7) Bulls Hire Tom Thibodeau
The Bulls waited about a month and a half before officially filling the shoes of Vinny Del Negro. They filled those shoes with Celtics Defensive master Tom Thibodeau and gave him $10 million to do it. Thibodeau was a much needed breath of fresh air for the Bulls who, since the days of Phil Jackson, haven’t found a coach who gels with the players and knows how to productively coach them. They found that man in Tom Thibodeau, but not before some knee-jerk speculation. Some feared Thobodeau would be offensively-challenged being a defensive mastermind. In addition to that, the Bulls had fired Vinny Del Negro for being too much of a hard ass on players, and Thibodeau was ten times as worse as Del Negro in the no-nonsense category. The results?
The Bulls are currently 23-15 and off to a better start then they were in both seasons with their former coach. There hasn’t really been a time in the past decade where Bulls fans have been confident and comfortable with their head coach for extended periods of time; not once this season has Thibodeau’s name been harshly questioned in a negative fashion. There is no question the hiring of Tom Thibodeau was the right move for the Bulls and his hiring is the start of a shining new era for the Bulls, and one that is looking to last a long, long time. Plus, he looks like he belongs in Chicago. Plus, he looks like he belongs in Chicago.