Chicago Bulls: 3 moves the team should make immediately
Move #1: Fire Head Coach Jim Boylen
While it may not be possible for the Bulls to fire GarPax immediately, the team can and should fire Head Coach Jim Boylen. It’s been clear since last season his players don’t like his personality or playing for him.
Boylen continues to epitomize a brand of “Gritty, tough” basketball and coaching that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the NBA. some of what Boylen says sounds like it comes from a high school basketball coach in the south suburbs, not a professional.
The coach famously had his players punch in on an actual time clock during the preseason. Boylen said he did this because it reminded him of one of his first jobs in an auto parts factory and how it felt to punch in each day and be ready to work.
I guess Boylen failed to consider that just about everyone on his roster has only ever had one job: basketball player. They didn’t grow up working as young kids did decades ago. These players were certainly treated like star athletes from a young age.
Jim Boylen said he used two timeouts in 3rd because he didn't like team's lack of energy. Had to burn his last one with 4:09 left for injured Markkanen. "We practice to not have timeouts. I'm not in fear mode that we don't have timeouts because we're prepared to not have them."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 5, 2020
His regressive attitude was on full display after a recent home loss to the Boston Celtics. Boylen explained his reasoning for using his last timeout with over four minutes remaining and said his team practices for this situation.
Boylen treats his players as expendable cogs in a broken system that he continues to believe will someday work. As the Bulls continue to get embarrassed by bad teams, it’s clear that Boylen’s system isn’t working.
His hard-nosed style has already been figured out by the league. Boylen obviously isn’t a fan of making adjustments. He should’ve been fired a long time ago.