After the Chicago Bulls lost by a staggering 56 points at home on Saturday night, the team’s decision to move on from Fred Hoiberg looks even worse.
When the Chicago Bulls fired head coach Fred Hoiberg to start last week, Bulls president of basketball operations cited a lack of “energy and a spirit” as the reason, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews. I wonder where that energy and spirit were when Chicago got drubbed on their home floor Saturday night.
The Bulls did not simply lose to the visiting Boston Celtics, who happened to be without Al Horford. They got trounced in an embarrassing display of basketball, or something supposed to be basketball, as Boston won 133-77. The 56 point difference was the worst suffered in Chicago Bulls history, and it was tied for the worst home loss in NBA history.
Somehow, it gets worse from there. According to Andrews, the Bulls’ starters all sat for the last 21 minutes of the game, because new Bulls coach Jim Boylen believed a hard practice would be better for Chicago than playing an actual game.
Weird and probably flawed logic aside, the players then held a players-only meeting the next day and pushed the coaching staff for a meeting instead of a long practice the day after a back-to-back.
Boylen, for his part, insists it was his decision to have the meetings. This off the court business seems sour, and not what a team like the Bulls needs as the franchise tries to develop talent for the future.
Either way, even if everything off the floor was fine, a 56-point loss is not. Something is very wrong in Chicago, and firing Fred Hoiberg probably did more harm than good to the Chicago Bulls.
#Content you can’t miss
But wait, there’s more; Malika Andrews recaps the worst of the worst in Chicago’s historic loss
Trouble in Philly; Cody Rivera breaks down Joel Embiid’s discontent at moving away from the basket on offense
Milwaukee finally did it; Adam McGee has grades and reactions to the George Hill trade for Milwaukee
Lakers making moves; Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Lakers are seeking a three-team trade to move KCP and add Trevor Ariza
Tough stuff for Tyreke; Ben Gibson wonders how much longer Indiana can deal with Tyreke Evans not playing up to bar
One last dance; Shaun Powell goes through the history of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James’ friendship in advance of their last game against one another