Imrem: Chicago Bulls' Hoiberg put in tough situation
A national NBA reporter recently asked me, “What do you think of Hoiberg?”
I hesitated because the more pressing questions lately were “Does Derrick Rose drive you goofy?” … “What are the chances GarPax will be fired?” … “Will the Bulls make the playoffs?”
Now that I think about it, what do I think of Bulls first-year coach Fred Hoiberg?
What I think is that Hoiberg should be a coach on a couch in the office of famed sports psychiatrist Otto Punt.
The good doctor's diagnosis likely would be that Hoiberg isn't the Bulls' problem as much as he's a victim of the Chicago Bulls' problems.
My goodness. Hoiberg has to manage Rose's physical, mental and emotional issues. He has to navigate a season full of Bulls injuries. He has to shake free from the ghost of predecessor Tom Thibodeau.
Don't feel badly for Hoiberg, who has a five-year, $25-million contract.
Think about it this way: Hoiberg is guaranteed more money than Alshon Jeffery if the Bears' wide receiver plays under the franchise tag slapped on him Monday.
Hoiberg will have to work five times as long for his windfall — assuming he isn't fired in a year or two or three — but he never will be sandwiched between a linebacker and strong safety.
Still, Hoiberg must wonder, “Doc, is it worth all the money in the world to put up with this stuff?”
Knowing Dr. Punt as well as I do, the answer would be a resounding “Yes! Yes, it is!”
For a pittance of Hoiberg money, most of us would carry Rose's garbage to the curb, polish his MVP plaque hourly and listen to him whine about his general soreness.
The Bulls are an unnatural disaster, but it's not like a tornado struck Hoiberg's trailer camp and blew his RV three counties down a two-lane dirt road.
Hoiberg's role in the Bulls' struggles can't be dismissed. Too much about him whispers insurance adjuster when these bewildered Bulls need a coach whose presence shouts company commander.
That said, Hoiberg is precisely what Bulls management wanted after the insufferable Thibodeau drove them wacko for five years.
As often is the case in all sports, vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman wanted the next guy to be the opposite of the previous guy.
They wanted someone more agreeable that could be, uh, let's just say influenced.
Of all the options at that time, they wound up with the wrong coach, wrong time for the wrong team.
Better would have been for one more year of living dangerously with Thibodeau.
Better would have been to hire Hoiberg and immediately begin to transform the roster.
Better would have been to hire a veteran NBA coach and make one more title run with the same players.
Instead, management and ownership dumped Tom Thibodeau and dumped his players on Fred Hoiberg.
Maybe Hoiberg should conduct a mock funeral for Thibodeau the way Bruce Weber mock-buried the memory of Bill Self at Illinois.
Unfortunately for Hoiberg, guys like Rose, Jimmy Butler and the rest of the Bulls likely would smirk instead of smile.
So, what do I think of Fred Hoiberg?
Mostly that he's overmatched, not because he isn't a good coach but because he was inserted into impossible circumstances.
No conclusions can be drawn until Hoiberg has his own, healthy, winning players.
Maybe the real question is whether GarPax can provide them.
Work on that one and those guys for a while, Dr. Punt.
mimrem@dailyherald.com