The Chicago Bulls announced on Tuesday that Fred Hoiberg will be the next head coach. He agreed to a five-year $25 million contract. The job became available after the Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau on Friday. Hoiberg doesn’t have NBA coaching experience but coached the last five years at Iowa State. Is this a good move for the Bulls?
Once the Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau, Hoiberg became the top candidate for the opening. The Bulls wanted Hoiberg because he played for the organization from 1999 to 2003. Hoiberg also has a close friendship with Bulls General Manager Gar Forman. Forman was an assistant coach at Iowa State when Hoiberg played for the Cyclones from 1991 to 1995. The Bulls Vice President, John Paxson, was looking for a coach who was a strong communicator. Paxson hopes Hoibergwill have better communication with him than Thibodeau.
The problem with Hoiberg is he doesn’t have NBA coaching experience but spent the last five years with the Iowa State Cyclones. He coached the Cyclones to a regular season record of 115-56. That is a winning percentage of .673. The Cyclones made the NCAA Tournament the last four years. The best finish they had was in 2014 when they went to the Sweet 16 and lost to Connecticut in the Elite 8.
He is a great head coach but the lack of NBA experience may hurt him. The New York Knicks this past year hired Derek Fisher who was coaching for the first time ever. The Knicks were awful and ended the season 17-65. Steve Kerr was lucky enough to be hired with Golden State. He went 67-15.
The excellent college coaches have failed at the NBA level. John Calipari, the Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach won 635 games in NCAA. Calipari went to Final Four, four times with three different teams and won it all in 2012 with Kentucky. He coached the New Jersey Nets for a little over two years. He had career record of 72-112. Rick Pitino, Head Coach of Louisville spent 6 years in the NBA with three teams. He ended up 192-220. In college basketball he is 720-250 with one National Title.
Hoiberg is taking over a decent team. The Bulls have gone to the playoffs the last five years. This past season they had an impressive 50-32 record, third seed in the East. In the playoffs they knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks in six games before falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second-round in six games. The team is talented. The roster includes guards Aaron Brooks, Jimmy Butler, and Kirk Hinrich, forward Mike Dunleavy, centers Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. They have a dangerous shooter in Derrick Rose. In order for Hoiberg to have success with this roster, Rose has to stay healthy. Rose hasn’t played 80 games for the Bulls since 2010-2011 due to injuries. He tore his ACL in the 2012 playoffs and has had knee problems since. Hopefully Hoiberg watches Rose’s minutes on the court this year to keep him healthy. They can’t afford to lose him because he is their best shooter.
What do you think of Fred Hoiberg becoming the Bulls Head Coach?
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