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A Novel Idea: Let Tom Thibodeau Coach His Team

By Lamar Battle

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I think it’s high time to give Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau a break. Speculation has been rampant for the last couple of seasons that the coach is on shaky ground due to his acrimonious relationship with Bulls management, i.e. his bosses.

Can Thibs coach?

This comment from Dropsteps.com contributor Darryl Wren is worth repeating:

“Sometimes, it can be as simple as coach and management not getting along either personally, philosophically, or both but usually, it’s deeper than that. Rumors of Tom Thibodeau being fired started almost as soon as he was hired and I can’t understand why. He currently has a .637 winning percentage in the regular season for his last five seasons. Once again, I ain’t no mathematician but a .637 winning percentage is practically winning two out of every three games last I went to school. He’s done more with less (Kyle Korver, Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, CJ Watson, Marco Belinelli, etc…just to name a few) than any coach I can recall.”

Actually coach Thibs is generally considered by NBA coaches and players alike as one of the top five coaches in the league. His reputation as the point guard whisperer is only part of the story. Since becoming Bulls head coach, guard Derrick Rose won NBA rookie of the year and league MVP. Now let that sink in, Rose won the league MVP at a time when rival LeBron James was actually playing and healthy. I would figure that the coach should receive maybe a tiny bit of credit for that.

Center Joakim Noah won NBA Defensive Player of the Year and made All-NBA 1st team, Guard/Forward Korver’s career took off and he has never looked back. Bulls guard Jimmy Butler made his 1st All-Star team. Back up forward Taj Gibson is a perrenial challenger for 6th man of the year honors and two-time champion center Pau Gasol is having the best statistical year of his career at the tender age of 34.

Diminutive guard Robinson was one banana peel from being out of the league and the next thing I know he is starring in his own Taco Bell commercial.

Defensively, Thibs correctly figured out that former Bulls center Omer Asik possessed impeccable defensive footwork, and you guessed it. Omer eventually got paid.

With the exception of this year, Thibs’ teams have always been at or near the top of league defensive categories. All of this accomplished with a team that is in a constant state of recovery from injuries.

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There is one school of thought that says coach Thibodeau by playing guys extended minutes may be responsible for most of these injuries. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall Kareem, M.J., Scottie, Wilt, Both Bills, Moses, Oscar, Willis and the like ever complaining about too many minutes or that their injuries were the result of minutes.

Coach Thibodeau has correctly figured out that the road to true winning is paved with mental toughness and a belief that nothing can stand in the way of a team that never gives in to excuses of any kind.

Is this approach Navy Seal training? No, but it is close. What is really interesting is how the bulk of the blame for player injuries fall on the coach with no mention of the team’s medical and /or rehabilitative staff.

Almost to a man, current and ex-Bulls have nothing but glowing things to say about coach Thibodeau and players Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol have offered endorsements.

Can the rift be repaired?

It is also interesting that by allowing rumors of the rift between coach and management to persist, Bulls management is either accidentally or purposefully undermining the coach’s influence in his own locker room.

Is it a stretch to envision the coach’s influence being undermined? Not really, especially given the fact that there are prominent players openly (to the media) questioning the coach’s decisions regarding their 4th quarter minutes.

I could be mistaken but I believe it is the coach’s prerogative to play who he sees fit without having to justify his decisions with explanations of medical restrictions and the like.

Too bad for Bulls fans that a team with its best roster since that guy from North Carolina retired is mired in some sort of ego driven morass and that the sound you now hear could be that of the Bulls’ window slowly closing. It seems to me that somebody needs to take somebody out for a beer and figure this thing out. That is if winning a championship is the primary objective.

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