There’s been an undercurrent of “Thibs has been vocal about personnel” and “Thibs wants Lee” talk over the past couple of weeks. Tonight, Omer Asik, who has been playing superbly well lately, played 24 seconds of ball while Kurt Thomas huffed around the court. Is this what it looks like when a coach says to the front office, “Hey, I’m not gonna play this guy… trade him for who I want”? -------------------- On that note, latest I've seen is the Bulls are still not close on Lee or Mayo but still talking. I still see no reason for the Griz to trade Mayo. They need to make the playoffs, and I don't see that we're in a position to help them with that. The Rockets can certainly hold out too... it's not like the pick(s?) we're offering are that great. What, to my knowledge, we haven't done, is stepped up and offered a deal that gets the Rockets under the luxury tax. We seem right on the cusp of being able to do that, and at little expense to ourselves, we could save them something like $10M. That's probably a bigger inducement than a late round pick or two, and seems like the best deal we could make without giving up one of our young bigs. So... I hope it gets made tomorrow. If it doesn't, I'll actually be kinda pissed.
Mike, I don't think your assessment is salacious. There isn't a beat reporter who is willing to report these types of stories, so it's left to us to read between the lines. I don't think we've seen any signs to the effect that management and Thibodeau are working in tandem, and there is evidence to the contrary (the Pete Myers firing in training camp comes first to mind.) And is anyone willing to say that Thibodeau is an average in-game coach? I see mistakes all the time. I'm willing to accept those as part and parcel of hiring an extremely talented rookie coach, but you know Thibodeau is going to make at least one mistake that costs the Bulls a game in the playoffs. I have to imagine John Paxson flips his shit when he sees those. As to what happens tomorrow, I think you're right that the Griz are under no pressure to make a deal. I'm not expecting one because nothing has happened yet, and they're under no financial deadline. The Rockets and Jazz are going to do something to get under the tax. Whether it involves the Bulls has yet to be seen.
Heh, no, I'm not willing to say that Thibodeau is an average in-game coach yet, but what really struck me tonight was the active changes in behavior. Usually, his bad choices seem to be errors of omission. Not putting someone in the game. Waiting too long to take someone out. Tonight, they were errors of commission. Subbing in Korver and Boozer on various defensive substitution points? Not playing Asik when when he had been, and after we're getting destroyed in the paint? I know Thibs has his faults, but I'm also not willing to say the guy is a complete idiot. But this was one of the least impressive coaching jobs I've seen from a Bulls coach in several years, which included two years of Vinny and a half a year of Boylan. So, um... I guess I'd rather think of him as kind of a douche than a complete idiot.
We're a .500 team on the road, and it's usually been a surprise who we lose to (Warriors ring a bell?). Maybe he was trying to see what his team would be like without Asik, should he be traded. Or maybe he was trying to make a point that Asik shouldn't be traded. Message to management.
No. If Thomas played instead of Asik tonight the Bulls would have lost. Asik completely shut down Miami's driving game in a way that Noah can't do even when he's healthy and integrated. I don't need to see Kirk Thomas play again until the last ten games of the season. You have to get Asik ready for a series against the Heat and Magic.
One can argue, had he played KT minutes against the Raptors, we win. He played well earlier in the year against them.
Ok, here's another take. They held Asik out Wednesday night because they were considering dealing him. Maybe they weren't quite as sure they would stand pat as they made it sound today.
That's a strong possibility too. I can't believe they offered Brewer and 2 first rounders for Mayo. WTF
There is bad blood between Michael Heisley and Jerry Reinsdorf from when Heisley tried to move the Grizzlies to Allstate Arena. Reinsdorf wasn't having any of that. I think that's why you saw the "management couldn't convince Grizzlies ownership" reports. Management just wanted to make their team better. Ownership, well . . . Regardless, I'm just happy Asik played last night. I don't care if Thibodeau made the decision on his own volition or whether he got a shake down from management or ownership. It makes me feel a lot better about Thibodeau's prospects for being a coach for more than two years that he makes some commitment to player development (especially when player development involves playing the better player).
