I agree with this. While Rose did win the MVP, Noah won the DPOY and was an all-NBA 1st teamer, which is a hell of an accomplishment. And he was the heart and soul of the Thibs Bulls. His ability to be that kind of player seems to be in the past. Noah's fighting flame has burned to an ember and Paxson has smeared away Thibs.
Oh no, guess I'm the Lone Ranger on this one. Don't worry, I'll do my best to bear up under the pressure.
I think the Rose era was one season. The team has entirely been about Thibs extracting better play from his rotation players than was expected. That would define all the years Thibsvwas coaching teams that weren't championship material. Thibs era is right. The Skiles era was defined by his style. There are players who were on the team in both eras.
Pax did not think Hinrich was a superstar. That's just silly. Superstars are paid max contracts and as a team you feel you got a bargain. You don't sign superstars for contracts that average less than $10mil, which is the best Hinrich got. This said, the contract Hinrich got was appropriate for a #3 player on a contending team. Hinrich never quite delivered on that price tag. Hinrich's last two Bulls' contracts were for the journeyman money.
The Bulls don't like max contracts. Or trading for superstars. Afraid of making a costly mistake. Gotta fit everything under the LT to maximize profits.
The Bulls signed Rose to a "Rose Rule" max contract (above normal max) without an instant's hesitation. That's what they do with superstars. As you'll recall, I said Rose is the only one who fit the criteria since the dynasty. I'm trying to help clear this up for you, but I fear we have a problem communicating. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. Probably not.
There would have been riots, pitchforks, and torches at the UC if they didn't. The hometown deal contracts offered Lu and Jimmy are the norm.
I'm pretty sure Thibs doesn't have to participate in a trade scenario. His posture is that he's going to fulfill his contract. The Bulls will have to fire him or hurt Profit by paying his contract.
I agree that it was the Thibs era and not the Rose era but for a different reason. To me, Thibs is always going to be the guy who ran his lineup into injuries, while losing sight of the broader objective of a championship. It looks to me like Thibs ended Rose's career, or at least derailed it for the last four years. It should have been the Rose era, because in the end it really is mostly about your great players. But Rose was denied that opportunity.
I've always thought this is quite a leap on your part. I get that its annoying when the starters are left in at the end of the game. But, don't you think that if that kind of thing is going to happen, its going to happen? Some guys are prone to those injuries, some guys just have a freak landing / movement. It could have happened in a summer practice game or during the 15 minute mark of a game. I just don't understand how you are so sure there is causation here.
Yes, no championship, goes without saying. Still impressive given the hell Derrick Rose's knee has put the franchise through.
The end of game stuff is infuriating, but what I'm really focused on are the times he played hurt players big minutes in meaningless games. My general sense is that a lot of Bulls may have forgotten about this stuff because management has held so tightly on the reins in these situations this season. We really didn't see that stuff this season.
There is more to it too, K4E. I look at both Thibodeau and Jackson as coaches whose time has come and gone. You can kill Thib's defensive schemes with shooting, especially at the four and five position. And when I look around the league now, I see a ton of bigs with that skill set. I've seen you comment on how stretch fours are a fad. I think the phrase "stretch four" is a fad, but the skills are not. We basically have come up with a dumb term for bigs who are good at basketball; who can handle, shoot, pass and catch like regular basketball players. People think of stretch four's as a European invention, but I think they're more of a European solution. There was a developmental problem with American high schools and AAU teams for many, many years. Coaches for these teams would send their bigs to the paint and direct them to never leave, because that was what was best for their teams. But what was best for their teams was not what was best for player development. Pretty soon, or maybe always, you had legions of big dudes who were bad at basketball, who couldn't shoot, or handle or pass, because their high school coaches were only concerned about winning the next game. Then along comes these European teams that had developmental squads packed with coordinated teenagers with size. And instead of teaching these guys to run to the paint and never leave, the started teaching their kids how to actually play the game. They were concerned about player development, not meaningless exhibition games, and every player had to learn everything because there was no telling how tall a 16 year old would be before he stopped growing. Next thing you know, there's an influx of these tall players from overseas who are brilliant basketball players, a dumb name for the position. Following that, there was a ton of imitators on this side of the pond, when kids in high school began to see all the ways beginning skilled can help you, even when you're coach is yelling at you to park in the paint. A solution to crappy player development killed the Thibs matchup zone. Not some dumb title we use to describe power forwards who can shoot.
