Chicago Bulls' Woes More Deep-Rooted Than Current Roster or Head Coach - Front Office to Blame
It seems like an eternity ago when the Chicago Bulls' biggest problems seemed to be the team wasn't jelling offensive in a new system and Derrick Rose wasn't shooting a decent percentage. I mean, in reality it's only been a matter of weeks, but things have changed drastically for the Bulls in a short period of time, and not for the better. It leads many (including this writer) to believe that, unfortunately, the team's woes may be more deep-rooted than just the roster or head coach; it starts all the way at the top with the front office on the list of who's to blame.
The Bulls' dysfunction with Tom Thibodeau, lack of big free-agent signings and lack of necessary moves to win it all starts and ends with two men: John Paxson and Gar Forman.
And at this point, it's all falling apart.
Since switching head coaches from Thibs to Fred Hoiberg, this team has not played with any type of consistency. The defensive prowess and effort that once was there game in and game out, no matter who was injured, is long gone. There's no identity to hang their hats on, and it's showing. When the offense was struggling earlier this year, the defense picked up the team for a while. Now that the offense has better and more consistent numbers, the defense has completely disappeared as the Bulls have given up 105 points or more in six of the last seven contests.
Obviously, losing Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler to injury will do that, as they're the best wing and post defenders on the team, but the inconsistency of this roster has been persisting all season long.
But how can we blame Hoiberg for all of that? It's his first NBA head coaching experience. Maybe he's not cut out for the job, but he also hasn't been given much help. Not to mention, who made the coaching decision?
Yes, Thibs was starting to become much maligned over the past couple of seasons. A lack of minute regulations and offensive success drove fans mad. But the team was winning, was it not?
The players actually wanted Thibodeau to stay for a long time, even as recently as last May. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah defended their long-time coach. And the only time the team mentally seemed to check out during his entire tenure was during their Game 6 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs last year. How much of that had to do with Thibs or simply how the game was going, we really may never know?
It's clear, however, that Thibs got much more out of this roster than Hoiberg has. Paxson and Forman let petty squabbles get in the way of making the best choice for the franchise, and darkened Thibodeau's name, criticizing him and creating problems that didn't need to exist.
At the same time, they've been pathetic in free agency. After lucking into Derrick Rose by magically getting the No. 1 pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, they had the prime opportunity to bring in a major free agent to pair with him two years later.
They ended up with Carlos Boozer.
While they've drafted well at times, landing guys like Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler, they've had some more failures of late with guys who don't seem like they'll be consistent players in Nikola Mirotic, Doug McDermott and Tony Snell.
When you have Rose, Butler and Pau Gasol, putting a couple of other decent role players behind them should've been easy. Instead, Aaron Brooks, Hinrich (in his old age now, essentially), E'Twaun Moore, McDermott and Snell simply aren't cutting it. This roster had so much potential, but the front office doesn't know when to cut ties or make the right moves.
Paxson and Forman need to go. Both of them. It's time for a change, as they've failed time and time again in the past five years to build a team worthy of winning a title. And the only reason they ever got close was because of how great of a coach they hired -- but they ruined that too.
It's all in hindsight now, but it's time for mistakes to be fixed. Jerry Reinsdorf, John Paxson and Gar Forman need to be fired.