Chicago Bulls: Was Jim Boylen’s infamous timeout acceptable?
By Luke Askew
Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen has made some cringe-worthy decisions lately. Was his infamous timeout at the end of the Raptors game acceptable?
Jim Boylen is no stranger to controversy. Chicago Bulls fans have been in a constant state of frustration and confusion ever since he took over as the head coach. He makes weird, indefensible decisions day in and day out, and against the Raptors, he made one of his strangest moves yet.
The Bulls hung with the Raptors for the first half of the game, but let it slip away in the second half. That wasn’t surprising. The Raptors are the defending champs and one of the best teams in the league, and the Bulls are… the Bulls. A blowout was almost inevitable.
What was surprising, though, was Jim Boylen calling a timeout with 1:04 left in the game and the Bulls down 25 points.
Boylen was asked about the timeout after the game and had some interesting comments defending his decision, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
"“I was trying to run something with my 2nd group. I got a G League guy in there who I haven’t coached much on an ATO. I don’t stop coaching the team because we’re down. I’ve never done that, never will,” Boylen said."
Does Boylen have a point? Should he keep coaching until the final buzzer?
The answer is complicated. Yes, he should absolutely continue to coach until the final buzzer, but coaching is about more than the X’s and O’s. In this case, the right coaching move is always to get your team out of that arena as fast as possible once the game is out of hand.
Zach LaVine was caught on camera reacting to Boylen’s timeout. He appears to say “Why?” in a seemingly annoyed way. You can watch his reaction here.
That video of LaVine says all you need to know about Boylen’s decision to call a timeout. Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing you can do, and with one minute left in the game against the Raptors, that’s what Boylen should’ve done — nothing. That’s still coaching.
The star player is on the bench, embarrassed that his team let the game slip away from them. The last thing he needs is to remain on the bench longer as the coach tries to draw up an ATO for a G League guy.
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This was just the most recent of a series of indefensible and fireable offenses by Jim Boylen. He needs to go. ASAP.