6 Burning Questions Facing Fred Hoiberg After Chicago Bulls Hire
As Fred Hoiberg, the freshly announced coach of the Chicago Bulls, prepares to take over the reins of the team, he has several challenges facing him. How he meets them will determine his legacy in the Windy City.
Determining exactly how he can use the current roster with his offensive system is the first challenge. And while that’s a huge and legitimate query, it’s not the only one facing the rookie head coach from Iowa State.
The organization has some healing to do after the recent divorce between the front office of Gar Forman and John Paxson and former head coach Tom Thibodeau. There are the Thibodeau apologists, including members of the Chicago media, who are still bitter and will need to be won over.
And then there is the fanbase reaction—ranging from highly dubious to outright enthralled—to the coaching change Hoiberg must deal with. Each of those creates its own set of challenges. He will need to win over the former and temper expectations of the latter.
The challenges he faces are listed here in order of priority based on personal observation.
6. Can He Put the United Back in the United Center?
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It’s hard not to appreciate the irony that a team so divided plays in an arena called the “United Center.” It raises the question, can Hoiberg actually bring the “united” back?
By all accounts, he said all the right things and answered all the questions right in his introductory presser. Sam Smith of Bulls.com quotes Hoiberg at length:
"I love this roster. I absolutely love this roster. I love the versatility of the players. The different lineups that we’re going to be able to play; can play small, can play big, You’ve got lineups that I really think can get out and play with pace. You’ve got a great group of veteran players that know how to play. I think Tom Thibodeau is an excellent, excellent basketball coach and I think he instilled a lot of unbelievable qualities in this team that hopefully I can build on.
When I look at this young group, players have not only had great seasons as rookies and younger players but also a group that has great potential to be excellent players in this league. You have former all stars, you have current all stars. You have players that I think could eventually become all stars.
I understand this league, playing 10 years and working in the front office for four. I know what this league’s all about and that’s the guys. I’m here to do everything I can to support them, work with them and hopefully bring this group to where we’re competing for a world championship.”
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Hoiberg praised all the players, the front office and even the former coach.
Dan Bernstein of WSCR tweeted before Thibodeau was fired, “At least three starters ripped Thibs in exit interview, said they'd avoid team facility this summer if he were still there.” But other players were close with Thibodeau.
So, some players might be happy with the new situation, but others had a strong affinity for their old coach. Hoiberg needs to establish a relationship with each of his new players and is apparently doing so. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweeted, “Hoiberg said he plans to go to Spain to visit Gasol. This is similar to approach Kerr took when he got Warriors job and visited all players.”
Early on, Hoiberg is saying and doing all the right things.
5. Can He Establish His Own Identity?
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Hoiberg draws frequent fault comparisons to Tim Floyd, a previous Iowa State Cyclones-turned-Bulls head coach. His tenure lasted from 1999 to 2004 with a record of 49-190.
Floyd, like Hoiberg, also took over the job after a long feud between the front office and a highly successful coach: Phil Jackson.
That, however, is where the similarities end. Floyd inherited an abysmal roster. The championship team that Jackson helmed was almost entirely broken up. Meanwhile, the roster that Hoiberg joins is left almost entirely intact.
Furthermore, Tim Floyd was a like-minded skipper to Phil Jackson, running the triangle offense. Hoiberg, though, is a different style of coach from Thibodeau. Whereas the former eschewed analytics, the newcomer embraces it. Thibodeau is a great defensive mind; Hoiberg is known for his offensive system.
In other words, comparing Hoiberg to Floyd is like comparing Steve Kerr to Derek Fisher.
Fisher was signed by Jackson to coach the New York Knicks last offseason. For the most part, he had a young and broken roster trying and failing to employ the complicated triangle offense.
Kerr has front-office experience and embraces the new age of basketball as well as outside input. He’s led the Golden State Warriors to the Finals. He succeeded an offensively underachieving, defense-minded coach who refused to join the analytical age: Mark Jackson. Sound familiar?
Hoiberg is more Kerr than Floyd, but even that comparison isn’t entirely fair. Let Hoiberg be Hoiberg. He will need to put his own stamp on the job quickly.
4. Can He Calm Fears About the Defense?
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Another bizarre comparison is more “fan talk” than anything else, but it draws a parallel between Hoiberg and Marc Trestman, the recently ousted head coach of the Chicago Bears. Trestman was an offensive specialist who took over for the defensive-minded Lovie Smith.
That’s about where the comparisons end. The situations aren’t really alike because the sports aren’t alike. The Bears' transition included a player personnel change over. They lost great defensive players like Brian Urlacher. The Bulls will still have Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and former Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah. And while Thibodeau won’t be the coach anymore, it’s not like they’re going to suddenly forget how to defend in his absence.
And the notion that Hoiberg is the next Mike D’Antoni is not entirely accurate, either. The Cyclones were 71st on defense out of 351 teams in the Pomeroy college basketball ratings last year, which put them better than 80 percent of defenses. It doesn’t follow that, just because the offense works, he has no grasp or appreciation of what happens on the other end of the court.
But more than that, he doesn’t have to be singularly responsible for the defense. And at his press conference he mentioned how important it would be to hire a veteran defensive assistant, per Cody Westerlund of CBSChicago.com, “I want to get a veteran assistant in here that can really help me through things, whether he’s been a head coach or around the game for a really long time, that’s going to be important with that hire.”
Getting the right person would go a long way toward allaying concerns. One name that Hoiberg threw out was Adrian Griffin, who served in the same regard under Thibodeau and would be able to continue the same system. It might also satiate some of the Bulls who still hold affection for their former coach.
