I used to be a Thib's guy, he could do no wrong in my eyes. He's a great defensive coach. However, after the Bulls stocked the roster with a lot more offensive type of players, that has changed for me.
Injuries is part of the picture, imo. When your team is injured every year, you have to look at the whole process to see if you can do things differently to prevent this. It's not so much that Thib's is the cause of all the injuries, but instead, what can be done to prevent the injuries.
My main gripe with Thib's is his stubbornness of wanting to do things his old fashioned way. He knows one way and that's it. It's his unwillingness to try to do things differently that I don't like, and he refuses to change.
I'm not sure he really is that good of an offensive coach, and I'm not sure that he really knows how to use an offensive roster properly. He refuses to let go of his defensive mentality of an offensive roster.
My main gripe is his roster lineup management. He is way too predictable with how he manages his substitutions and lineups, imo. He picks a rotation before a game, and he rarely strays from it. He makes his 1st substitution at the 4 minute mark, and then at the 3 minute mark of every quarter.
He'll stick with these substitution even if another player is hot. He always tries to win a game with a defensive lineup at the end of games rather than with an offensive lineup. His screen offense just doesn't work against good defensive teams late in the game.
The question for me is, is Thib's good enough to take the Bulls to a Championship? Sure, he wins a lot of games in the regular season, but he doesn't win in the post season when it really counts. This is his main problem.
This problem has nothing to do with anything else except maybe Thib's isn't good enough to win it all. There have been a lot of good coaches in the regular season, but there are only a few that separate themselves in the post season.
The bottom line is that if Thib's wants to silence the critics, he must win some games when it counts.... in the playoffs. The injuries, his stubbornness, his old fashioned way, and his red shirting of rookies, are all just part of what Thib's brings to the table.
But it ultimately be his ineffectiveness to win in the playoffs that could cost him his job. Stick up for Thib's all you want, and I have in the past, but another early exit this year in the playoffs could be the final straw on the camels back, imo, and especially if they under perform.
