Gordon and Hinrich vs. Boylan
A pretty interesting take from the ESPN Weekend Dime on why Tyrus skipped practice:
There's no excusing Chicago's Tyrus Thomas for his methodology. Skipping a practice is always going to be a suspendable offense, especially when practice is skipped without at least calling the team first to let someone know you'll be absent, thereby sparing your bosses from fearing the worst.However ...
I'm told that Thomas legitimately believed he was going to prevent another distraction in a Bulls season filled with them when he didn't show for last Wednesday's workout.
The story, as I hear it from one team insider, is that Thomas had recently witnessed heated confrontations between Bulls coach Jim Boylan and two of Chicago's more veteran players -- Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich -- that wound up pitting multiple players against the coaching staff. I'm also told that Thomas figured he was heading for a similarly nasty blowup of his own with Boylan, but that he also concluded that the punishment for an argument with Boylan would be a lot steeper than what Gordon and Hinrich faced, given where he stands in the Bulls' pecking order and the growing stress of a tension-drenched season.
What, you mean these guys don't like being jerked around like this?
And who said anything about a pecking order in "work hard or take a seat next to me" land?
So Thomas -- confused by recent nine-minute stints against Washington and Memphis after being told he'd be getting steady minutes off the bench in the wake of the Bulls trading away Ben Wallace and Joe Smith -- decided that the smartest move was taking a one-day leave to clear his head. He couldn't understand why his minutes had declined so sharply soon after posting a big stat line (18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals) in a victory over Denver. But he preferred staying away to presenting his case directly to Boylan.Not smart. It was obviously flawed thinking from the start, which Thomas conceded in his subsequent apology to his teammates. He had to handle this better, either through his agent or by taking his concerns to Bulls general manager John Paxson if talking to the coach right away was so uncomfortable.
Thomas, however, almost certainly wouldn't have been suspended two games had he simply called in with some sort of story about an illness, car trouble or a dog eating his Berto Center swipe card. That way, Bulls officials wouldn't have been moved to dispatch police officers to Thomas' home after failing to locate him until Wednesday afternoon.
But the inevitable focus on Thomas' lack of judgement shouldn't obscure the fact that the Bulls have been Blowup Central this season, during and since the departure of the famously demanding Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve. Which is why you probably have to expect another coaching change in Chicago before next season -- barring an unforeseen postseason run by the Bulls -- even though Boylan has a passable 17-21 record since taking over to keep them in playoff contention.
Skiles has been gone for almost three months -- and numerous Bulls players (most recently Chris Duhon after L'Affaire Tyrus) have undeniably added to this season's issues with their immaturity -- but the tension never left. Easy as it is to presume that Gordon and Thomas will be traded in the offseason, it's far easier for a franchise to fashion a fresh start with a new staff.
In other words, we've got one reason to like these players. They probably all hate Boylan as much as we do.
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Boylan isn't good, but he's not horrible
You are exactly wrong.
He may not only be worse than anyone else you can put out there, he might be worse than no one coaching at all.
More reasons
Would be nice to hear this from the beat writers
Multiple players vs Boylan?
Dang, beat me to it
I get it
It would really warm my heart to read a story about Tyrus Thomas tooking Boylan straight in the eye and saying "C U Next Thursday" with a wink. I can dream.
by BullsFanInSeattle on Mar 16, 2008 12:23 AM CDT reply actions
Uh
God, no.
I'd rather not see any of our assistants promoted for next season. This coaching staff has lost its players.
Tough decisions?
They're both bad
On the other hand...
The thing to ask
I don't care
One thing for sure
Each week there's something new....
I can't wait to here the next big thing on BaB?
That's freaking hilarious!!!
Oh wait it's Boylan and our "playoff push"....
Holy shit Boylan is incompetent
So it gave me further reason to believe Reggie Theus will be a good NBA coach. The Kings have done better than expected this season, but there have been whispers of some internal issues, one between Kevin Martin and Theus. So Theus asked Martin to offer a written list of requests that would help his happiness level and his game. Martin was thrilled.
"I really haven't worked like this after practice since (former Kings assistant) coach [ Pete] Carril was teaching me stuff," Martin told the Sacramento Bee. "It's good to be taught other parts of the game. I'm having a lot of fun." Remember, NBA players are people too.
Is it really that difficult to talk to a player and let him know that his playing time is going to be cut? Or was Boylan just too much of a pussy to face Duhon man-to-man? It's at least common courtesy to let a player know what his role is going to be.
otoh
I'm sure he knew it
i agree
"At first, I thought Jim was trying to get a feel for the new guys. He apologized after the [Feb. 24 Houston] game for not getting me in."
so either he had expectations he might play, or boylan led him on, or boylan honestly thought he might get playing time which is completely moronic too. :P
Boylan is a pussy, plain & simple
Boylan would tell Duhon face-to-face that his time is going to be slashed down to nothing.
Duhon says "Well, coach, that totally sucks. I'm going to the Duke game tomorrow night in North Carolina."
Boylan says "Okay, but keep a low profile and show up for the game the next day, okay?"
It's called communicating. Boylan and the team would know ahead of time that Duhon is on a side-trip and they wouldn't need to fine him and break a story to the newspapers.
The entire thing would be kept in-house and nobody would know a damn thing happened. The TV cameras would catch Chris Duhon at the Duke game, but nobody would know that he was late the next day. Instead, the team feels the need to fine and embarrass an ballplayer who already put in his time for the team and who is understandably upset.
I blame Paxson for this total f-ing mess, to the extent that he allows the prick Boylan to continue to self-destruct the entire franchise.
by BullsFanInSeattle on Mar 17, 2008 1:35 AM CDT reply actions
FYI: don't use that word
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Mar 17, 2008 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions
Gordon denies incident
Gordon has to say that....
He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's in a contract year. And he's stuck with an complete moron as a head coach who is ruining his free market value.
Ben is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. He can't appear that he's a coach-killer in his contract year, even if his coach deserves a big wooden stake through the heart.
Maybe it's true, maybe it's not, but I wouldn't take what Ben says about it too seriously. The poor guy has to eat a big shit sandwich, then turn around and ask if he can have some sprouts on it, too, because it tastes so good.
by BullsFanInSeattle on Mar 17, 2008 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions
neither did Sheridan
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Mar 17, 2008 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions

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