Chicago Bulls: Is Jim Boylen really a great head coach?

Former NBA veteran Cuttino Mobley weighed in on Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen Thursday while guest hosting the Dan Patrick Show. Could Jim Boylen really be a great head coach?

If you were to ask most Chicago Bulls fans what they thought of head coach Jim Boylen, there would almost certainly be quite a few adjectives that come to mind fairly quickly.

Some of them we may not be able to repeat here.

However, former NBA veteran Cuttino Mobley had some words of high praise Tuesday morning while filling in as a guest host on the Dan Patrick Show with Jason McIntyre.

"Mobley: Chicago has my coach Jim Boylen.McIntyre: That’s your guy?Mobley: That’s my guy. Of Houston.McIntyre: No wayMobley: Yeah. He coached me in Houston my first few years.McIntyre: I thought they all hated him.Mobley: Great coach. He’s a great coach."

The whole interview can be heard here. The topic of discussion turns to the Bulls and Boylen at 15:30.

As touched on in the interview, Mobley played for Boylen during their time with the Houston Rockets when Boylen was an assistant coach with the team from 1998-2003.

Mobley goes on to explain that he feels as if the young Bulls did not get along with Boylen at first because of the coach’s intolerance of the players’ habits and behavior.

While many fans may be quick to disagree, it’s worth pointing out that Mobley spent his rookie and early years with Boylen as an assistant. Mobley’s words could be seen not just as his opinion but also his experience.

Boylen struggled in his first year with the Bulls. There were many reports of the dislike that the players exhibited towards him, as pointed out by Mobley and McIntyre. Boylen and company finished the season with a 17-41 record after Fred Hoiberg’s firing.

However, one could argue that Boylen improved as the season progressed. The reports of locker room dysfunction and controversy seemed to fade away.

That alone says a lot. First impressions can be hard to change and relationships can often be hard to repair, especially with professional athletes. If Boylen was in fact able to get the team and players back on his side, that’s says something about, dare we say…potential greatness in coaching.

Now this isn’t to say that Mobley is correct in anything he said. Perhaps he’s a great assistant coach. Perhaps he’s a great college coach, given that he did in fact have a winning record as head coach at the University of Utah.

Or perhaps Boylen belongs on the sidelines at the Lake Forest YMCA.

Only time will tell. With just 58 games as a head coach under his belt, he’s only written a few pages of his NBA head coaching story. It’s a bit unfair to assume that it’s impossible for Boylen to be a great coach.

Unlikely? Perhaps. Impossible? Not quite.

After all, he’s spent a considerable amount of time under the wings of coaching greats like Rudy Tomjanovich, Tom Izzo and Gregg Popovich.

Let’s hope he was paying attention on the sidelines.