Jim Boylen has been the coach of the Chicago Bulls for less than a week, and it’s very clear that he’s trying to put his imprint on the team immediately.
The problem is, Boylen appears to be headed back to a Thibsian approach to coaching, driving players hard, being an intense disciplinarian when players make mistakes, and working them aggressively in practices. That’s a departure from the way things have been under Fred Hoiberg, and there has unsurprisingly been some friction between he and the players as a result.
On Saturday night, the Bulls suffered their worst loss in franchise history to the Celtics, losing at home by a 133-77 final score. After the game, players appeared less than pleased with some of Boylen’s decision making, most notably how he subbed out the entire starting five for a full bench unit and then, later, benched the starters for the majority of the second half. Boylen got defensive about his approach, citing Gregg Popovich as an example of a coach that’s used full line change type rotations before.
Reporter: "You don't see 5-man substitutions happen a lot in the league, so—"
Zach LaVine, interrupting: "No, you don't."— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
Boylen: "Me subbing them is saving them maybe. This is about honoring the game and doing the right things. I worked for Gregg Popovich. He subbed five guys a ton of times. Nobody says a word to him about it."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
As reported last night, players understood Boylen's first 5-man substitution. Bulls came out flat/new coach sending message/etc. It's the second one that caught some players off guard. Celtics began 2nd half on mere 5-3 run and Boylen pulled all 5 starters just 2:58 into half.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
LaVine: "It sucks sitting there and watching. You know you can help. Sometimes, you don't feel like you do anything wrong. We got blitzed to come out. Obviously, (Boylen) didn't like that. That happens in the NBA sometimes. We responded in the second quarter."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
On Sunday, Boylen planned on having a full practice despite Chicago just completing a back-to-back. However, players pushed back and the team ended up having a lengthy team meeting for more than two hours without ever stepping foot on the court. The meeting apparently began as a players only meeting, with coaches joining in later.
Wendell Carter Jr. said they held a players only meeting this morning to discuss last night’s game before the coaching staff joined them.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) December 9, 2018
Zach LaVine: “I think we just all needed to get on the same page. We needed to get a lot of our chests.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
Jim Boylen: “We had a productive day. We had a good meeting. I was hoping to have a full team practice. But it didn’t happen. The meeting went long.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
Lotta semantics on how today went down but one thing that's abundantly clear: Players told Boylen they wanted to meet instead of practice and aired plenty.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
However, Boylen tried to dispute the idea that the meeting was the idea of the players and not him.
Jim Boylen disputes that players called for meetings today and said it was his decision to have meetings instead of on the court practice. Players conveyed that they called the meetings.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) December 9, 2018
Boylen said there are open lines of communication between him and players. “We’re still learning each other,” he said.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
Boylen is clearly trying to wrangle control of the locker room and change the culture of the team to what he feels is necessary. That’s understandable, but the way he’s going about it certainly seems to be rubbing some members of the team the wrong way.
More Boylen: "We’re still learning about each other. I’ve moved over the 18 inches. They’re still learning how I want it. There’s been a little shock and awe here in the last seven days. And there’s an adjustment to that. And that’s OK."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018
It’s possible the meeting on Sunday can get everyone on the same page, but Boylen being defiant about who started the meeting isn’t a great indicator of that being the case.
It will certainly be an interesting case to watch this season, because the Bulls have committed to Boylen through next year. They also have committed a lot of money to Zach LaVine as the face of the franchise, and he’s been among those that seems to be confused by the new coach’s approach. Maybe the Bulls can rally together and figure things out, but it seems just as likely that we end up with rampant dysfunction and a rift between players and coach in Chicago.
