The Bulls have won a few games in a row and some national media types have been talking up Hoiberg. In the windsock world we live in, it's not surprising. Local media isn't so quick to give up their chosen narrative that Hoiberg was a questionable hire and isn't tough enough for the job. All good. The whole thing reinforces something I've always believed...lots of coaches can be successful in the NBA if the players let them be. Right now, the players on the Bulls are allowing Hoiberg to coach them and this is helping the team play well. The Bulls are playing beautiful offense and are hustling which is helping them to put up very good defensive numbers. I give a lot of credit to Wade. Though Butler is the team's best player, Wade appears to be the leader. Not surprising given that Wade is a bona fide future HOFer. Butler understandably defers to Wade. Wade has been glowing in his praise for Butler. As I see it, as long as Wade buys into what Hoiberg is asking the team to do, Hoiberg will be an effective head coach. I can't make this point more strongly...this isn't a knock on Hoiberg. No head coach can be effective if the player leadership doesn't support him. Right now, Wade is with Hoiberg which means that Butler is with Hoiberg which means the team is with Hoiberg. This is wonderful. Let's just hope and pray that the current situation holds. If it does, our Bulls will maximize their potential.
This has been the type of season that reminds me why following basketball can be so fun. Nobody thought this roster was composed well. John Paxson didn't think this roster was composed well. And yet somehow everything is coming up roses. I would feel better about bestowing laurels on Hoiberg if I could remember one time he diagrammed a creative out of bounds play that worked. What coaching has Hoiberg done this season? His rotations have worked well. I thought starting Grant was an inspired decision. He hasn't gotten in Rondo or Wade's way . . . I guess that's something. I think there's also something to Hoiberg truly understanding the mentality of a shooter which may be good for this team, considering that it has so few pure shooters. I'm not sure I view it as the players letting Hoiberg coach them, as much as maybe, Hoiberg is the type of coach who doesn't need to interfere with the direction set by his players. I think that makes him better than VDN, who was also more of a hands off coach. It's still early, as you say. Butler may be playing the best ball this franchise has seen since Jordan and that could come to an end as the season progresses. That win in Utah was impressive though. The Bulls were a game into a long road trip; playing at altitude; playing against a decent team that is built around controlling tempo and forcing its opposition into long jump shots. The Bulls are not built to fare well against that kind of team. The win suggests the Bulls may be playing some of the better ball in the league now.
Most of the numbers are pointing to the Bulls being a good team right now. It's hard to say right now how much of the turn around is due to Hoiberg himself vs. him just having a better environment to coach in. My take: 1). Removing Rose, Noah, Pau and maybe Dunleavy was really good for the team, regardless of who's coaching it. All of those guys have names that are much bigger than their games, and having a bunch of overrated, lopsided players who are set in their ways at the top of your roster probably makes it hard for any coach to have an impact. It began with Thibs, who recognized it right away, and I think everyone underestimated how much of 2014's problems had to do with the roster itself. In hindsight, the dynamics of that team were pretty rotten. Hoiberg had a much bigger challenge than everyone thought, and Thibs' job that year was much better than we appreciated. It was actually another year of him working his magic, even though it sure didn't look like it at the time. 2). Dwyane Wade has been better for the team than I thought. I thought there was a decent chance he'd actually be a detriment like Pau was, but I misjudged how he'd mesh with the team. It seems like he's brought a very nice combination of leadership and deference. You can tell Fred uses him as a crutch at times because of his poise, but he also seems happy to let Jimmy have the limelight. I don't get the impression that he's taking away from anyone's Mojo, and he seems happy to work with Fred instead of overpower him. I think these two things have brought about the biggest sea changes in how the team has carried itself this year vs. the last two. My general feeling about Hoiberg this year is that he hasn't done much to make this team a contender, but he's done a very good job of letting them be the best that they can be.
I'd also add that, while it's difficult to pinpoint how much of the team's success is due to Hoiberg, there are no signs he's doing a bad job at the moment. He has the ear of our best players, the minutes are balanced, we're strong on both sides of the ball, and the team has shown to possess a unique style of basketball that's in his style. So even though it'd be premature to declare Hoiberg a successful coach, there's no reason to think he's not doing a good job this year.
