Jonathan Daniel - Getty Images
"C'mere for a big hug, you All Star Game you!" (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
I had a long and frustrating night at the ladies' prison on Tuesday, so couldn't watch the game.
But the Bulls won (I believe Alex will have a proper recap later today), and it meant that by virtue of having the conference's best record, the Bulls get to force their coach to Orlando for the All-Star game. For his part, after bizarrely brushing off notions of it all week,Tom Thibodeau finally allowed some awareness of the achievement:
It's more a testament to what the team has done, Any time you can participate in something like that, it's an honor.
Sam Smith has more, noting that Thibodeau has actually done this before as an assistant coach. I'm guessing they don't have to talk as much to the media as the head coach does though.
Bulls players joked that Thibodeau might never take Deng out of the game, and Deng said he thought it would be a good idea for Thibodeau to play LeBron James and Dwyane Wade all 48 minutes and practice them hard.
"It's a great honor," Korver said, getting serious. "We have an incredible coaching staff who put in a lot of time and effort. I don't think there is a team out there better prepared for every game. It's very well deserved."
"The whole coaching staff works so hard," added Deng. "Any time you want to go to the gym and get shots up those guys are there for you. I'm happy for them. They deserve it."
CJ Watson went directly to the people to express his gratitude for Thibs and the coaching staff. Joakim Noah had a line wondering about "defensive slides and closeouts" during the ASG's practice time, and got a chance to congratulate Thibs in his very Noah-esque way:
Hey Thibs! Congrats you're going to the (bleeping) All-Star game.
And if you needed further proof that Thibs his insane, the speculation went that he'd rather spend that weekend watching tape on the New Orleans Hornets. Blech.
And on to Derrick Rose. He said stuff about his back...either he feels better, or wants to feel better, or both, or something. This is looking more like an Org. choice, no matter what he says about being the only one who can really decide, so we'll see on when he actually plays next.
0 recs | 66 comments
Man, it would be pretty awesome if Thibs played a Howard, James, Wade, Rose Deng lineup for 40 mintues
and held the Western conference to 60 points.
THEKILLERWHALE - February 15, 2012
would not be your typical all star game but it would be in history
JustAnotherFan - February 15, 2012
y'know, for all the whining about the Bulls giving up 115 last night, and it's granted
they put up 121 without Rose and with Lucas actually y’know, playing. I know it was the Kings, but still, no one is talking about this.
BULLieving in Miami - February 15, 2012 via mobile
very ugly win
Noah played extremely well
For a guy with long arms and serious hops, Ronnie Brewer misses a ridiculous number of shots around the basket – including dunks. Sheesh.
Jimmy Butler plays a terrific fourth quarter in a victory over the Knicks, and then barely gets to play for the next several games. WTF?
Paul Warfield - February 15, 2012
LOL! that's Thibs telling the rookie to simmer down.
as for Brewer, I’ve said it in the past… it’s astonishing to me his somewhat lack of body control considering his athleticism. I mean even his layups go hard off the backboard.
BULLieving in Miami - February 15, 2012 via mobile
It boggles the mind how Brewer scored pretty much exclusively at the basket in Utah and now he looks like Kirk Hinrich out there.
It’s a pretty serious issue when the best wing defender off the bench can’t contribute offensively, wouldn’t they just have been better off with Bogans who could at least camp at the 3-point line?
Ozzie Montana - February 15, 2012
I think Brewer plays the passing lanes better than Bogans
but, seriously, how many (many of them uncontested) dunks and layups has he missed the past two seasons? Last season I just chalked it up to him not fully recovering from the hamstring injury, but I can’t use that excuse now. I find myself feeling embarrassed for him when it happens.
bryield - February 15, 2012
yeah if only he nade all his shots, we would never lose #sarcasm
I see the missed dunks as a funny moment, unless it happens in tight games in the fourth.
And fans go apeshit we he does make a dunk in the gamethreads, its all fun
Trey23 - February 15, 2012
i shall follow u
mrcochran23 - February 15, 2012
I made the same joke to my buddy this morning regarding Thibs at the ASG
he bitched to me about how the Bulls don’t “fucking loooooooose” (his words), and I told him I’d make sure Thibs runs the Heatles ragged while Derrick and Lu chill.
BULLieving in Miami - February 15, 2012 via mobile
lol
any chance the warden reads this?
