Tom Thibodeau Not Upset By Free Timeout For Cavs But Does Wonder About Rule Change
(CBS) A day after watching LeBron James drain a buzzer-beater for a Game 4 win after the Cavaliers were given a free timeout while the officials checked the clock, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau philosophized that a rule change preventing teams from huddling might be more fair.
Thibodeau didn't seem upset that Cleveland, which was out of timeouts after James had the ball knocked away by the Bulls in the final seconds, was allowed to huddle as the officials went to the monitor with the game tied at 84-all. As they put 1.5 seconds on the clock, the Cavs drew up the play that got James a tough-but-clean look from the left corner for the win.
Thibodeau confirmed he asked the officials to review the out of bounds call on the preceding drive by James, hoping it went off Cleveland even though Chicago forward Nikola Mirotic clearly touched it last. Thibodeau asking for the review -- and the ensuing break that followed -- likely didn't matter, though, for the officials needed to go to the monitor to determine the proper time anyway.
With a day to reflect, Thibodeau expanded on his thoughts about how he'd like such situations to be handled when a team is out of timeouts. A simple fix would be to prohibit teams out of timeouts from huddling with its coach.
"It's what technology's doing to the league," Thibodeau said. "The league itself, we're trying to figure it out as we go. The intent is very good, to get it right. And then you're trying to figure out, 'OK, is there an advantage to be gained?' Maybe in those situations, particularly when a team doesn't have a timeout, you don't let them go to the bench. This is the first time around with it, really, so we're figuring that out. I don't like it in that sense (the free timeout). Obviously, it affected us in a negative way, but for the most part, I think technology's been good."
The Bulls and Cavaliers are tied at 2-2 in the series. Game 5 is Tuesday evening in Cleveland.
