Bulls' Thibodeau on criticisms of overexerting players: 'I'm going to coach my way'
Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is known for asking a lot from his players, owing in part to his preference to maintain a tight rotation and in part to Bulls rosters that have been somewhat thin in recent years.
As a result, Thibodeau has a reputation for overworking his players, asking them to assume enormous minutes totals. It's hard to argue with the success of his methods, but he has detractors given the load - and inherent risk - it puts on players.
Thibodeau doesn't want to hear it.
"Hey, I'm going to coach," Thibodeau said this week. "I'm going to coach my way, and whatever happens, happens. You do whatever you have to do to win, and that's the way I look at it."
The primary concern here is injuries. More minutes for players means less rest and greater risk for injury.
Derrick Rose has suffered a pair of major knee injuries, Joakim Noah missed at least 15 games in three of the past five seasons, and Jimmy Butler missed time last year, too. Luol Deng generally skated by unscathed, but he seemed to have his market depressed some due to concerns over his mileage.
The minutes loads are quite staggering. In the past four seasons, only 129 NBA players have averaged 35 minutes. Nine of them were Bulls.
| Workhorses | Year | MIN | MPG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deng | 2012 | 2129 | 39.4 |
| Deng | 2011 | 3208 | 39.1 |
| Butler | 2014 | 2591 | 38.7 |
| Deng | 2013 | 2903 | 38.7 |
| Deng | 2014 | 860 | 37.4 |
| Rose | 2011 | 3026 | 37.4 |
| Noah | 2013 | 2426 | 36.8 |
| Noah | 2014 | 2820 | 35.3 |
| Rose | 2012 | 1375 | 35.3 |
Minutes aren't necessarily the only way to measure workload, though.
"What gets lost sometimes is there are several ways you can pace your team,’’ Thibodeau said. “People think it’s just minutes. No."
Thibodeau cites the number and intensity of practices as ways to further control overall workload, and it's possible the organization has other ways to ensure its players are in peak form, like monitoring sleep patterns.
The Bulls also just haven't had rosters that afford them the opportunity to play a deep rotation and remain competitive. That should change this season, with Chicago running at least two-deep at every spot:
- PG: Rose, Kirk Hinrich
- SG: Butler, Tony Snell
- SF: Mike Dunleavy, Doug McDermott
- PF(/C): Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic
- C: Noah
It will be interesting to see if Thibodeau scales back the workload for some of his top names now that he has the depth to do so. If not, he's sure to continue to come under fire for his approach, even if the results back up the process.