The Bernstein Brief: Thibodeau Is Adapting
By Dan Bernstein-
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Watching coach Tom Thibodeau suppress his instincts has become something of a pleasure in itself while enjoying this newly productive Bulls offense.
Thibodeau knows he has a Western Conference kind of team playing in the miserable East, able to put up enough points and play a faster game with many more possessions. It's evidence of his evolution that timeouts he used to call in fits of pique over missed defensive assignments now don't happen like they once did. Just as you expect the point guard to angle his dribble toward the bench in anticipation of punishment, they just ... play on.
It's entirely against Thibodeau's nature to tolerate 28-point defensive quarters, but he's no idiot. The NBA game has changed, and so have the Bulls. He trusts that his defensive principles will take hold late in games, and presumably moreso in the playoffs. He has never coached with the luxury of the kind of easier baskets like he's gettting from Pau Gasol, and he's adapting.
This is the same Thibs, but he's aware that he has a different team in a different time. It can't be easy for him.
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.