Hoiberg backs 1995-96 Bulls in all-time great team debate
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg didn't shy away from the debate on whether this year's Golden State Warriors might be better than the 72-win Bulls team of 1995-96.
"To be honest with you, I don't think there will ever be any team that is as good as that Bulls team," Hoiberg said before Friday's game. "It was such a tough team to play against. If (Michael) Jordan played in today's era with the (no) hand-check rules the way they are, I don't think it's out of the question he'd score 40 a night. The way they defended with (Scottie) Pippen and (Dennis) Rodman and Jordan, it was such a difficult team to prepare for and they could shoot."
Charles Barkley helped get the debate rolling on ESPN Radio on Thursday when he said, "That Bulls team would kill this little (Warriors) team. Come on, man, who's going to guard Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan?"
Hoiberg was an NBA rookie in '95-96 with Indiana. The Warriors headed into Friday's home game against Milwaukee with a 24-1 record. The 1995-96 Bulls were 23-2 through 25 games, but actually lost Game No. 26 at Indiana. Hoiberg didn't play in that one.
Of course, the Bulls responded with an 18-game win streak and their record stood at 41-3 on Feb. 2.
"They're always going to compare teams, eras, players," Hoiberg said. "It's a fun discussion."
Hoiberg shrinks offense:
So far, the Bulls have not become a higher-scoring, faster-paced team under new coach Fred Hoiberg. Before Friday's game against Detroit, Hoiberg talked about how he's scaled back the offensive playbook.
"Looking back at it, I probably put a little too much in initially," he said. "Now that we've kind of shrunk our package, we've done a better job as far a moving. We've been better in our flow and that's what we have to get good at."
Hoiberg, who coached at Iowa State the last five years, had some second thoughts about how he approached things in training camp.
"There are things that we started with that I thought could be really good for this team that we have not run as much," he said. "As you gather more information on the stuff you're running and get the efficiency of the plays, that's kind of been the reason we've shrunk down our package."
Dunleavy on way back:
Mike Dunleavy should return from a visit to a back specialist soon. Coach Fred Hoiberg is hoping the veteran forward can join the Bulls for the second half of the season.
"I'm optimistic," Hoiberg said. "Right now he's strictly in rehab mode. Once you get him back out there running and doing basketball activity, we should have a much better idea of when he'll be back and ready to play.
"He's a guy that's always going to be in the right spot. He's a vet, he's a pro. He's a floor-spacer, obviously. He's got some toughness to him. He can come off screens. He meant a lot to this team last year, there's no doubt about that."
Bull horns:
Joakim Noah started the night 7 offensive rebounds away from passing Horace Grant as the franchise's all-time leader. … Jimmy Butler increased his streak of consecutive games with at least 1 steal to 32. … Fred Hoiberg on whether he'll keep family members away from courtside seats after LeBron James sent front-row fan Ellie Day, wife of golfer Jason Day, to the hospital on Thursday in Cleveland: "I can't afford those seats."