Tom Thibodeau: Is He the Best Rookie Head Coach in NBA History?
Tom Thibodau has an outside chance to tie an NBA record. In 1992 Paul Westphal, as a rookie head coach, won 62 games to set the win mark by a rookie head coach, and if the Bulls win their last six, Thibodeau would tie that record.
The difference is that Thibodeau inherited a team with 41 wins whereas Westphal inherited a team with 51 wins and a newly acquired Charles Barkley, who won the MVP that year. It does seem possible that the Bulls could have the MVP this year too, though.
Thibodeau has already earned the record for biggest improvement in a team that had a winning record by a rookie head coach.
Thibodeau's trademark defense has been the earmark of the Bulls squad which either leads or is second in virtually every defensive category there is. They are second opponents points per game, second in defensive rating, first in opponents field goal percentage and three-point percentage and second in defensive rebound percentage.
Perhaps undersold is the steadily improving offensive performance by the team which has helped them to the best record in the NBA over the second half of the season. From their 42nd game on the Bulls are 28-7.
Over that span the Bulls have outscored their opponents by 9.9 points per game, and have averaged 112.3 points per 100 possessions as they've gradually and under the radar become one of the more effective offenses in the NBA. Once as low as 24th in offensive rating they've now move into a tie for the 11th most efficient offense on the season.
While Derrick Rose's MVP-worthy performance has certainly helped the team, coaching has had more than a little to do with team's remarkable success. From the beginning of the year, he was more concerned with Rose knowing how to run the offense and understand it.
He's spent more time coaching Rose on what to do in different situations and explaining the way the offense is intended to work than calling plays from the sidelines. That coaching is why there's been a steady improvement in the Bulls offense as the season progresses.
In addition, in other areas where young teams normally struggle the Bulls have excelled. Against winning teams they are tied with the Lakers for best winning percentage against .500 teams. They also have the best record at 14-7 against top 10 teams.
After starting off with struggles on the road at 11-12, the Bulls have been winning there as well, going 13-4 since then and now own the league's fifth best road record, and the Eastern Conference's second best.
While it is rare to see teams advance to the NBA finals without having advanced deep into the playoffs it's also rare to see the number one overall seed belong to a team that hasn't advanced to at least the second round before too.
Westphal's Suns lost in the NBA finals to the Chicago Bulls. Maybe Thibodeua can repeat history by bringing a 62 win team to the finals as Westphal did. Hopefully it will be the same result, except not the Westphal result, the Bulls result.
