What bothers me more is Tom Thibodeau didn't go to the end of his bench in this blowout until there was 1:36 to go. Even right before that, many players still on the floor were starters. The final box score revealed five players (Rose, Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, Nikola Mirotic and Tony Snell) as having played between 31 and 38 minutes. Add Pau Gasol's 29 minutes and that's an average of 32.5 minutes among six key players.
Maybe Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson being out with illnesses had something to do with it, but that's still no excuse to ride your other horses so hard when your opponent is ready for everything except playing basketball. The key guys should have been brought in at least four minutes earlier. Sure, nothing bad happened to anybody, but have you forgotten what happened to Rose in the 2012 playoffs under similar circumstances?
Although I'm on record as defending Thibodeau for riding his guys hard, I'm not so sure it's a good idea anymore. With or without Rose, we've seen the Bulls get burned in the playoffs for being exhausted after grinding it out in the regular season. Other teams have gotten further after pacing themselves over the 82-game schedule. But Thibodeau's understanding of the new NBA apparently only goes so far.
Then you have questions has to just how many people are under his command. Gibson just came out and said he's been playing with a torn ligament in his hand for the last month, but Thibodeau said to keep quiet about it. That could be a good thing if you believe in the NHL's injury system or a bad thing if you need to know what's going on all the time. Either way, it questions just how much is enough under Thibodeau.
If this truly is the one chance these Bulls have to win a championship, Thibodeau needs to make an overdue adjustment to get to the finish line. Gar Forman and John Paxson have gotten on their coach for not resting guys enough near the end of blowouts, which may be a key factor in the discord allegedly existing between the sides. Fans need to do the same. If it's a 20-point game with five minutes left, we want to see the Bairstows, Moores, McDermotts and Mohammeds out there.
It's also critical to work this system in if a team, like the Bucks in the last game, is clearly unable to keep up with you. If you know they can't be competitive on a certain night, don't waste your stars' energy on them. Let the bench face an opposing starting lineup (if the other coach allows it). Give them experience.
The crowd shouldn't have to chant for certain players to enter the game so late in the fourth quarter. Sooner or later, those are going to turn into jeers at Thibodeau for using his best players so recklessly. On a team not known for being healthy, you can't afford to risk yet another blow to the roster. If Thibodeau doesn't recognize this, someone better get in his face about it, maybe Jerry Reinsdorf.
Thibodeau will get a shot at redemption Wednesday when the Bulls are visited by the Charlotte Hornets. If the Bucks aren't that great of a playoff team, the Hornets shouldn't even be sniffing the postseason right now. Yet here they are in the thick of a bad East. So here's another chance to get the starters in, see if they can demolish a poor opponent and sit them much sooner if it gets to that point.
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