This is a distraction. If Noah got injured because of his minutes load, Garpax made one unforgivable mistake: they offered Thibs a second contract when they knew he wasn't the right coach. Looking back on that offer, they really screwed the pooch. If you don't trust a coach with your roster you can't give him a four year extension. Thibs even knew better, waiting to sign the deal. Sometimes you have to fire popular employees. Garpax needed to stand in front of the media and take their shots for the good of the team. Stan Bowman knew that when he fired Dennis Savard, and that's why the Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup in three out of six years.
Thibs was coach of the year and made Gar executive of the year for hiring him. The Hawks aren't a dysfunctional organization.
You talked about the 2nd contract. I gave you reasons why they gave it to him. The 2nd contract was one the Bulls offered and Thibs hesitated to sign for months and months. That points more toward the Bulls wanting him but him having serious doubts about working for those clowns.
And I'm saying that if you believe that Jo's injuries were caused by his minutes load, bringing Thibodeau back was unforgiveable. This thread is essentially crying over the loss of Omer because it gave Thibodeau the opportunity to run Jo into the ground. That's a dumb argument. Thibs either needed to have the self control to not run Jo into the ground, regardless of who else was on the roster, or he needed to not be brought back. You don't have to give a coach a new offer just because he was given some meaningless award by members of the media. If you look through history, there have been a number of coach of the year winners who were fired within two seasons, Sam Mitchell and Byron Scott come to mind.
I don't think Jo's injuries were caused by his minutes load. That sort of thing is part of the smear campaign against Thibs. As far as I've seen, Noah was injury prone all along, even before Thibs, and in few minutes per game. Under Thibs he was healthier and played more games than typical. Something I'd call a success, actually. Like Pau becoming an all-star and leading the league in double-doubles. However, if you're going to push the smear rhetoric, you have to accept the fact that Thibs DID play Omer, and if you want to harp on Jo playing too many minutes, it was management that removed Asik from the roster over $5M/$5M/$15M contract details. As I've said frequently: Players and coaches come and go and the results are the same (but better under Thibs). The only constant is the owner and GarPax. If you really want to shake things up, get a new GM, empower him, and get rid of the guys who've made the atmosphere toxic for every head coach hired since PJax (and including him).
Doesn't start with the GM. It's waaaaay above his head. As long as Reinsdorf sits in the seat, all the GM's are going to act more or less the same.
The GM is the one that has undercut the coaches all along. I don't think it was The Chairman who traded Deng, for example.
Could be on Reinsdorf. The White Sox are also a mess. I feel like time has past him by and he's gone from being the best owner of a sports franchise in Chicago to the worst. Well the McCaskeys are still probably the worst.
Guess who let's him get away with it? The same guy that wrote that press release that kicked Thibs in the head on his way out the door...J.R.
That's backing GarPax, letting everyone know he sides with them. It does show what an utter asshole the owner is.
It is on Reinsdorf! His Bulls priorities are 1. Profit and 2A. High Character/Reputation and 2B. Win This will be controversial, but I think Gar and Pax could probably win if the owner let them loose. There's a reason Jerry doesn't hire many NBA lifers as head coaches - he doesn't want to be told how he should run his business. Those six rings under Krause told him he's got no need to listen to anyone else, and he's never going to do what Ricketts did - hire someone experienced and get out of the way...he's got to have his fingers in the pie.
Every financial shenanigan the Bulls play goes straight back to Reinsdorf. The players, the coach, the GM and the Veep Basketball Ops? They're competitors...they want to win, unconditionally. The conditions matter to Reinsdorf.
My sense is that Reinsdorf tells them "no luxury tax" and they do what they want within that limitation. Management is so scared to make a mistake that will limit their ability to put butts in the seats. A couple seasons ago when Rose was healthy, there was a rumor the Bulls knew they couldn't compete as is, and could have traded boozer and deng for pierce and garnett. It would have been a huge win-now move, and a move that at least showed they were trying to win, even if it didn't work out. I don't see how Reinsdorf would let the Bulls trade Lu for cap space if it's all about character.
Sometimes players have bad knees or develop them over time. Noah has been a productive player for the Bulls during his career and has earned his massive paychecks. Guys that have made the all-NBA 1st team from the Bulls. MJ Pip Derrick Rose Joakim Noah Basketball players are paid large sums of money to play and win basketball games. If the player isn't healthy enough to play or needs a minutes restriction, the organization's medical staff and front office need to step in and prevent them from playing. Otherwise, the coaches and players are going to do their jobs (supposedly) and try to win the games. How the hell would a basketball head coach know the "right" number of minutes to play a player per game or per week in order to best prolong the career of a player? (is that even goal #1? no, right? they get fired if the losses pile up.) I don't imagine anyone on this message board knows the answer to this either, but I could be wrong. Joakim Noah, if he never plays another minute of basketball, has accomplished more and earned more than many would have predicted when coming into the league.
