Bulls' Thibodeau NBA's coach of the year
The question is, when did you realize Tom Thibodeau was better, smarter or more insane than most NBA coaches?
“The first day I came back from the England national team, I came in (the Berto Center) and thought no one was in here and I tried to get a few shots up,” Luol Deng answered. “He came down and put me through one of the toughest workouts I've ever done. That's when I knew it was going to be no joke.”
Joakim Noah has told roughly the same story many times about how Thibodeau personally worked him out every day last summer. Brian Scalabrine said Thibodeau did the same thing with Kendrick Perkins in Boston.
Scalabrine's moment of realization occurred during Boston's 2007 training camp, when Thibodeau first arrived as an assistant and the Celtics were practicing in Rome.
“He was taking over practice and … we're not used to an assistant coach going in there and grabbing guys by the shirt, telling guys, ‘This is where you need to be, right here.' We're not used to that,” Scalabrine said. “Most guys in the league have not seen that.”
But Scalabrine noticed Kevin Garnett buying in, Perkins getting better and the two big guys accepting the challenge of anchoring the defense. So it didn't take long for the Celtics to become believers.
“It's very difficult to do, to create swagger into guys,” Scalabrine added. “How do you create defensive swagger into guys? You do it by being confident in what you do and giving guys the right game plan to be successful.”
Thibodeau's methods paid off in a championship for the 2007-08 Celtics. After leading the Bulls to the NBA's best record in his first season on the job, Thibodeau was rewarded with the coach of the year trophy Sunday.
Thibodeau won by a wide margin, receiving 64 percent of the first-place votes. Philadelphia's Doug Collins was second and San Antonio's Gregg Popovich third.
During Sunday's news conference at the Berto Center, six players — Deng, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson, Rasual Butler and John Lucas III — stood in the back and applauded when their coach was handed the trophy, which features Red Auerbach sitting on a bench, holding a victory cigar.
“I think it's more of a team award,” Thibodeau said. “When you win the way that we've won this season — and hopefully we have some more wins, too — I think individuals end up being recognized.
“I think it's more about the organization, the players and the entire coaching staff. You don't achieve by yourself in this game.”
Thibodeau made the jump from Harvard assistant to an NBA bench in 1989 with the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves. He spent 20 years as an NBA assistant, then chose the Bulls during a hectic job search last spring.
He also drew interest from New Orleans and New Jersey, while he was in the process of helping coach the Celtics to the NBA Finals.
“After being here for a year, I realize how fortunate I am to be here,” he said. “It's a great city, great fans, great organization, great players. I waited 20 years to get this job, and it was well worth the wait.”
The Bulls passed on Thibodeau during their 2008 coaching search and caught a break when he didn't take a head job during the next two years. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was in Thibodeau's corner early, based on a recommendation from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who played at Harvard when Thibodeau was on the coaching staff.
One of Thibodeau's first tasks was developing a relationship with his star player, Derrick Rose. He headed to U.S. national team training camp in Las Vegas last July and watched every practice.
“The biggest thing (about being a head coach) is being able to manage your players, being able to manage their egos, manage the sensitive star, compared to the Kevin Garnett-type of star,” Scalabrine said. “You have to manage all that. That right there is the hardest thing.”
Under Thibodeau, the Bulls rose to the top of the defensive rankings, while Rose became the overwhelming favorite for MVP. The Bulls posted a record (62-20) no one dreamed was possible before the season.
“It's an honor and a privilege coaching these guys,” Thibodeau said. “I can't say enough about John (Paxson) and Gar (Forman), how they selected the right people.”
He's the fourth Bulls coach to win the honor, following Johnny “Red” Kerr in 1967, Dick Motta in '71 and Phil Jackson in '96.
mmcgraw@dailyherald.com