Westerlund: Tom Thibodeau Question Looms After Bulls Run Out Of Answers
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) – With 2:16 remaining Thursday night at the United Center came a most rare sight.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau retreated to his cushioned folding chair on the Chicago bench. A man renowned for his pacing, fidgeting, gesticulating and cursing along the sideline night after night, Thibodeau sat quietly, nearly motionless, his right hand over his left, his head turning just ever so slightly as the action shifted from one end to the other.
A 2014-'15 Bulls season that carried championship aspirations with it from media day onward was taking its last breaths, and there was nothing Thibodeau could do to revive it. Flanked by assistants Adrian Griffin and Ed Pinckney, Thibodeau never envisioned it ending like this, a hardwood full of reserves playing out the string in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 94-73 win in Game 6 of this Eastern Conference semifinal that sealed a 4-2 series win over the Bulls.
Thibodeau's had five successful seasons in Chicago, but his tenure has also been marred by a contentious relationship with the front office. It's led many to believe a parting of the ways is on the horizon despite him having two years left on his contract.
Amid the "noise," Thibodeau's focus all season had always been the next film session, the next scouting report, the next game. Now there was none of that.
All Thibodeau could do was stare into the nothingness of an uncertain future.
"Until they tell me I'm not, I expect to be here," Thibodeau responded when asked if he expects to coach the Bulls next season. "That's the way I'm approaching it."
In the Chicago locker room just around the corner from Thibodeau's office, the Bulls publicly backed their coach. Mike Dunleavy spoke first, saying of Thibodeau, "He's given us everything he has every single day, and anyone would want a coach like that."
Star point guard Derrick Rose, whose injuries dashed championship dreams the previous two seasons and cemented Thibodeau's do-more-with-less legacy, followed with an even stronger tone.
"It's not up to my decision, but I love him as a coach," Rose said.
"I can't say nothing bad about him … Like I said, the decision is not my decision. If it was up to me, he'll be back."
Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah expressed support for Thibodeau as well.
"Thibs is a hard worker," Noah said. "He's always had us prepared. Right now, we just don't know what the situation is."
As we move toward a moment of truth, Chicago's upcoming decision on Thibodeau must be framed around the big picture. The Bulls are coming off a 50-win season and showed the flashes of being a championship contender here and there, but in the end, it was clear that LeBron James and his Cavaliers are on another level, to say nothing of the Western Conference.
Looking ahead, the Bulls of next season will likely have a similar makeup to this group. Chicago has indicated it plans to match any offer that All-Star wing Jimmy Butler gets in restricted free agency. With Noah being a shade of his former self because of a knee injury, it's unlikely he could be traded. Kirk Hinrich will almost certainly exercise his player option.
That would leave soon-to-be-free agents Dunleavy and Aaron Brooks as the only other two rotation players whose futures are in doubt on a team that was the league's fifth-oldest this season. Barring something unusual, the Bulls won't have cap space.
With that context and the first pane of the Bulls' championship window shattered, what makes anyone think next season will be different when the Cavs could find more continuity in the second year with James running the show?
Consistency would be part of the answer, but that eluded the Bulls all of this season. And while the likes of Butler and Nikola Mirotic should continue to grow, it's possible we just witnessed Chicago's ceiling as we know it in the near future.
"Who knows," Rose said when asked the cause of Chicago's year-long struggles. "We've been trying to figure this out the entire year, having our ups and downs. I've been trying to give you the best answer possible. I really don't know."
Seemingly in the eyes of the Bulls' front office, a new coach could be part of the solution, perhaps the only route if difference-making personnel can't be added. Such a move would have recent precedent. Golden State fired Mark Jackson after a 51-win season in 2013-'14, then ripped off a 67-win campaign under Steve Kerr this year by reaching its potential in a more dynamic offensive system.
These Bulls never reached such heights, which we were all painfully reminded of as the scored an abysmal 15 points in a stretch of 17:59 spanning late-first quarter until mid-third quarter Thursday.
There's no doubt a fair share of that falls on Thibodeau, even if the Bulls took the blame as a team.
"This team had more potential than we showed," Pau Gasol said.
While supporting Thibodeau, Rose – no stranger to mixed messaging – also expressed the desire that change must come in some form for the Bulls.
"Hopefully when we come back, we'll have a different game plan and a different approach to how we play each game," Rose said. "We got to figure it out."
All Thibodeau knows is that Friday brings physicals and a noon meeting for the Bulls players. After that, a staring contest may well ensue.
The 57-year-old Thibodeau doesn't seem or sound like a man who would willingly walk out on a team he likes while under contract, but he did carry the look of a man worn down by a season of drama, and Orlando and New Orleans boast openings with attractive young talent.
From the perspective of the Bulls front office, a firing means would mean no possible draft-pick compensation, but how long can they wait if Thibodeau goes about business as usual? And are they certain they'd have a better candidate?
Only time will bring clarity, following a Bulls season that was so often shaded in gray.
"I'm proud of our guys," Thibodeau said. "We came up short.
"Some good, some bad. It's not for me to judge."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.