3. How Will the Frontcourt Work?
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The Bulls were expected to contend this year because of their depth in the frontcourt with Noah and Taj Gibson returning and Pau Gasol and Niko Mirotic being inked to new deals.
For various reasons, ranging from the poor utilization of pieces, to injuries, to a lack of playing time, it never panned out that way. Can Hoiberg’s system, with big emphases on spacing, solve those problems with limited shooting ability?
Hoiberg uses his bigs in a couple of different ways. The first is pick-and-roll action with a good slashing guard and a stretch 4, where the power forward will set the pick for the guard and roll out to the weak-side three.
The guard than either goes to the rim to finish or drives and kicks out to the open shooter. Or, if the defenses switch and the power forward has a mismatch with a guard, the big can cut to the rim for the easy bucket. It’s very easy to see Mirotic thriving in a system like that.
The other thing that Hoiberg likes to do is keep his bigs in what he calls their “room.” That’s the area along the baseline just outside of the paint. That’s just far enough out of the paint to keep it open, but close enough that the springier, athletic bigs can close and get rebounds.
I interviewed college coaching expert Randall Sherman of Radius Athletics about Hoiberg for Today’s Fastbreak, and he explained why that is:
"The purpose of the ball screen is to get a player in the paint attacking the defense. With post players “in their room” behind the defense, post defenders have to decide to either help up or sink back. I would say true back to the basket post players would be devalued in Hoiberg’s system and springy and rangy baseline athletes would become prioritized."
It’s easy to see Gibson thriving in a system like this. And, in our conversation, Sherman also told me that Billy Donovan used his bigs the same way at Florida, with Noah excelling in that capacity.
Of course, with Noah, much will depend on how much a full offseason of rest benefits his knee. If he can recover his bounciness, he’d excel as well. Hoiberg expanded at length on Noah’s playmaking abilities and how he was looking forward to working with him.
Gasol, though is the antithesis of what works well in the Bulls’ new offensive scheme, especially if he’s going to remain a power forward. I would not be surprised to see the Bulls shopping his trade value around. A fair return would be a late first-round pick, or perhaps he could get bundled with the No. 22 pick to move up a few spots.
If they aren’t able to move him, I expect him to be in a reduced role next year as the backup center.
2. Who Will Be the Starting Small Forward?
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The Bulls have what may become a three-way race for the starting small forward next year. Mike Dunleavy is a free agent, but the Bulls will likely try to retain him. They also have Tony Snell and Doug McDermott waiting in the wings (pun intended).
In my interview with Sherman, which happened before the hiring was official, he was positively effusive about the potential marriage:
"Hoiberg being hired by the Bulls would be the best thing to happen to McDermott’s professional career. I recall saying once to a coaching colleague that if every player played like McDermott, college basketball would be infinitely more entertaining. His movement away from the ball and ability to read defenders is lovely to watch. I’m not an avid NBA watcher, so I really cannot comment on why he hasn’t played much for Chicago to this point. I do believe that Hoiberg would find many ways to utilize McDermott. He’s the type of versatile and highly skilled player Hoiberg loves.
"In general, Hoiberg has a shooting wing (Naz Long) and more of a slashing wing (Bryce Dejean-Jones) on the floor together. He uses “Pistol” action and dribble handoffs for the slashers. He mainly spaces shooters opposite of high and wing ball screens. McDermott is adept at using pin downs and flare screens. He can read defenders and curl and catch-and-shoot off screens that don’t involve the ball. I see Hoiberg using this skill as a weapon."
In the press conference, Gar Forman mentioned that most of the Bulls' improvement would come “from within.” Feel free to read into that, “Doug McDermott.” The Bulls shelled out a lot to get his rights last year on draft right—Gary Harris, Jusuf Nurkic and a second-round pick—and he only played 356 minutes.
There’s little question that the three younger players—McDermott, Snell and Mirotic—will be getting more playing time. And, it’s not inconceivable that McDermott and/or Mirotic are starting.
And how much will Dunleavy want to stick around if he thinks that McDermott and Snell are going to be displacing him? Hoiberg seems he’s more open to a bigger rotation than Thibodeau was, so even if McDermott starts, Dunleavy still could see plenty of minutes if he re-signs.
1. Can Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler Thrive Together?
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According to Dan Bernstein of CBSChicago, there is some sort of feud brewing between Butler and Derrick Rose. I don’t know how much to make of the report. Bernstein has had nothing but negative things to say about Rose in the past.
At the same time, Reggie Rose and BJ Armstrong have had their own history of meddling with Derrick’s mind and career. And this is the sort of thing that I can see emanating from his so-called “camp," so I wouldn’t be stunned if it were true.
If it is, then a huge part of Hoiberg’s job initially will be to convince Rose and Butler they both have a place. In his presser, he seemed gaga over the idea of working with the two of them. Per Chris Emma of CBS Chicago, he said about Rose, “It’ll be great for Derrick. Derrick is a guy that’s at his best when he’s playing downhill. He’s as good as anybody in the world at being that guy.”
And then on Butler, “I’m excited about Jimmy obviously getting out and running the wings. Jimmy’s an attack player. If you can get him the ball on the run, on the move and attacking the basket with pace, it’s an ideal system for him.”
Hoiberg ran one of the fastest paces in college basketball, and the Bulls will be doing the same. With Rose and Butler constituting one of the fastest, most athletic backcourts in the league, there are plenty of opportunities to thrive together because of—not in spite of—one another.
Hoiberg’s easy job might be selling the two players. It may take a little more work to get Armstrong and Reggie on board.
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