SidM - February 15, 2012
wow, what?
obnoxious american - February 15, 2012
I assumed "ladies' prison" was a metaphor
for V-day related activity…but maybe he meant it literally.
Either way, I guess my question stands.
SidM - February 15, 2012
Thanks for the explanation.
I’m slow — also, I’m a family man, and my Valentine’s is a family event.
Tim S. - February 15, 2012
not till she materializes
zing!
paddyfairview - February 15, 2012
it really nice that yfbb and his left hand role play
gotta keep the spice alive!
Basketball Smurf - February 15, 2012
"Frustrating Night at the Ladies Prison"
Sounds like a really bad porno movie. Does frustrating mean you got no return on you investment, so to speak. And what does your mom think about all of this?
Cannoli - February 15, 2012
Thibs is probably not going to even bother with the ASG.
He’ll probably highlight a few key points and tell the guys to play hard but the level of play during the game has dipped pretty drastically, there’s no reason to think guys will be more intense just because of Thibs.
Ozzie Montana - February 15, 2012
he will probably use it to study the Heat
JustAnotherFan - February 15, 2012
Will he actually...
sit down while the game is in progress?
El Toro de Goro - February 15, 2012
Would Rose really have made that much difference to the defense?
If so, maybe we should give him more credit for it. The Bulls had all the offense they needed last night.
I hope the organization is keeping Rose out, because that would mean he feels better. But it’s hard to say. Is the organization keeping Hamilton out as well? By the organization, I’m assuming we don’t mean Thibs, but rather GorPaxDorf.
Tim S. - February 15, 2012
Rose would've made a difference
But not so much on defense but by driving the offense effeciently and indirectly helping the defense. Last night, the team was expending so much energy on offense that they were just tired on defense and weren’t able to lock them down. With Rose, he will allow the team to relax (relatively) on offense and focus thier energy on defense. It all adds up. This kid is good.
Bullforlife - February 15, 2012
After seeing Portland lose to Washington last night,
and the Pacers lose badly to Miami, my first thought was that every team has its ups and downs during the season. But my second thought is that the Bulls’ record is truly impressive, because they have had every excuse to have ups and downs, yet have maintained a steady level of excellence. Of course the Heat are nipping at their heels, but many people predicted that the Bulls could not keep up with the Heat in the regular season this year, and could not match their performance last year. So far, so good.
Tim S. - February 15, 2012
I think it's a testament to Thibs
and the culture the org has built. Thibs is a total perfectionist out there; you can truly see he believes that good habits are built by doing the right things every single day on every single play, and he leads by example in that regard.
slowmotion - February 16, 2012
Congrats thibs, you ol' film hound you
Belize - February 15, 2012
no pic? Shocking......hehe
Trey23 - February 15, 2012
lol
Belize - February 15, 2012
I really hope the org just sits Rose for a full week, and then re-evaluate him.
He says he’ll be back soon which for Rose might mean the Celtics game even though his back might not be 100%. I think the F.O. should take the cautionary route and just sit him regardless of how he thinks he feels.
BlackStar - February 15, 2012
It's not worth listening to anything DRose says,
it’s all just….a bunch of nothing. Not saying that I have a problem with it, he just never really gives you anything worthwhile.
dakoose - February 15, 2012
i just think hes a shy dude. He just uses the same sentences over and over again.
Geo4MVP - February 15, 2012
Maybe
someone coached him.
Tim S. - February 15, 2012
lol, yeah I love Derrick, but he is extremely unquotable
He’s seriously like a robot at this point
Juiceboxjerry - February 15, 2012
im tellin u man, hes just like kevin durant
those two guys are like humblebots that are meant to be teammates,
Geo4MVP - February 15, 2012
Nah, Kevin Durant has actual human characteristics during interviews
Laughing, changing the tone and volume of his voice, wide variety of answers, blinking, etc. etc.
Juiceboxjerry - February 15, 2012
Have you already forgot Rose's contract presser
Or his winning the MVP?
tuluse - February 15, 2012
Not sure what you mean...
