No One Looks Good in Bulls-Thibs Brawl

Well, that got ugly.

After years of leaks, denials and - oh yeah - wins, the Chicago Bulls fired Coach Tom Thibodeau on Thursday, ending one of the strangest and most destructive power struggles in sports history.

Given the chance to finally let loose on Thibs, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf issued as passive-aggressive a press release as ever there were, effectively calling his coach insubordinate, intractable and ineffective.

As satisfying as that might have been for Reinsdorf - and as accurate - it was also the stupidest thing he could possibly have done.

It's probably not a coincidence Thibodeau worked as an NBA assistant for 21 years waiting to get a head job. He proved abrasive and stuck in his ways, including neglecting to use young players and running his favorites into the ground to the point he almost killed former All-Star Luol Deng.

But we know this. It's not up to management to excoriate Thibodeau, especially when they're in the market for a coach who, regardless who it will be, is almost certainly watching their conduct and judging them accordingly.

More on this guy - maybe a lot more - soon.

For Thibodeau's part, he'll almost certainly land a new head coaching gig, but his reputation takes a major hit on the way out the door, and he's now lost the chance, however remote, to become the legend who brought the Bulls their first title since Jordan. A roster downgrade is an inevitability.

The roster, by the way, may or may not be culpable in driving away the best Bulls coach since Phil Jackson, so forget about the players looking like angels either.

#Bulls sources: at least three starters ripped Thibs in exit interview, said they'd avoid team facility this summer if he were still there.

— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) May 28, 2015

Ultimately, the only people connected to the Bulls who don't look bad today are the fans, who are left wondering why Mommy and Daddy can't stop fighting long enough to take one of the NBA's most successful teams over the top.

The only thing I can feel now is disappointment: that Thibodeau doesn't have softer edges, that the front office - not only Reinsdorf but Vice President John Paxson and General Manager Gar Forman - isn't more patient, that Derrick Rose's knees couldn't hold up, that the team quit in embarrassing fashion during a must-win home playoff game.

This should have been the core of Chicago's next dynasty.

The only thing that looks good is the prospect of a new coach, which points to Iowa State University Coach Fred Hoiberg and, if the Bulls are smart, part of my second-favorite almost-dynasty:

Didn't get this into today's story, but plugged-in source considers Alvin Gentry the favorite to coach Bulls. "The guy I'd put my money on."

— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) May 15, 2015

EDIT: Hours after this was posted, Hoiberg became the choice. (End edit)

The question, as former Bulls coaches flood the market, is simple:

Or that they keep firing good coaches. I'm not sure. Let me think about it.

— Derek Beigh (@derekbeigh) May 29, 2015

Here's hoping it's the former. Our basketball lives depend on it.

These Bulls Can Contend Without Derrick Rose

Tuesday's latest in the Derrick Rose injury saga hit hard across the NBA, but it shouldn't in Chicago.

Of course it sucks that Rose, the Bulls' hometown hero and franchise player (if by contract alone), might miss the rest of the year after surgery on his knee, and here's hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery.

But for the Bulls and their fans, this isn't the end of the world, or even of the season. This team is still a championship contender.

For those of you keeping score at home, this is the third straight season Rose has sat out several games due to injury. The Bulls front office staff knows this, and they made sure last summer their team would still be competitive if Derrick's balky knees made it a hat trick.

It's turned out better than they could have anticipated.

• The Bulls' foundation is stronger than ever as Jimmy Butler has exploded to All-Star status; Joakim Noah, even in a down year, continues to be a top-five center; and newcomers Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic and Aaron Brooks have exceeded expectations. This is without a doubt the most talented Chicago squad outside Rose since the 2011-12 edition that went 50-16.

Another guard can join Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah in a still-stacked Bulls starting lineup.

