Chicago Bulls: The Fred Hoiberg experiment was doomed from the start

While the Chicago Bulls fired head coach Fred Hoiberg on Monday, this college-coach turned NBA skipper experiment was doomed from the start.

Some things are only good in a vacuum, like ice cream in the summer, soup in the winter, or Lance Stephenson in an Indiana Pacer uniform.

Coaching success is no different. Just ask Mike D’Antoni, whose career seemed over after his dreadful tenure with the New York Knicks. James Harden and the Houston Rockets changed all of that for him.

When the Chicago Bulls asked coach Fred Hoiberg to step down after his atrociously lopsided 5-19 start the 2018-19 season, it was the fitting end to an ill-fitted start.

The inconvenient truth is that Hoiberg was never going to be a successful NBA coach, but that doesn’t take away from his ability.

From 2010-15, Hoiberg coached the Iowa State Cyclones to an impressive 115-56 record (.672). He was (and still will be) a fantastic college coach.

But with the Bulls record dead in the water, injuries up the wazoo, and a deeply passionate fanbase, something had to give.

A college coach can often bring great strengths to the table in the NBA, teaching young players with too much money core values such as humility, prudence, perseverance and fortitude. But it takes a lot of luck to allow that idealistic coaching model to truly flourish.

Anyone following the injury history so far this season (including key players Bobby Portis, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen) can tell you that luck has not been blown into the Windy City this season so far.

So this firing was not only a way for GarPax to appease the earned impatience of their fanbase, but a pivot, an important acknowledgment: The players rostered are not going to be the wholesome, coachable bunch you might have wished for.

When Brad Stevens was poached by the Boston Celtics from Butler, he had won 77 percent of his games, with a 166-49 record. And while his uncanny transition has been heralded, that success was also fueled by just as uncanny depth and drafting success: Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, to name a few. All of a sudden, it’s no wonder Al Horford bounced back to All-NBA form or that Aron Baynes at times looks like a championship-caliber role player.

Now take that depth, cut it in half, add a series of unfortunate injuries to key players (Kris Dunn being a catalyst to any successful runs) and add a dash of immaturity (like Jabari Parker saying defense doesn’t get paid). What you have is an impossible situation for any coach.

Fred Hoiberg did a fantastic job in Chicago. He did everything he could, stuck with his principles and ended with a 115-155 record (.426) — not too shabby considering his tenure directly straddled a rebuild era.

He should find another college skipper gig with no trouble, and as for the Bulls, interim head coach Jim Boylen will likely be a short-term coach, even though he is plenty qualified.