The Chicago Bulls play as hard as any team in the NBA, and that can sometimes rub a team or players the wrong way. Tom Thibodeau rides his starters hard, and most average over 40 plus minutes a game.
That’s his system and his players understand that. As All Star center Joakim Noah told Bulls.com, Thibodeau “doesn’t really understand that whole rest thing anyway.”
“I saw the way the game was going,” said Thibodeau. “You’re jogging back. They’ve got a lot of three point shooting on the floor. A 10-point lead can dissipate in a minute. You knock down three threes, you get a foul, boom. And then we were in the penalty; we’re recklessly fouling. We’ve got to do better.”
“What do you want me to say? Yeah, I’m tired, pretty tired,” Noah offered with a shrug. “Working on (his plantar fasciitis) every day, massages, lots of treatments, doing everything possible to keep it under control. It’s not really right after the game (you feel tired). It’s the next morning that’s the roughest.
“We’ve got a great coach,” Noah said as he began to smile and let out a laugh and you know one of those subtle, understated zingers was coming. “But he doesn’t understand the whole rest thing yet I don’t think. But it’s all good. We all want to win. It’s good.”
Thibodeau is a tough-minded defensive coach, so regardless if his teams are up 20, he’s going to keep pushing. Can it be a little annoying, yes, but at least Thibodeau won’t have to worry about a team that doesn’t play hard like some coaches.
I’m sure Doug Collins would love that problem here in Philly.