Bullseye View: Thibodeau – Good Choice or Bad?

Rami Abboud – CCS

As isolated reports begin to sprinkle in about the current assistant coach of the Boston Celtics likely coaching the Chicago Bulls next season, we all must ask ourselves the obvious question.  Is Tom Thibodeau the right man to coach Rose, Noah, Deng, Hinrich, and perhaps another big-name player in 2010-11?

The answer to that question is ‘yes.’  Absolutely. 

For those who question Thibodeau’s head-coaching experience, I implore you think about certain details.  Forgive me as I use a political reference.  Did you question George W. Bush’s experience when he came into his seat of power? Better yet, did you question Barack Obama’s? Running a professional basketball team is not so different than running a country.  You need quality experience.  Every great head coach always comes into his (or her) position with no experience in that exact job title.  But knowledge is always the key to success.  If you know enough about something (regardless, of whether it is the national economy or X’s and O’s on a basketball court), you can do a great job. 

We can look at someone well-known, like Phil Jackson.  Coach Jackson was arguably not the great architecht of the Chicago Bulls as he began his head-coaching stint with our team in 1989.  His long-time assistant, Tex Winter, was the innovator and master-mind of the triangle offense.  The thing that Phil Jackson brought to the table was his ability to deal with huge egos and larger-than-life personalities.  He has obviously had great Hall-of-Fame worthy players.  But no team wins an NBA Championship without one or two of those…

And what was Phil Jackson before he became popularly renowned as the greatest head coach in NBA history? That’s right – he infact did start out as an assistant under then-current head coach Doug Collins – just as Tom Thibodeau under Celtics’ Doc Rivers. 

It surely appears that Thibodeau is a defensive-minded guy.  He has been sought after, and is respected, for his mastery of the defensive end of the basketball court.  No team wins an NBA Championship that is not anchored by extremely solid defense.  Thibodeau would definitely need to prove that he can be solely liable for dealing with NBA personalities.  Doc Rivers has shown that he is the manager of the egos of his star core of players.  But Thibodeau was there and gained true experience observing and being apart of schemes involving juggernauts like K.G., Rasheed Wallace, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and even Rajon Rondo. 

And you better believe Tom Thibodeau also has a chip on his shoulder.  John Calipari, Byron Scott, Lawrence Frank, and Avery Johnson have already been head coaches in the NBA and are known for their success.  Thibodeau is relatively unknown, and has quietly had a successful, and respectable, coaching career thus far.  Every choice the Bulls could pick has risk, but this man is the right choice for the Chicago Bulls right now.

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