The Bernstein Brief: Fred Hoiberg Showing His Frustration
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) In what could be heard as a pushback to star Jimmy Butler's desire that he "coach harder," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg on Thursday made it clear he prefers to do quite the opposite.
"We almost have to be silent," he said of the coaches' roles in defensive breakdowns. "It has to come from the players."
This is significant, and it's what happens when a team goes from a defense-obsessed control freak to a offense-first philosophy guided by a less domineering personality. These players are so used to hearing each individual instruction bellowed at them of every possession of every practice and game that they can't seem to function when left to their own devices.
Tom Thibodeau never stopped yelling, never sat down, was always screaming out the defense for each screen set by an opponent in practices and games. A mistake on that end usually meant a quick trip to the bench.
Hoiberg just isn't that guy -- nobody else is, really -- and he's now telling us that, apparently for his team to hear.
Quite a concept, that professional basketball players should be responsible for remembering what to do and doing it. If Hoiberg seems dismayed that upon reaching the game's highest level his charges still need such constant prodding to do their jobs, his frustration is easy to understand.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
