Chicago Bulls may have lost a lot this offseason, but they still have Tom Thibodeau – NBA Feature
A great deal has been said about the Chicago Bulls and their poor off-season in which they were unable to pick up any quality free agent, and parted ways with most of the bench players who made them the deepest team in the NBA
for the past two seasons. They also have a huge issue on their hand with having to find a replacement for MVP point guard Derrick Rose till the time he returns from an ACL injury, which will be way into the next season.
However, the fans and commentators are missing one very important point here, the Bulls still have Tom Thibodeau.
Thibodeau became the head coach of the Bulls in 2010. Before that, he was an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. Since he took over, the Bulls have recorded league best records in back to back seasons and were the best defensive
team in the league last season, as well as the best rebounding team.
They also led the NBA in points allowed last season, and finished 2nd in the same category the season before. If there is one thing Tom Thibodeau knows, he knows his defence. And apart from Rose, much of the key players
in the Bulls defensive play are still around.
Thibodeau is the guy who took a rising point guard and a group of veteran role players to the top seed in the Eastern Conference. He is the guy who put forward the best defensive team for the past two seasons. He is the guy who
groomed and developed Derrick Rose into the MVP player he is today. And if that says anything about him, it says that he has the capability of taking a bunch of players and making them into a team.
Thibodeau will have Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Tajo Gibson in the line up for next season. He may have lost Omer Asik and Kyle Korver, but Nazr Mohmmed, Marco Belinelli and Vladimir Radmanovic are all capable players
who can form the new ‘bench mob’.
It is a fact that the presence of Rose will be badly missed next season and even a coach like Thibodeau cannot do anything to overcome that loss. But Rose missed 27 of the 66 games last season and the Bulls still finished with
a 50-16 record. He would ideally want to have his players healthy for the next season, unlike last season when Rip Hamilton, Deng and Rose kept suffering from injuries. He had his starting line play together for only a few games the whole season.
Thibodeau will be starting his toughest challenge so far as head coach of the Bulls come November.
But, if there is one man who can put up a fighting front after everything the Bulls have gone through this past one year, it is Thibodeau. It will be unfair to say that the Bulls are in contention for the NBA title, but they are
definitely in contention of finishing in the top four in the Eastern Conference. And the quicker Rose returns to the squad, the higher their chances of making a deep playoff run.
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