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.