Fred Hoiberg Had No Time For Questions About Isaiah Thomas' Dribbling
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Fred Hoiberg will happily rant about Isaiah Thomas palming the basketball after a loss, but don't you dare ask him any follow-ups about it.
The Chicago Bulls head coach was asked during his postgame press conference if he saw the Celtics' Isaiah Thomas palming the basketball at all during the Celts' 108-97 win in Game 5 on Wednesday night. He gave the reporter who asked the question a curt "No" then immediately got up and left the press conference. You can see Hoiberg's reaction in the above video.
Hoiberg drew plenty of (deserved) ridicule and scrutiny when he lambasted NBA referees for allowing IT to illegally carry the ball, apparently unaware that it's pretty much allowed across the league. It's even ignored with his own players - in fact, Dwyane Wade might be the all-time leader in palming.
It was a perfectly reasonable question to ask of Hoiberg, who invited such scrutiny as soon as he went on his ridiculous diatribe about palming, of all things. His original rant was sort of like complaining that football officials don't call enough holding. It was like an angry citizen at the local town hall meeting ranting about jaywalking.
To be fair to Hoiberg, it was apparently the last question of the presser anyway. But it was still oddly petulant behavior to give such a terse answer and storm out in a huff over a question that he couldn't have possibly been surprised to hear.
Safe to say that Hoiberg won't be getting his wishes from the referees for the rest of the series. Or reporters.
Matt Dolloff is a writer/producer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