Juiceboxjerry - February 15, 2012
He showed emotion and expression when he cared too
I get the feeling he just doesn’t give a shit about most press conferences.
tuluse - February 15, 2012
Durant really blinks with the best of them.
jpx7 - February 16, 2012
You are just catching on? “Humblebot” has been around forever. It’s who he is, has been and probably always will be.
metalkiwis - February 16, 2012
Oh, I know that. It's just Rose might try and come back before he's really 100% which might
lead to more health problems. He’ll try and persuade everyone that he’s ready to go.
BlackStar - February 15, 2012
Can't wait for him to call that timeout in the first minute
Yibs - February 15, 2012
"Your worthless style of play just made me throw up in my mouth!"
THEKILLERWHALE - February 15, 2012
"If you don't rotate better, I'm going to keep only 3 men in the game, and see if you can rotate then."
cubbybear - February 15, 2012
hey, maybe Thibs can convince Howard to come
JustAnotherFan - February 15, 2012
unfortunate use if words......yeah....
Trey23 - February 15, 2012
it was interesting seeing demarcus cousins in person. aside from the fact that he has very long
arms and is not nearly as chubby as i thought hed be, what really cracked me up was how he would use FGAs primarily as a way for him to get closer to the hoop. so he would take these 10 ft. hook or push shots and the second the ball left his hand— forget a follow through or anything like that— he would start running toward the basket to grab his own offensive rebound. funny stuff.
TheMoon - February 15, 2012
Yeah, Demarcus is an interesting watch.
As far as chubbiness goes, he was much thicker last season but he’s still got a ways to go before he has an NBA body. Even if he can get himself to Noah’s conditioning, which will take him another offseason or two, he can be that much more dangerous. He’s pretty athletic for a big and can put the ball on the floor all right, imagine if he was quicker/stronger….
dakoose - February 15, 2012
Yeah I like watching Cousins
He’s very energetic and has a lot of talent. He just needs to control the emotions. He’s very like Rasheed Wallace. And he was another very talented player who was exciting to watch – both for his basketball skills and for the unexpected reaction or blow-up that is always around the corner.
berzerkulous - February 15, 2012
I don't like him
He’s really talented, but I think he’s in the “selfish, high-volume, low-efficiency” mold, AKA the type of player that made the NBA kinda suck in the early 2000s.
Poloplaya14 - February 15, 2012
what makes you think hes selfish?
TheMoon - February 15, 2012
The fact that he shoots a lot and doesn't like to pass a whole lot
Poloplaya14 - February 15, 2012
dude had a 15 AST% his rookie year. how many bigs have that?
TheMoon - February 15, 2012
That's true
But that number’s fallen by a factor of 3 this year
Poloplaya14 - February 15, 2012
Er I guess not quite 3, but still, by a pretty significant amount
Poloplaya14 - February 15, 2012
so hes selfish now but he wasnt last year?
nah. hes being used differently than last year. the fact that he did what he did his rookie season and the fact that going into summer league last year he explicitly stated that he wanted to use SL to work on his passing/playmaking tells the story of a guy who is ambitious, not selfish.
TheMoon - February 16, 2012
Fair enough
But I’m still just not a big fan of his overall game and style of play, as currently constructed. I understand that he’s only 21 though, and I definitely recognize his talent and potential.
Poloplaya14 - February 16, 2012
Joakim Noah's about to be on PTI, if anyone's interested.
Poloplaya14 - February 15, 2012
Some fun stuff
When asked what Thibs says when he leaves guys in late in games, Noah said “You think Thibs explains that to us? No way.”
Poloplaya14 - February 15, 2012
Evading the "Why don't you like Miami" question
damnit
T.Moore - February 15, 2012
cos they are effin c's probably wouldn't go down well with the networks
cayal - February 15, 2012
ooo
gonna have to catch the podcast..i love pti, one of my fav shows
Belize - February 15, 2012
Kinda chickened out when asked what he doesn't like about the Heat
Juiceboxjerry - February 15, 2012
Saving the shit-talk for the playoffs.
It’s a process, after all.
jpx7 - February 16, 2012
Related:
nice read @ ESPN Chicago about thibs
Belize - February 15, 2012
un mas
BDL’s take
Belize - February 15, 2012
I'm interested to see how Dwight responds to THibs style of coaching
All be it it’s a all star game so I don’t expect Thibs turning purple if someone misses a assignment or allows a alley oop. It will however be intriguing to see if playing with D. Rose and Deng gives Dwight a little insight to come here.
mrcochran23 - February 15, 2012
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