The Bernstein Brief: Burn That Bulls Tape
By Dan Bernstein-
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Tom Thibodeau actually said he wants to watch Wednesday night's Bulls performance again, a 97-77 loss to the Jazz.
"I don't want to overreact, but I don't want to underreact either," he said. "I want to take a good, hard look at the film."
I sure don't, and he really doesn't need to. This one doesn't require a catologing of missed defensive assignments, slow rotations, lazy efforts for loose balls or less-than-ideal shots. It's a seasoned team of motivated pros who would be best served by knowing an NBA clunker just happens, even to top contenders.
Thibodeau the hoops masochist is free to torture himself today by re-experiencing whatever that was, but its value as a teaching tool right now is minimal. They know how awful they were, and why.
Actually, I do want him to watch the closing minutes again to see if he notices anything odd -- like NBA minutes-per-game leader Jimmy Butler still on the floor in garbage time, even taking the ball hard to the basket against contact for no apparent reason other than to tempt fate.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.