2014-2015 Chicago Bulls Regular Season

[Guest]

cowley is such a [expletive] scumbag

[Banedon]

Yeah, Cowley has been defending Hinrich all season.

[Sammy Sofa]

Cowley is currently making a passionate defense of Hinrich on Twitter

 

@suntimes_hoops: Don't understand the Hinrich hate. Team functions better when he's out there and he's the only real hard-nosed player on the roster.

 

@suntimes_hoops: I don't see the No. 1 dishing out hard fouls and running through screens with no regard for his body. That's for sure.

 

@suntimes_hoops: There's a reason every guy in that locker room loves Hinrich. Blue-collar guy on a team that has softened up the last year.

 

@suntimes_hoops: Hinrich is very Rowand-esque.

 

@suntimes_hoops: At the end of the day, you coaching St. Joe's 5th grade CYO does not make you smarter than Thibs and his locker room. #Learnthegame

 

@suntimes_hoops: Hinrich isn't a starter. Never said he was. He's a 7th piece on a championship team forced into heavier minutes because of injury.

 

@suntimes_hoops: One thing I know about Hinrich is his 2025 calendar is meeting-free, and he plays that way.

 

 

Btw the 6-7-8 guys on the Spurs last year (no order) were Ginobili, Bellineli, and Diaw

 

 

I think I almost just drowned in the thick onion gravy of those tweets.

[UMFan83]

Jesus. Down 6 with 50 seconds left and they win in regulation.

[bcl412]

And we're the 3rd seed somehow!

[Deeg]

I'm getting a "Nixon in the final days" vibe from Thibs at the moment.

[ChiCubsFan]

And we're the 3rd seed somehow!

 

The current standings are the ideal realistic season ending standings.

[RynoRules]

Cowley is currently making a passionate defense of Hinrich on Twitter

 

@suntimes_hoops: Don't understand the Hinrich hate. Team functions better when he's out there and he's the only real hard-nosed player on the roster.

 

@suntimes_hoops: I don't see the No. 1 dishing out hard fouls and running through screens with no regard for his body. That's for sure.

 

@suntimes_hoops: There's a reason every guy in that locker room loves Hinrich. Blue-collar guy on a team that has softened up the last year.

 

@suntimes_hoops: Hinrich is very Rowand-esque.

 

@suntimes_hoops: At the end of the day, you coaching St. Joe's 5th grade CYO does not make you smarter than Thibs and his locker room. #Learnthegame

 

@suntimes_hoops: Hinrich isn't a starter. Never said he was. He's a 7th piece on a championship team forced into heavier minutes because of injury.

 

@suntimes_hoops: One thing I know about Hinrich is his 2025 calendar is meeting-free, and he plays that way.

 

 

Btw the 6-7-8 guys on the Spurs last year (no order) were Ginobili, Bellineli, and Diaw

 

By this logic I'd be a valuable piece on this year's Bulls team if I knocked down the screener on the pick n' roll.

 

Hinrich (7.1 PER) is getting 7 minutes more per game than Brooks (16.0 PER).

 

In other news, Rose's PER (15.8) is trending downward over the last couple of weeks, while Noah's (15.1) has been going up. Also, free Doug McDermott.

 

I like Thibs overall as mentioned above and don't think he is solely to blame him for the team's inconsistency this season. I do, however, strongly dislike his meatball side, which compels him to play one of the NBA's worst players nearly 30 MPG while burying a guy who can hit open shots in his sleep.

[RynoRules]

Rumors have it that Taj is garnering a lot of interest from teams out west, including the Blazers and Suns.

[Sammy Sofa]

I like Thibs overall as mentioned above and don't think he is solely to blame him for the team's inconsistency this season. I do, however, strongly dislike his meatball side, which compels him to play one of the NBA's worst players nearly 30 MPG while burying a guy who can hit open shots in his sleep.

 

Agreed. I really like the guy and would hate to see him get the boot, but playing Hinrich that much almost singlehandedly makes moving on from him seem reasonable. I was convinced he'd see the light once guys were healthier, but this is so frustrating.

