Before being traded to Oklahoma City midseason, workhorse forward Taj Gibson was the longest-tenured player on the Bulls roster. In fact, he was the only player remaining from the team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011. After the departure of Joakim Noah last summer, Taj assumed the role of the most liked and respected veteran in the Bulls locker room. Sorry, Dwyane Wade. But it’s true.
So fans and media alike took notice when Taj – on multiple occasions – stood up for his new coach Fred Hoiberg despite plenty of outside scrutiny through 1.5 years of frustrating mediocrity. While his teammate Jimmy Butler was criticizing Hoiberg for not coaching hard enough, Gibson put the onus on himself and his teammates to try harder and do better.
Fast forward to today’s Minnesota Timberwolves media day, and Taj sounded like a guy who could finally tell the truth without worrying about hurting anyone’s feelings.
Thibs Vs. Fred
Derek James of ESPN asked Gibson flat out if Hoiberg is a good NBA coach, adding a second part to the question wondering if Fred might have more success coaching younger players in this new Bulls rebuild.
Taj’s long and thoughtful answer went as follows:
“I think going young can help [Fred], but either way they’re going to grow up. It just depends on how you’re coaching them, what you’re saying to them. But it all comes down to being a leader. You have to be a leader whether you have veterans or young guys. Because the moment you turn around, the young guys are considered veterans after one or two years.” – Taj Gibson
The key phrase in there is clearly “you have to be a leader.” The way Gibson phrased it sounded like he was implying that’s a weakness to Hoiberg’s coaching right now. He continued talking about leadership, referencing his previous Bulls coach and current Timberwolves boss Tom Thibodeau.
“You have to just be a strong leader and have a strong belief in yourself. Things may go wrong, ups and downs, but you have to have a strong belief and you have to demand the attention of the locker room. Day One when I was in Chicago, Thibs came in there…he had that mentality. You respected him, knowing that if it didn’t go [well] he would square up with you. And guys respected that.” – Taj Gibson
Taj’s subtext here is pretty clear. He could tell a stark difference between the kind of respect that Thibodeau commands in the locker room, and the lack thereof for Hoiberg. As he wrapped up his answer, perhaps still feeling a bit guilty for subtly ragging on Fred, Taj tried to offer an explanation for newer coaches like Fred struggling in the NBA.
“I think a lot of coaches around the league, maybe sometimes they’re young and it’s tough on them. And Thibs is an older guy, he’s been around the league a long time. So he had years to mold himself to be ready for that position. Fred came from college and he’s being thrown in there to be a head coach, lot of guys being thrown in to be head coaches. They may be great at X’s and O’s and offensive guys but you’re being thrown in with guys that you once played with and played against. You know what I’m saying? It’s a big difference.” – Taj Gibson
There aren’t too many relevant guys still playing in the NBA who were around when Hoiberg played his last season in 2004-05. However, Taj isn’t totally off base here. One of those few would be Dwyane Wade, who came into the league as a star in 2003 and showed up in Fred’s locker room last year. There wasn’t a great deal of respect flowing in the Dwyane-to-Fred direction last season, and it was fairly obvious. If Wade does stick around, at least for part of this upcoming season, that will undoubtedly be a factor again.
You have to respect Gibson for sticking up for Fred while playing for him and softening the blow of his fair criticism on Friday. It’s one of countless examples of Taj being an all-class professional athlete. Always doing the dirty work, looking inward for blame and pointing outward to give credit to his teammates and coaches.
But even when Taj phrases it as nicely as possible, he couldn’t help but spill an undeniable harsh truth. Between these two coaches he played for in Chicago, one commands respect with his leadership and one doesn’t.
Taj followed the leader to Minnesota.
Will these young Bulls follow Fred’s lead in Chicago? That’s mostly up to Fred.
