Carlos Boozer openly whined about his lack of playing time in fourth quarter of Bulls games on Monday.
“I think I should be out there,” said Boozer, who is in the midst of his worst season as a Bull. “But it’s (Thibodeau’s) choice. He makes the decisions out there, so I play, I don’t coach. He coaches. So he decides that.
“But honestly, he’s been doing that a lot since I’ve been here, not putting me in the fourth quarter. Sometimes we win; more times than not, we don’t. But that’s his choice.”
Bulls GM Gar Forman is not pleased with how Boozer openly complained about his lack of minutes in crunch time per CSN Chicago.
General manager Gar Forman was at a “Hoops to Homework” community event on the west side of Chicago, but couldn’t escape inquiries about Boozer’s comments.
“I’m disappointed that Carlos didn’t keep that in-house,” Forman said. “I think we’ve seen Tom does a terrific job managing guys’ roles, managing their minutes. In that situation, Taj (Gibson) has played very, very well.”
Tom Thibodeau chimed in on the debate, and explained that Boozer and Taj Gibson are competing for the same minutes.
“I have two guys that are deserving of being starters,’’ Thibodeau said. “I’m asking Taj to sacrifice not starting, and in some cases Carlos has to sacrifice not finishing.
“I have two guys that are deserving of being starters,’’ Thibodeau said. “I’m asking Taj to sacrifice not starting, and in some cases Carlos has to sacrifice not finishing.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice what might be best for yourself for what’s best for the team. That’s what I love about Taj. Taj could be upset he’s not starting. He never complains. Whatever you ask him to do he just goes out there and does it. To me, what he does speaks volumes. He’s not talking about it. He’s going out there and doing it.’’