Bulls believe turmoil needed to move forward
No matter which side of this Bulls’ turmoil you come down on, in favor of the players or the coach, Bulls’ management is siding with new coach Jim Boylen.
In the moment, that’s all that matters. The front office has emboldened Boylen to push more, coach harder and make progress, things that weren’t happening under Fred Hoiberg, who was fired last week.
Some Bulls’ players were unhappy with Boylen — a hard-charging veteran assistant who is the opposite of Hoiberg — for a variety of reasons after a franchise worst 56-point loss to Boston on Saturday: for grueling two-hour practices last week, for subbing five players at once, for scheduling a practice following a back-to-back and for calling out players publicly for their lack of toughness and conditioning.
Boylen’s demanding style has been a shock to some players, who threatened to boycott Sunday’s practice. It has been reported and confirmed by Boylen and others close to that situation that it was just a few players who wanted to send a message to their new coach.
Players didn’t revolt, but it led to a players-only meeting Sunday and then a meeting with players and coaches. Multiple people told USA TODAY that Sunday’s turmoil was necessary to get where the Bulls want to go. They said players and Boylen are trying to move forward on the same page.
The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive nature of the situation.
Let’s see what happens. “We’re together,” Bobby Portis told reporters at Monday’s shootaround.
Change is difficult, especially when the new boss is not the same as the old boss, and people react different, especially to drastic change.
Players might have been frustrated with more practice and more demands, and, according to Yahoo, they reached out to the National Basketball Players Association to voice their concerns.
But unless Boylen is violating terms of the collective bargaining agreement, he’s within his right to coach as he see fits. Of course, he runs the risk of losing the team if he goes too far. That hasn’t happened yet, and one person said Boylen gained support in the locker room following Sunday’s airing of concerns.
“(Sunday) was a blessing for where we have to go,” Boylen told reporters.
He also disputed the notion that the entire team was nearing a mutiny. He said a “couple of guys” didn’t want to practice after a long week, which included a game or a practice for seven consecutive days.
“The truth is we had a couple of guys who thought a Sunday practice was excessive after the week we had,” Boylen told reporters Monday. “And they have to trust me that if I’m going to bring them in here to practice, I’m going to manage their legs and manage what we’re going to do. They didn’t understand that. So I explained to them that you have to trust me and I’m going to do what’s best for this team.
“What was best was coming in, being together and growing. Some guys felt that was excessive. We cleared that up, and we’re moving on.”
Did Boylen make missteps in his first week? Yes, and he admitted as much. He can communicate better, referencing how things were done in San Antonio when he was an assistant for Gregg Popovich isn’t endearing to everyone and calling out players can be saved for private team meetings.
But here’s another truth: The Bulls entered the week ranked 30th offensively, 23rd defensively and 29th in net rating. They’re not good, and Boylen is trying to make them better. Sometimes, that leads to greater demands.
The Bulls, who haven’t been fully healthy all season, are expected to get Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis back in the rotation after just getting Lauri Markkanen back for his season debut last week.
Some within the organization thought Sunday’s moment of dysfunction was necessary to let players know that Boylen’s demanding style won’t change and improvement is expected even if the Bulls aren’t a playoff team this season. With Zach LaVine, rookie Wendell Carter Jr. and Markkanen, the Bulls want to see glimpses of the future.
Boylen is asking for trust that might be difficult for players who just saw their head coach fired. It’s going to take time for players to buy into Boylen’s philosophy, if ever at all.
But one thing is clear: For now, Boylen has the backing of the front office to run things his way.