Bulls’ mess isn’t Hoiberg’s fault, but it is his responsibility
Bulls’ mess isn’t coach’s fault, but it is his responsibility
Generalmanager Gar Forman ( left) deserves more blame for the Bulls’ current situation than coach Fred Hoiberg, who has to try to right the ship in the second half of the season.
This isn’t Fred Hoiberg’s mess. On the blame- game scale, he finishes a distant fourth behind front office, ownership and players. But it’s his cleanup job. Forget the ugly 27- 25 record that stares out from Hoiberg’s résumé. The once- defensive- minded Bulls entered the All- Star break tied for 10th in defensive efficiency and, even more unsettling, are 26th in offensive efficiency.
Considering the front office publicly — and unfairly — questioned the offensive aptitude of former coach Tom Thibodeau, all but guaranteeing improvements in that department, it’s a bad look for everyone involved.
By the way, in Thibodeau’s last season, the Bulls finished 10th in offensive efficiency. But who’s keeping score?
Hoiberg is lucky that player confidence isn’t a stat because his team would lead the league in hanging heads. With a 5- 13 record in their last 18 games, including losing their last four and allowing 100 points or more in their last seven, the Bulls don’t have much momentum coming out of the break.
It doesn’t help that they open Thursday in Cleveland, then come home to play the Raptors on Friday.
And All- Star Jimmy Butler ( left knee) is out for at least a few more weeks, Nikola Mirotic is a big question mark after two surgeries ( appendectomy and hematoma) and Joakim Noah is done for the season after shoulder surgery. Go get ’ em, boys! In other words, Hoiberg’s coaching chops are going to be tested.
“It’s been difficult [ with all the injuries],’’ Hoiberg said. “Nobody feels sorry for us. And we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. You do that, and teams pounce all over you. And it gets ugly.
“When you’re struggling a little bit, it’s human nature when you get off to a slow start to put your head down. We can’t afford to do that.’’
Getting healthy and getting some swag back would be a good starting point, but Eastern Conference dominance doesn’t appear likely regardless.
The recovery has to start on defense. A return to their defensive roots from the Thibodeau days couldn’t hurt, and they did flex their defensive muscle frequently earlier this season.
The pick- and- roll defense, especially when Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose are involved, never was stellar, but it has gotten downright atrocious recently.
That’s about will and physicality just as much as the strategy of going over the screen, under the screen and hedging.
If it continues to be a problem, especially late in games, Hoiberg has to be more willing to sit Gasol and take at least one of the problems out of the equation.
This won’t solve all the defensive issues, but it would be a big step.
Offensively, Hoiberg admittedly has simplified the playbook, stressing pace and spacing. The problem, however, is that his two best weapons — Butler and Rose — are isolation players and tend to sink back into that mentality late in games.
Hoiberg discussed it last week, and he understands isolation is what fuels Rose and Butler, but neither needs to let the shot clock tick down to seven or less before attacking. There’s no rule against going iso with 12 seconds left, allowing for a kick- out pass for an open three- pointer with time to spare.
If Hoiberg can fix those major flaws, who knows? But they’re definitely his problems to fix.