[ChiCubsFan]

GarPax needs to take some blame too. Why even roster Hinrich? Especially at a contract above the vet min. They really need to construct the team in a way to cover up Thibs's shortcomings.

[Sammy Sofa]

GarPax needs to take some blame too. Why even roster Hinrich? Especially at a contract above the vet min. They really need to construct the team in a way to cover up Thibs's shortcomings.

 

I may be crazy, but I'm pretty sure Rose wanted him back before the 2012-2013 season.

 

Why he'd still be here is baffling.

[ChiCubsFan]

GarPax needs to take some blame too. Why even roster Hinrich? Especially at a contract above the vet min. They really need to construct the team in a way to cover up Thibs's shortcomings.

 

I may be crazy, but I'm pretty sure Rose wanted him back before the 2012-2013 season.

 

Why he'd still be here is baffling.

 

He did. Further evidence that Hinrich being on this team is dumb.

[Outshined_One]

It's like Dusty and Neifi Perez all over again.

[Deeg]

It's like Dusty and Neifi Perez all over again.

 

That's a good analogy, for sure. Why give Thibs a guy like Hinrich that will play into his most meathead tendencies? And why invest heavily in guys like Mirotic (who can definitely play big-time) and McDermott (jury is still way, way out) who play a style of basketball Thibs will never embrace?

 

I'm convinced this marriage is irreconcilable, and Thibs is gone after this year unless by some miracle the Bulls make the finals (and even then it's no slam-dunk). Irrespective of Thibs relative merits as a coach, with a relationship with the F.O. this dysfunctional he's doomed. Blame GarPax for their issues with roster construction, definitely, but Thibs brings a lot of this on himself. He runs his players into the ground and he's agonizingly slow to make adjustments either in-game or out. I think he has a lot of Scott Skiles in him.

[RynoRules]

If you do a bit of research you will discover why Pax loves Hinrich. Hinrich reminds him of himself:

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/paxsojo01.html#advanced::none

[RynoRules]

It's like Dusty and Neifi Perez all over again.

 

That's a good analogy, for sure. Why give Thibs a guy like Hinrich that will play into his most meathead tendencies? And why invest heavily in guys like Mirotic (who can definitely play big-time) and McDermott (jury is still way, way out) who play a style of basketball Thibs will never embrace?

 

I'm convinced this marriage is irreconcilable, and Thibs is gone after this year unless by some miracle the Bulls make the finals (and even then it's no slam-dunk). Irrespective of Thibs relative merits as a coach, with a relationship with the F.O. this dysfunctional he's doomed. Blame GarPax for their issues with roster construction, definitely, but Thibs brings a lot of this on himself. He runs his players into the ground and he's agonizingly slow to make adjustments either in-game or out. I think he has a lot of Scott Skiles in him.

 

Its easy to make the Skiles comparison, but its not accurate. Skiles would prefer to be skinned alive before giving significant minutes to the likes of Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, Aaron Brooks, or Mirotic. The irony, of course, is that Skiles as a player (both at Mich St and Orlando) was creative, flashy, and brutally inefficient. He had a career TOV% of 20.0% (thats 20 TO's for every 100 possessions), a negative defensive rating each year of his career and only 8 career defensive win shares. In other words, he was and is a hypocrite when viewed through the prism of his playing career.

 

Thibs has been far more flexible than Skiles would ever be. Its not his fault that Rose blew out both knees and didn't play for two years. That said, his reliance on Hinrich is a major head scratcher. Makes me wonder if its a passive-aggressive way of sending a message to GarPax.

[cubbyvirus00]

It's like Dusty and Neifi Perez all over again.

 

 

Why did you have to dig this body up? It stinks and can make us all sick.

[Deeg]

Its easy to make the Skiles comparison, but its not accurate. Skiles would prefer to be skinned alive before giving significant minutes to the likes of Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, Aaron Brooks, or Mirotic. The irony, of course, is that Skiles as a player (both at Mich St and Orlando) was creative, flashy, and brutally inefficient. He had a career TOV% of 20.0% (thats 20 TO's for every 100 possessions), a negative defensive rating each year of his career and only 8 career defensive win shares. In other words, he was and is a hypocrite when viewed through the prism of his playing career.

