Chicago Bulls: 3 early takeways from Jim Boylen era

1. Front office continues to stay out of harm’s way, lends support to Boylen

Back in the summer of 2010, the Bulls hired a coach with a no-nonsense attitude by the name of Tom Thibodeau. Like Boylen, Thibs had never held a head coaching position, but was well respected around the league for his work as an assistant.

In four of the five years Thibodeau spent in the Windy City, the Bulls were a top-five defensive team. On top of that, he guided the Bulls to a .647 winning percentage despite the multiple injuries to Derrick Rose, along with injuries to other key players as well.

Eventually, the front office took a disliking to the way Thibs ran things and decided that a new voice was needed to lead what was being advertised as a championship-caliber roster. Now, just three years after hiring Hoiberg, the front office is going in a different direction yet again and is lending its support to Boylen, who has the same hard-nosed approach to the game that Thibodeau did.

Funny how things work out sometimes, right?

What may have gotten lost during this recent fiasco is the fact that the front office has managed to come out smelling like roses once again. This is kind of ironic, considering that John Paxson and Gar Forman have hired five coaches in the last 15 years.

During Hoiberg’s tenure, there was an issue in terms of the team being unable to play well on a consistent basis, and that was even before the rebuild took place. Now, Boylen is reiterating the same mantra, stating that his team needs to learn how to play well for 48 minutes.

Go figure.

Somewhere in all this mess, Paxson and Forman deserve as much of the blame for the team’s shortcomings as the guys they have fired, and they remain under the microscope as the team continues to lose.

At the same time, Bulls fans shouldn’t hold their breath for real front office change, because it’s highly doubtful that will ever come to fruition.