Interesting / odd tidbit I heard on the 'ol sports radio today. 670 THE SCORE. The afternoon show sometimes has some "inside" sources. So, the story is that Ron Adams was fired after a heated argument with Gar Forman about the acquisition on Tony Snell. Could this really be true? Seems awful strange to me, but who knows? That situation had all kinds of odd all over it. Once again, you don't want to lose your top notch NBA coach over petty nonsense. If it came between launching GarPax or Thibs, I'm pretty sure that I know which entity should be launched, if winning NBA basketball games is the priority.
I heard that too and I can't make sense of it. I think I'm going to shrug this off until I hear more context.
What's wrong with the "acquisition" of Snell? I think Gar's job is safer than Thibs'. Gar just saved Reinsdorf $26M.
Well, it clearly shouldn't matter whether the two of them disagreed over Snell's NBA-worthiness, but it would matter if Adams's dissenting views found their way to outside ears.
Yes, this definitely seems odd, to say the least. Tony Snell was the #20 pick in a bad draft. It was almost a guarantee that whoever we picked at that slot was going to be a bit player for the foreseeable future. Not sure what this says about Adams, Forman, or anyone else involved. Bill Simmons had a podcast the other day with Zach Lowe and they discussed whether or not the Bulls were a dysfunctional franchise. Simmons hinted that they were, but Zach said that everyone he spoke to within the organization seemed to be level headed and didn't think so. Makes you wonder.
If the org is dysfunctional, it's that they won't let Gar and Thibs do their jobs. Anyone else should stay out of their way and keep busy hoarding the pennies or something.
Yes, for me it is. Paxson is dead weight, Gar is decent but an average NBA GM and Thibs is a top 5 at least NBA coach. I look at this list. http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/minutes/sort/avgMinutes/qualified/false And then I wonder if all the other coaches have to justify playing their key players 30+ minutes a night. It seems like a strange thing to complain about, given the way nearly every other team behaves. When I look at that list, I just don't see much abnormal behavior on Thibs part.
How do you answer those who would take issue with the top-5 ranking based on the belief that the regular season means little and the fact that Thibodeau's teams have consistently disappointed in the playoffs?
I feel like you took a left here without signaling, that is, not sure what this has to do with Adams, Forman and Snell. Anyway, it looks to me like the FO is letting Thibodeau decide on the minutes active players can play. Could be my imagination, but it seems like the FO has addressed the problem by simply keeping mildly hurting vets inactive until they're absolutely, positively in tip top shape. Particularly in a season where there's little chance of seriously contending, this seems like a wise course.
The team was poorly designed, way overemphasizing one-way defensive players. What other coach could get best record starting Bogans at SG?
Still would like K4E's response, but this sort of sounds like a Thibodeau fan-boy response. I mean seriously, the Bogans thing is kind of like the kid who murders his parents asking for leniency 'cause he's an orphan. Starting Bogans was Thibodeau's choice and Thibodeau's alone. He easily could have spread Bogans' 18 mpg between Korver and Brewer if he had wanted to.
Brewer was signed to be the starter, but was hurt. The decision to start Bogans sure looked like a political one. It certainly wasn't about putting the best basketball player out there. Korver was signed to be our backup SF and spot 3pt specialist. Both were really flawed. Brewer was a lockdown defender with poor handles and shooting for a wing. Korver was a shooter who played crappy defense, but played a lot because he was one of three players who could shoot over zones. Poorly constructed still stands.
That's what folks say when they don't want to acknowledge the obvious truth. The funny part here is that usually when the "political" card is played in the NBA venue to explain perceived playing time abnormalities, relative salaries are used as support for the "conspiracy theory." That certainly doesn't work in this case since Bogans made a fraction of what both Korver and Brewer made. You can hold to your poor construction assessment of the 2010-11 Bulls team, but like it or not, Bogans started and averaged 18 mpg because Thibodeau liked him (18 mpg worth anyways) as a player.
I would start by asking them what playoff runs would be labeled disappointing? Would last years, when a Rose-less, at times Deng-less squad upended the Nets and got to the 2nd round be called a disappointing run? Another coach would have figured out a way to beat the Heat with that roster?
And I would also like to know what you think about the above question? Would you like Thibs replaced due to the Bulls playoff performances?
I'm one of those people whom Transplant is referring to so perhaps I should respond. Let me be clear: I love a huge portion of the way Thibiodeau manages: his defensive schemes; his lineups; the way he manages egos. But I came to the conclusion that none of this matters if you don't have a modicum of self control. Thibodeau is going to continue playing Jimmy Butler 60 minutes in meaningless games while Butler's trying to deal with an overuse injury. This is who he is. As to the specific playoff letdowns, I blame Thibodeau for ruining this season and the last two. I don't think Rose would have sustained his injuries with a different coach. I keep going back to the game on February 8, 2012, when a first placed Chicago Bulls played a last placed New Orleans Hornets in a meaningless mid-Winter game. Derrick Rose at that time was struggling with a series of nagging injuries that had spread to his back. http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201202080NOH.html Rose played twenty-two minutes that night hobbling around on the court when it was obvious that he was severely injured. I spent a good half plus yelling at my television. Rose was benched for about two weeks following the game so he could recover a little more, but he never recovered. Rose was never fully healthy again that season, or the next season, or the season following that. The back injury spread to a series of other compensating injuries before Rose's ACL eventually gave out in the playoffs, before Rose's meniscus gave out on his other knee. These were all compensation injuries that were never nipped in the bud. Again, this was a nothing game, in a nothing month, and it ended up being one of the most important games I think in the history of the Bulls. All the rest is gravy. I'm done with Thibdoeau. Give me Adelman, and if you can't give me Adelman give me Lawrence Frank. There are other option out there.
Tricky devil, you. I believe that the regular season has meaning. Many fans would like to place more emphasis on 30 playoff games than they would on a couple hundred regular season games. I wouldn't. All this said, a long time ago I wrote an article titled something like "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be NBA Head Coaches," and I still believe it. Thibodeau's a fine NBA head coach. His players play hard for him. So did Del Negro's players. The key difference is that Thibodeau actually knows what he's doing (sorry, Vinny). Much as I respect Thibodeau, at any point, if Derrick Rose tells GarPax that he's lost confidence in Thibodeau, Thibodeau's gone. This will remain true as long as Rose is considered a superstar NBA player. Such is the life of a NBA head coach.
