiacono is averaging 13.8 points and 8.6 assists.
Henry was happy with how Windy City improved defensively.
After allowing at least 100 points in its first seven games, Windy City’s defense stabilized and is holding opponents to 44.8 percent shooting from the field, tied for sixth in the league through Tuesday.
“It’s definitely a collective pride as well as pride in getting individual players better,” Henry said.
Henry wants to see his players take advantage of the last two games of the season.
“We want to end our season playing the right way even with us out of the playoff race,’’ Henry said. ‘‘These guys, they want to end it and show their basketball character, which is playing hard and playing together no matter what the stakes are. After that, you start to look forward and kind of look back, see what you can do better and improve upon and keep moving.”
Follow me on Twitter @BrianSandalow.
