Noah: 'True colors' will show in adversity

Joakim Noah, the emotional leader of the Chicago Bulls, delivered a personal challenge of sorts to his teammates after an embarrassing 99-77 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

For the first time in a while, it looked like the Bulls had stopped fighting together, especially toward the end of the game. Tom Thibodeau said he didn't want to use the fact that his team was playing its fourth game in five nights as an excuse, but maybe he should have. Battered by injuries and inconsistencies, the Bulls looked lifeless down the stretch and appear to be on the verge of another breaking point in a lost season.

Read more http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/16410/noah-true-colors-will-show-in-adversity

 

Further down it reads:

The Bulls just aren't very good right now.

Even when they get all their starters back and on the floor together, things aren't going to change all that much for a team that has a serious problem scoring baskets and is still in an emotional rut over Rose's latest injury. The Bulls are 3-10 in their past 13 games and can't seem to find any answers. They have too much pride to roll over in most games, and Noah, at least outwardly, remains convinced that his teammates will rise to the challenge of turning this lost season around.

 

I've not posted a thing about some rift between management and Thibs until now.

Through last season, it sure looked to me like Thibs made all the coaching decisions. Those included playing his best players heavy minutes.

For whatever reason, he's been playing the guys far less minutes this season. He started out playing Lu far fewer minutes per game, tho that's changed since Rose was lost. Noah is playing 32 this season, compared to 37 last season. Jimmy was playing Deng-like minutes last season, and when he's played for us, it's been 30 a game.

A conspiracy theorist might conclude that management wants Thibs to quit, so they foist a doggy doo roster on him. Or that Thibs wants out, so he's not trying so hard because of the doggy doo roster.

I don't think it matters, frankly. My assumption is that he and management worked together so well that he was given a contract extension.

I do, however, place any blame on losing at Thibs' feet, but only if the plan is to try to win a championship with this roster (sans Rose). It is his job to prepare the team to win, and I think he's so good he can win with girls.

So far, management has lucked into 1st pick in the draft that netted us the unicorn. I see no championships.

 

Seems clear that the Bulls FO included "overplays certain players" in the "Development Opportunities" section of Thibodeau's last performance review. Good for Thibodeau that he can modify his coaching behavior.

As for Noah, I'm not sure if he's "calling out" anyone, and if he is, who that might be. Still, I'm glad he said it if for no other reason than it will keep him focused.

The 2013-14 season's going to be a long, hard slog for Bulls fans. Unlike last season, this team isn't constructed for Rose-lessness. Making the playoffs isn't assured and there may be more Bulls fans hoping the Bulls lose than there are fans who hope the Bulls win.

God bless us everyone.

 

Yeah, I didn't read this as calling out players either. I thought he was looking for a silver lining like, "The advantage of having your car breakdown is you encounter so many neat smells on the bus," or "The advantage of breaking your right hand is that you learn how to sign with your left."

I do think your on to something, Denny, with the minutes. Either management is dictating rotations to an extent; or the training staff is setting minutes limitations; or, hopefully, they've reached a better consensus on what they want to do with minutes allocations.

What do you think about the chatter from Bill Simmons that Thibs won't be back and the print rumors he could be acquired by NY?

 

I think it would be a tragedy for the team to lose Thibs. Since PJax left, he's been our best and the 2nd best hasn't been that close.

It's more like our guys are picked for certain attributes, like arm length, and not much else.

 

If he's targeting anyone, its Boozer.

Boozer's play has been lazy the last few games. And there have been some troubling signs.

His rotations on D have been even worse than usual as of late. Two games ago, Thibs yelled at him about it, and you could see him walk away from the huddle laughing. His aggressiveness has also been down on all fronts. He looks to be mailing it in.

This is a tough situation. Thibs to this point has basically been a miracle worker, but it looks like those miracles are at an end. Some of the players are not going to be going balls out for another 50+ games when we can't score the basketball (due to roster creation, mostly) and there is no hope of a championship. Not after they left it all on the court last season. The Rose knee injury is a body blow that even the jib of this group isn't going to recover from.

Now, some of the Bulls will keep fighting the good fight. Deng has his contract to play for, and he's generally a tough player. Noah will as well for the most part, although he's moody. I can totally see Boozer saying F it, hope to get amnestied and get on another team last year. He's going to tune Thibs out, it appears he already has in my opintion. Taj also looks like he's still giving it his all.

The thing is, Thibs yelling 24/7, it is going to get old for these guys. That's just how the NBA works. Yellers tend to get tuned out at some point. The time for Thibs might be now.

This is a real shame since this group never got to have a run in the playoffs. And I fear its not going to happen.

It would be great if this season could just end, or we could forfeit the rest of the games, keep our guys in good spirits, get the lotto balls and go at it again next year. Completely unrealistic. THere are still many games to be played and Thibs has to coach them. And he coaches like he coaches. And its not like he can change his style for 50 games this year and them going back to mr hard nose next season. And the players have to play the games. And they are going to really have to bust humps to get wins, like they have been doing the last 3 years. And it really, really sucks since winning the games basically hurts the team long term and its all pointless, other than to keep spirits up, and that doesn't looks like its going to even be feasible.

Its a terrible bind and a shame since its hard to see anything good coming out of any of this. We're going to lose some quality individuals and much of the spirit that made this team a pretty remarkable group the last few seasons.

 

Reggie Rose was right.


;-)