Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen raved about his rookie big man Wendell Carter Jr., praising his toughness and physicality despite being at the ripe age of 19.
The Duke standout has shown he belongs, often taking other big men's best shot in his first season in the league and showing he's able to handle the arduous contact that comes with banging on the block.
“He embraces collision and contact,” Boylen said, according to Sean Highkin of NBC Sports Chicago. “He likes to hit people. He doesn’t mind people getting into him. I think it’s maybe hurt him a little bit on defense in some ways, because he wants to grab and hold and hit people. But when you’re not afraid of getting hurt and you’re not afraid of contact, the game’s easy for you. He loves it.
“[Shaquille] Harrison was a football player, [Kris] Dunn was a football player. I think Wendell would have been a pretty damn good defensive end if he’d played football.”
As tough as Carter can be, there is the belief that he is being misused by Boylen, given that he looked like a modern finesse power forward/center coming out of his lone year of college.
Carter is shooting close to 50 percent from the field and a sparkling 80 percent from the free-throw line, but most of his looks have come under Boylen's archaic post-up style of offense — one that while effective, doesn't make the most of his abilities as a nimble, young, athletic asset for the Bulls.
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