Philadelphia, PA — The Chicago Bulls post-Tom Thibodeau era was a disaster. It took three and a half seasons for the Chicago Bulls front office to decide just how much of a disaster it would be.
Hiring Ferd Hoiberg was supposed to establish a winning culture. Unfortunately it turned out to be an entire disaster. A Bulls team that once had the reputation of being a tough, gritty basketball team that made it tough for opponents on most nights, was led by a Fred Hoiberg that compiled a total record of 115-155, and one first-round playoff exit, was relieved of his Head Coaching position on December 3, 2018.
With the firing Bulls President of Basketball Operations John Paxson stated in an interview with Comcast Sports, that the team’s spirit had to return. You can have a team that plays hard every night no matter who you put out there,” Paxson said. “That’s energy and passion right there. Everyone on the team has to play their role. Fred was here for three-plus years. Unless you’re in it every day and you’re in this building and you’re on airplanes and in locker rooms after games, there are many intangibles. Getting certain players back from injury will not fix the problem. With a healthy squad we wouldn’t have made good decisions going forward.
“We gave Fred opportunities. And he did a lot of good things for us. But I’m tasked with, (general manager) Gar (Forman) is tasked with, looking at the underlying things in an organization. And if you don’t think the competitive spirit is important for an organization or basketball team, then you’re wrong. And we were lacking that.”, Said Paxson.
A Fresh Start?
The front office then promoted former Bulls assistant Jim Boylen as Head Coach of the Bulls. As an assistant with the Houston Rockets (1994-1995) and with the San Antonio Spurs (2014), Boylen was the winner of three NBA Championships.
Overall the Bulls have upgraded as Fred Hoiberg has never coached in the NBA. Many believe that the coaching change would improve the players performance. It has been the total opposite.
After the Bulls 56-point loss to the Boston Celtics, which was the Bulls largest margin of defeat in franchise history. During the 1st quarter, Chicago went scoreless at 13-0, Bulls Head Coach Jim Boylen pulled his starters. This would begin tension between the players and the coach.
Players Are Fed Up!!
According to Yahoo Sports, the Bulls players filed a report to the Players union, on what the players called extreme coaching tactics by Boylen. On December 9th, the players had a players only meeting at Bobby Portis’s home, which was ignited from a group text between the players. The media was for the players to decide on whether or not to attend practice. In other words, players are showing up to practice, follow by a meeting with the coaches.
Since Jim Boylen has taken over the Bulls are 1-2, and have given up 86 points in two losses. So based on the results, did the players meetings with the coaches help? Well Bulls guard Zach Lavine thought so. “You just want to be real with people,” LaVine told ESPN. “There shouldn’t be any clouds. I think of myself as one of the leaders on the team. I just wanted to voice my opinion to them.”
Based on Fred Hoiberg’s laid back approach to coaching, it should be safe to believe that a coach like Jim Boylen would be best for the players, but the direction the NBA is going in takes that authority away, and as a result the players not only have more of a say, but have the players union there to back them up if a coach pushes his players to be better.
It’s not good for the league. The NBA has changed since the 90’s, and the aspect of ” Coaching”. In all reality, the players didn’t embrace Fred Hoiberg or respected him as their coach. Furthermore, the bulls will have to change their roster. In order to players will have to embrace a coach that has the resume to support his direction and ideals.
Would you revolt against your coach if you were in the same predicament?
Cheers, great stuff, Me enjoying.
[…] Fred Hoiberg the team finished 4th and 5th in the central division, which was the worst for the Bulls since the 2014-2015 NBA season. The eastern conference door has also opened up with LeBron James […]