http://www.blogabull.com/2015/6/8/8743607/the-bulls-are-into-analytics-now As deftly pointed out in the BaB comments though, it was pretty comical that the Bulls, of all teams, would be championing more use of statistical information and analysis, especially when envisioned as some sort of contrast to Thibs. We're talking about information, something Thibodeau famously sacrificed hours, days (and some would argue, any idea of a normal existence) to study. Thibodeau was never lauded as such, but had definite leanings towards the use of analytics, pointed out well in both this piece in 2012 as well as another in 2013. In those articles you'll find someone who essentially said the same thing Hoiberg did last week, with a history of implementing his own linear weights system in his analysis. There's also praise from Daryl Morey, as Thibs had previously worked for Morey's Rockets as well as the Boston Celtics. Those were two teams as 'all-in' when ESPN.com put out their 'great analytics rankings' earlier this year. The Bulls were instead listed as a 'skeptic'. If anything it was only Thibs's contributions (preventing threes on defense) that were mentioned while Gar Forman and John Paxson are painted as decidedly scouts over stats. Former director of college scouting Matt Lloyd was mentioned in the ESPN piece as 'standing out by embracing statistical analysis', but he had left for the Orlando Magic in 2012. There was also mention of Steve Weinman, but from what I can tell he is the only even semi-prominent front-office member with an analytics leaning. There are, naturally 2 other 'directors of analytics'...for ticket sales. The Bulls have pretty much always been painted as an 'old-school' organization. They were not one of the teams who wanted SportsVU technology in their arena before the NBA embraced it at a league-wide level (and who knows if they use it now). They have next to zero interest or involvement in the NBA D-League. The super-secret (apparently only when they want to be) Bulls may have a lot more going on behind the scenes. Maybe they have added more people, and recently. Maybe it was actually Lloyd who, before leaving, recommended to draft Marquis Teague while Thibs wanted Draymond Green. But at a superficial level, evidence paints them as being behind the curve. Any reporting on them and their involvement in this expanding space puts them behind most of the rest of the league. And as such, the narrative that they were somehow being held back by Thibs the luddite seems pretty ridiculous.
LMBO at the irony of this poster linking to an article entitled: Tom Thibodeau was wronged, but keeping him wasn't right
Different author. At this point, Thibs had to be fired. Management screwed things up so badly, he had to go. To a much better situation, no doubt.
That would be believable if there wasn't a pattern of management shitting all over the coaches all along. Every one of them from Jackson on. Didn't matter how good or how bad the coaches were. Thibs actually made management look good. He won better with the same kind of talent the others had, including playoffs. Now they're exposed and have gullible fans falling for their bullshit. Management is so stuck trying to explain why they let one of the elite coaches in history go because they couldn't produce for him that they're leaking all kinds of crap. Crap that you're buying. You know, like the "I'm not a doctor but..." article about some dreamed up cause of Kyrie Irving's injury.
