The lull in statements from the Chicago Bulls front office on the job security of head coach Jim Boylen should draw interest to the state of the franchise.
There should be no part of the Chicago Bulls fan base that is the least bit surprised about John Paxson sticking up for head coach Jim Boylen in a recent Q&A that he did with Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Bulls are in the business of frustrating their fans to the utmost degree.
The Bulls don’t need to take a patient approach in the third year of this rebuild. The time for patience should be well behind the Bulls as they are about to tip-off their 29th game of the regular season. Through the first 28 games of the regular season, the Bulls own a record of 10-18. At least they knocked off a true title contender in the Los Angeles Clippers at home at the United Center by the final score of 109-106 on Dec. 14.
But that was the first time that Boylen beat a team with a .500 record this season. The previous nine wins for Boylen and the Bulls came over subpar competition, to say the very least. But now the Bulls are about to hit a tougher point in their schedule. They have a long road trip to round out the month of December.
That includes yet another matchup against the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to round things out for the calendar year.
Paxson on Boylen hob security:
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) December 14, 2019
When asked if Boylen was in trouble, Paxson responded, “No, no … ‘’
No Christmas Day surprises about a coach getting fired?
“No … look there is no quick fix to right where we’re at,'' Paxson said.
On the subject of Boylen’s job security, there’s apparently no “Christmas Day surprises about a coach getting fired” in store for the Bulls this season. Last season, the Bulls got rid of former head coach Fred Hoiberg after a rough 5-19 start through the month of December.
While Boylen looks to be an even worse head coach than Hoiberg, he’s probably not going anywhere anytime soon. Paxson and Gar Forman seem to like Boylen a lot and how much he integrates the front office and ownership into all of his day-by-day decisions with the team.
However, this piece from the Chicago Sun-Times also dove into the frustrations of the Bulls fan base with this organization of late.
Here’s what Paxson had to say on the subject of the fan’s frustrations with the Bulls.
"First of all, our fan base has been terrific, and I’m really sensitive to that [frustration they have], I want our fans to care about us, I want them to see a product out there that they can root for. I get it. I own that. I own that we’re not at that level. First of all I am in lockstep with Jim and his commitment to where we want to get to. That’s not wavering at all.’"
There’s no wavering to the support that the front office is giving to Boylen and this Bulls coaching staff of late. Despite the poor start to the regular season, there’s still a chance that the Bulls manage to improve enough in the win column from last year until now to save Boylen’s job for one more year.
A key Dec. 16 showdown on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder will be very telling as to how this Bulls team will respond coming off their biggest win of the season so far. The usual for the Bulls is falling short in cataclysmic fashion after winning a game like they did against the Clippers last weekend.