• The Eastern Conference is ripe for the picking. Atlanta - who, by the way, is going to fail the "who has the best player in the series" test to almost any other contender - has dominated an extremely weak crop as Toronto, Washington and Cleveland have struggled to get it together. Cleveland might be the biggest threat to the Bulls, but this is the time to strike as the second LeBron era gets rolling.
• Frankly, losing Rose might help the team. Chicago's dirty little secret is Rose hasn't been very good this season - his 16 PER is about league average and only .9 above Brooks - and doesn't seem to be improving as he recuperates. While peak Rose would make the Bulls the favorite, they could be better off trading his terrible 3-point shooting and absolute refusal to drive to the basket and draw fouls - Rose's best skill in 2010-11 - for a little peace of mind this year and improved shooting and confidence when he returns to the court next season.

Chicago's dirty little secret: Derrick Rose hasn't been very good this season and doesn't seem to be improving.

The odds remain squarely against Chicago winning a championship this year - the postseason is always a crapshoot, and the loaded Western Conference means whoever emerges as Eastern Conference champion will have a huge challenge in The Finals - but the Rose-less team's chances aren't much worse than they were with him 24 hours ago. We're still in this thing, Bulls fans.

Would a Title Without Rose Smell So Sweet?

After last year's Eastern Conference Finals loss to Miami, every Chicago Bulls fan I know pinned their hopes for the 2011-12 season on a single article.

After winning the NBA MVP in his second season, Derrick Rose wasn't celebrating; instead he locked himself in his house, ordered pizza, brooded and began divining ways to win a championship. This time, nothing was going to stop him.

55 games later, things look a little different for Rose. He's missed Chicago's last 11 games and, with the playoffs less than a month away, hasn't played a minute since March 12. Despite his absence, the team has played well, winning 14 of 21 and continuing to lead the NBA in wins.

Somewhere between that 14-7 record and Bill Simmons' Ewing Theory, I couldn't stop wondering: Could the Bulls win the 2011-12 NBA championship without their MVP?

Every pundit on Earth seems to believe the Bulls are the favorite or extremely close to Miami and Oklahoma City, and with good reason. The Bulls have the best winning percentage, .764, in the NBA; they're perched neck-and-neck with Miami atop John Hollinger's NBA Power Rankings; and Chicago projects to finish with a better 82-game record (67-15) than last year's 62-20 squad.

Given that they've accomplished all that with Rose missing 40 percent of their games, I would submit that not only are the Bulls the favorite, it's by a pretty wide margin.

So how much of that margin could they lose?

With Rose, the Bulls are 28-6 (.823), about 12 full-season wins better than their .666 percentage without him. Rose's injuries haven't been the only thing plaguing the team, however: Joakim Noah got off to a slow start after the lockout, and Luol Deng (46 games played) and Rip Hamilton (17) have been hurt as well.

Given the randomness of the NBA playoffs, is it that bizarre to think a 54-win (.666) team could win it all? Last year's champion (Dallas, .695) won 57, the same as the Lakers team that preceded them. Those Lakers went to seven games in the Finals against a 50-win Celtics team.

The better question may be what a Chicago title without Rose would mean to the star's future. While I still contend that, as Hollinger says, The Derrick Rose Story didn't deserve to win MVP last year, #1 is undisputedly Chicago's leader. He's sixth in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating after finishing ninth last season and just signed a five-year, $95 million extension. He's not going anywhere.

Still, Rose took last year's loss to Miami hard. Wouldn't he take it even harder if Chicago - his hometown squad, a fact he seems to enjoy more than any other star in pro sports - completed its mission without him? What if Carlos Boozer won Finals MVP and Rose had to watch in a suit as #5 accepted the trophy that would look so good next to Rose's regular season award?

From what we know about Rose, he'd probably deflect any questions about his future with humility and grace while giving his teammates and coaching staff all the credit. He'd talk about coming back better than ever the next year to help the team start another three-peat.

When Rose stepped away, with only his friends and the next season to comfort him, the story might be different.

Delivery drivers, start your engines.