The more I watch Thibs' teams and read about how good his offense is... The Bulls rank 29th in PPG and 28th on Off Rtg. The team at 1 game over .500 in the East isn't overly impressive. Vinnie with an equally bad roster managed .500 in a season that teams weren't outright tanking. I read a number of analyses of Thibs' offense and he is equally great at that end. The problem is the Bulls don't have guys who make baskets at the end of plays. Boozer is a case in point - all those plays he seems to avoid contact or gets his shots blocked. Not just Boozer, though. Many plays end up with maybe Jimmy or even Lu missing a nearly uncontested shot, even at the rim. Tex Winter talked about the Triangle as a scheme meant for teams devoid of talent. It worked great with MJ and Pip, but also for some small high school in Texas without a lot of kids to recruit a team. Thibs' systems seem to be in the same vein. He wins with mediocre players, and wins a lot more with really good ones. His teams rely on execution, so they can have a #2 defense while playing Kirk, Dunleavy, and Boozer significant minutes. But that's not championship level play. You win when you have LeBron or MJ play DPOY level defense as well as being the best player in the world. I wouldn't hold the one Pistons team up as some sort of model. It's the outlier. If you want to succeed, emulate the teams that succeed on a regular basis. The Bulls fired Collins after he led the team to the ECF for the first time in our history. He had the horses, but somehow didn't have what it took to win the big one. Thibs is no Collins. I'm quite sure if he were given a quality roster, of guys who truly should win it, he will succeed. I hope he dies at a very old age, on the sidelines, and as our coach. You don't get to pick your parents or your team's coach.
I agree that the poor offensive rank isn't This ' s fault as much as it is a lack of scorers. A healthy Rose would sure help and maybe The Euro Savior will help with his balanced game. Anthony would be a great offensive shot in the arm but I do worry that his temperament and lack of a Deal game are a fast track to Thib's doghouse and for that money and likely result I don't see it happening.
From the article: Does he prefer the explosive scorer or the lockdown defender? Explosive scorer. This is a controversial distinction for Thibodeau, who, despite being a defensive ace, has a tendency to give big minutes to players like Carlos Boozer and Rip Hamilton, two guys who contribute real value only on the offensive end. For example, facing Miami in the 2011 playoffs, Thibodeau struggled to decide whether to lean on Boozer or defensive stopper Taj Gibson. When he left Boozer in for crunch time, the Heat successfully and repeatedly attacked him in pick-and-rolls.
