First in SF and then in Chicago, Dusty had impressive records as manager. But he seemed to use his pitchers in a way that broke them. Particularly Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Oddly, Boozer had a reputation for being injury prone before joining the Bulls, but has been something of an ironman once he started playing for us. But Rose, Noah, and Deng have been dinged up for long stretches. Rose could be ruined. Noah looks like a different player than last year, when he gutted it out with sore feet from plantar fasciitis. Lu's shooting and scoring are down, as are his minutes. He missed 7 games last year and missed the second round. He wasn't very good in the first round. I think the world of Thibs, but maybe he's done here?
I'm OK with trashing Dusty even if it's not fair. I think in the last couple seasons, Thibodeau has been less than diligent in keeping his key players well rested. I think GarPax have had some "come to Jesus" meetings with Thibodeau over the past 18 months that, among other things, cost Ron Adams his job. I doubt Thibodeau likes GarPax, but he's clearly gotten religion when it comes to playing time...all of the key players' minutes have been down this season. Net, I believe that Thibodeau has been behaviorally re-channeled.
I met Dusty Baker. He's a terrific person. His reputation was that he was tough on the starting rotation.
