http://chicago.suntimes.com/basketball/7/71/609136/tom-thibodeau-bulls What a slimeball. The Bulls players, coaches and fans are all getting geared up and excited about a Bulls title run. Paxson is slithering around in the background scheming against the head coach.
If the source had said something that was inconsistent with your beliefs, would you have bought it hook, line and sinker. No, you would have dismissed it. It's OK. It's the way these things work and why I disregard the article.
Is there a recent article that states that Paxson is doing a bang up job and these types of things are not going on? That its all a pack of filthy lies? That he's the head of a highly functional organization?
We've seen some hints at dark stuff this week. When I saw the interest in Alvin Gentry and Fred Hoiberg surface on the same day it looked to me like the org might have began to negotiate in earnest with new candidates (presumably Hoiberg). Then Orlando went to the press and released that it would be willing to give up picks -- kind of begging the Bulls' front office to direct Thibodeau towards the Magic where it would get compensation. It's one thing to undermine a coach when he's on the hot seat -- that seems to be business as usual in both the boardroom and on the sidelines. It's another to try to force his hand in what happens after he leaves your organization. Nobody wants Thibodeau replaced more than I do but I certainly hope that my read isn't correct.
I responded in a different thread... Thibs doesn't have to go where the Bulls might trade him. His posture is that he's going to live up to the contract. The Bulls will have to fire him to increase profit by not having to pay him. The numbers I've seen are Thibs will get paid 2x what the Bulls paid him once he chooses the team he wants to coach. Jimmy loves dysfunction.
Just saw Ken Berger had posting an article sketching things out how I thought they might be: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer...t-succession-plan-before-letting-thibodeau-go Lot of interesting stuff here. -- Bulls are in the process of negotiating with Hoiberg, who is wisely trying to get his. --My guess is the Alvin Gentry stuff is window dressing for the fact that its egregious that the Bulls have immediately centered the hiring search on a white pretty boy, when there are only six African-American coaches in the league. Chicago is a city that has supported African-American coaches in the past and raw statistics suggest that the franchise is passing up a deep pool of coaching talent by only chasing after the white dude. I think the front office may be susceptible to the same implicit biases that made me throw shade at Mike Brown before we had that thread about his body of coaching work. --I know all is fair in love and war but I do not love the fact that the Org may have a hand in where he goes next. That's a new power structure we haven't seen before.
Can they trade his contract without his consent? Like trade him to Orlando and he has to coach there next year or quit and take the year off?
Screw your wow. There's nothing really solid either way. I heard Wojnarowski on the Score yesterday and he said that GarPax has done an exceptional job of giving Thibodeau great rosters during his time here, that the Bulls' head coach job is a great job and that Thibodeau will be hard pressed to find a better gig than the Bulls. Stick that up your world view.
I'm not the one who would dismiss Woj's reporting if he disagrees with my assessment. I'm not sure why any coach would want to be here and be subjected to the organization's penny pinching, dysfunction, and interference with the coach and coaching staff. Is there a pool for how long before garpaxdorf fires the next coach's assistant?
Aren't you the same guy to "attack the source" though when Wojnarowski writes something like this? http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tom-thibodeau-makes-his-last-stand-with-the-bulls-072125079.html
Yeah, great job. Management has the entire coaching staff spooked. Makes the less good than Thibs coaches want to take the job.
Easy there on the personal attacks, fellas. We're all Bulls fans here. I think the thing that we're tripping on here is how drama free NBA coaching positions for contenders don't really exist. There are only 30 head coaching slots in the league; only fifteen of those slots are with teams that have enough talent to make the playoffs; and only eight to twelve of those teams have enough talent where you could make an argument that they're contenders. Coaching the Bulls is one of only maybe two handfuls of the best gigs in the world if you're a basketball coach, even if the front office is tripping balls nuts. The Bulls are going to be able to recruit talent no matter how weird Paxson is, because if you're a coach and there's only ten contenders, what else are you going to do? I've heard speculation that Thibs wants to go to a contender or have a bigger say in player personnel decisions. Good luck with that. Where is he going to find a team that can and will offer him those opportunities?
Only 6 guys in the history of the NBA produced a better record than the coach we have. The grass isn't greener. The odds of finding a guy who'll place in the top 7 are 7 in 30 teams x 50 seasons. Rare. As far as having a say, of course the coach should have a say. "I need another PF to fulfill my best plan." Why shouldn't the GM try to facilitate that? The bulls aren't really able to "recruit talent" for the obvious reason. From TMac through Melo, the guys we go after end up somewhere else.
Phil Jackson in LA. Drama free. Pops. Drama free. Sloan. Drama free. Spoelstra. Drama free. Excellent organizations. No drama.
Not buying these comparisons. Jackson and Pops were/are essentially the acting GMs because you know, they won a shit ton of championships. Nobody is going to give Thibs that. He hasn't earned that yet. With Spoelstra I think it's the reverse -- you're not going to argue with Pat Riley or Lebron James about player personnel decisions or your going to be fired. There is no drama between him and the front office because he hasn't been given the opportunity. I remember there being a ton of drama between Sloan and the front office, but can't point to anything in specific. Are you sure about Sloan?
