Will Boylen Still Be Running with the Bulls Next Season?

Feb 21, 2019

After taking over the team mid-season when head coach Fred Hoiberg was shown the door, Jim Boylen immediately displayed a very different style from the player-friendly “Mayor” of Iowa.

Boylen displayed a more militant style of trying to whip his players in to shape, practices that included push-ups and suicide drills. Boylen would draw the ire of his players by making an almost unheard of 5 man substitution of his starting 5 players, not once, but twice in the same game. The first one was justifiable, as the starting group was playing poorly. But the second sub was done with the starting 5 only being outscored by 3 points. The fact that he kept his starters on the bench for the remaining 20 plus mins of the game, resulted in the Bulls worst lost in franchise history.

Photo: NBCSports.com

After a 4 in 5-night stretch and back to back games, Boylen called for a practice, that almost led to a mutiny, with the Bulls players discussing amongst themselves whether to walk out of practice as a show of unity against their new coach or if they should show up at all. Luckily for Boylen, the players came to practice and held two meetings, the first a players-only and then one with Boylen and Bulls management. But the players weren’t the only group that Boylen managed to rub the wrong way. His coaching style, as well as his wacky comments to the media, angered the Bulls fan base. Yes, the Bulls Nation were not impressed by how Boylen’s style of offense, had the Bulls looking like they were playing in quicksand. Why would he have this young team, who could get out in the open court and push the pace, slowly walking the ball up the court and looking to the post for offense? (A strategy that was better suited for how the game was played in the ’90s.) Why would GarPax continually give support to a coach who is talking about a player’s spirit and playing for the name across the chest, while his team had the worst offense in the entire NBA?

Everything looked bad until it didn’t. Maybe a large part of it has to do with the Bulls addition of Otto Porter Jr. via trade to the Washington Wizards for Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker. Maybe Boylen just needed that one more player to stretch the floor and allow space for Zach Lavine to operate. Maybe it’s the fact that as Lauri Markkanen’s injured elbow improved, he started going on a tear with several 30 point performances and nightly double-doubles. Maybe it’s a combination of the two along with the fact, that Boylen has opened up the offense for the Bulls, allowing them now to push the pace and encouraging his team to take more 3 pointers.

The Bulls have now played their best basketball of the season, and have morphed into the young fun competitive team, we all hoped they would be this season. The Bulls are still in the hunt for a top draft pick.

A core consisting of Lavine, Markkanen, Porter Jr., Wendell Carter Jr., and a top draft pick holds much promise for next season, but has Boylen shown enough to remain the coach? We’ll see how the remaining 24 games of the season go, but it certainly appears at the moment, that Boylen still has a chance to “run with us”.

Photos: NBCSports.com, Forbes.com

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