 

Thibs has been far more flexible than Skiles would ever be. Its not his fault that Rose blew out both knees and didn't play for two years. That said, his reliance on Hinrich is a major head scratcher. Makes me wonder if its a passive-aggressive way of sending a message to GarPax.

 

Skiles did, eventually, overcome his own biases and realize he had to play Gordon 35 minutes a night.

 

I think the biggest similarity between Thibs and Skiles is the "half-life" issue. These kinds of relentless rah-rah guys tend to see teams spike for a short period, then the team gets sick of it and tunes them out. And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time.

 

I'm also pretty dubious of the argument that Thibs is flexible. He sat a healthy McDermott for weeks while the Bulls played basically 4-on-5 at the offensive end (3 when Noah is on the floor). He continues to pair Noah and Gasol when they're clearly the most mismatched of the Bulls four bigs. And Mirotic is basically out of the rotation now, so unless one of the bigs goes down again I think you'll next see him when the new coach takes over.

[RynoRules]

Its easy to make the Skiles comparison, but its not accurate. Skiles would prefer to be skinned alive before giving significant minutes to the likes of Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, Aaron Brooks, or Mirotic. The irony, of course, is that Skiles as a player (both at Mich St and Orlando) was creative, flashy, and brutally inefficient. He had a career TOV% of 20.0% (thats 20 TO's for every 100 possessions), a negative defensive rating each year of his career and only 8 career defensive win shares. In other words, he was and is a hypocrite when viewed through the prism of his playing career.

 

Thibs has been far more flexible than Skiles would ever be. Its not his fault that Rose blew out both knees and didn't play for two years. That said, his reliance on Hinrich is a major head scratcher. Makes me wonder if its a passive-aggressive way of sending a message to GarPax.

 

Skiles did, eventually, overcome his own biases and realize he had to play Gordon 35 minutes a night.

 

I think the biggest similarity between Thibs and Skiles is the "half-life" issue. These kinds of relentless rah-rah guys tend to see teams spike for a short period, then the team gets sick of it and tunes them out. And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time.

 

I'm also pretty dubious of the argument that Thibs is flexible. He sat a healthy McDermott for weeks while the Bulls played basically 4-on-5 at the offensive end (3 when Noah is on the floor). He continues to pair Noah and Gasol when they're clearly the most mismatched of the Bulls four bigs. And Mirotic is basically out of the rotation now, so unless one of the bigs goes down again I think you'll next see him when the new coach takes over.

 

I said he's more flexible than Skiles. I stand by that statement.

[Sammy Sofa]

And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time.

 

This theory has been trounced so many times it's not even funny. What's "killed" them in the playoffs under Thibs is Rose being dead.

[Deeg]

And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time.

 

This theory has been trounced so many times it's not even funny. What's "killed" them in the playoffs under Thibs is Rose being dead.

 

It's fun to pretend, I know.

 

Why do you thing first Deng and then Butler have tanked in the playoffs over and over? Coincidence? Are they "soft"?

[mul21]

And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time.

 

This theory has been trounced so many times it's not even funny. What's "killed" them in the playoffs under Thibs is Rose being dead.

 

It's fun to pretend, I know.

 

Why do you thing first Deng and then Butler have tanked in the playoffs over and over? Coincidence? Are they "soft"?

 

Mostly because the best player on the team wasn't on the floor and they were guarding the best player on the planet.

[ChiCubsFan]

And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time.

 

This theory has been trounced so many times it's not even funny. What's "killed" them in the playoffs under Thibs is Rose being dead.

 

It's fun to pretend, I know.

 

Why do you thing first Deng and then Butler have tanked in the playoffs over and over? Coincidence? Are they "soft"?

 

Mostly because the best player on the team wasn't on the floor and they were guarding the best player on the planet.

 

Jimmy pretty much sucked all of last year offensively. Not just the playoffs. Deng played well against the Nets while sick, until the botched spinal tap. Both of those guys are very limited offensively and don't really possess the necessary skill set to thrive in the playoffs. Not without their best player, at least.

 

On the other hand, Butler looked gassed at times against the Wizards last year.

[Banedon]

Hinrich out and the Bulls win by 18. Coincidence? Pshaw.