Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen has had a rocky start to his tenure as the Bulls’ lead man. Is it time to let him go or should the Bulls ride out the storm?
The Chicago Bulls have 99 problems and coaching accounts for like 32 of them. It’s easy to scream “Fire Jim Boylen!” at the top of your lungs, but there are some legitimate concerns about what happens when you fire a coach mid-season. Is Boylen a big enough disaster to warrant being fired almost halfway into the season?
Let’s start by looking at some things Boylen does well.
The good
I genuinely believe that Jim Boylen cares about the Chicago Bulls as an organization and all the players that make up the team. I don’t think there are selfish motives underneath his madness, and there’s something to be said about that. A lot of coaches use jobs as a stepping stool to get to a better job. I don’t think that’s what Jim’s doing. I don’t think he’s self-serving at all.
Boylen is also surprisingly adequate at drawing up out-of-bounds plays. Coming out of a timeout, I actually have a strong belief that the Bulls will score.
Check out this play Boylen drew up for the win against the Clippers:
Nice set from the Bulls here. LaVine gets a catch and Dunn (the inbounder) goes right to screen for him. Only it's a slip and he sprints to the wing. George is pointing for a switch, McGruder doesn't see it, LaVine turns the corner and gets the and one. pic.twitter.com/dgHyvoYDxo
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) December 15, 2019
That’s a really creative way to get a good look at the rim for your best player. Boylen deserves credit here.
The third and final thing Boylen has working in his favor is the Bulls’ defensive production. Boylen has the team playing an aggressive style of defense, which definitely has its negatives that many are rightfully pointing out, but has worked fairly well overall.
The Bulls are ninth in defensive rating and are among the league leaders in a plethora of hustle stats. The team is third in deflections per game, first in defensive loose balls recovered, eighth in charges drawn and first in steals (by a mile).
The bad
Unfortunately for Boylen, his failures as a coach shine brighter than his successes.
Boylen’s lineup management has been utterly painful to watch. It took him 28 games to figure out he needed to play Tomas Satoransky more than he was. He still doesn’t play Lauri Markkanen enough. He hasn’t figured out what a successful big-man rotation looks like. He’ll keep hot guys on the bench and leave cold guys on the court. It’s stupefying.
Game management, in general, is something Boylen has struggled mightily with. He’ll burn timeouts early, leaving the Bulls empty-handed when it matters most. Boylen also once pulled out Wendell Carter Jr. (the Bulls’ best rebounder) when they desperately needed to grab a key rebound. Those are the kind of coaching decisions that give your team a much lower chance of winning games — games a fringe playoff team desperately needs.
Verdict
Fans have been calling for Boylen’s job for quite some time now. The problem is the Bulls have actually been playing better lately. They’ve won four of their last seven games, and the three losses were all extremely winnable contests. Somehow, the Bulls are only two games out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Does that mean the Bulls should ride out the storm and keep Boylen for the season? If the Bulls were to fire Boylen and go a different direction, there would likely be some growing pains, resulting in more losses right away. It could mean they miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season. That’s not good for a city that desperately wants to win now, but it might be better for the team’s future.
The bottom line is the Bulls have a low ceiling with Boylen as their head coach. They’ll never be elite with him sitting at the head of the table.
Boylen is hurting this team more than helping, and he needs to be removed immediately. Maybe that means the Bulls lose a few more games this season, but the team will be better off because of it.
It’s time for Boylen to go.