Bulls’ Thibodeau gets more time to teach this summer

We can only imagine how much happier Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was this summer, with no lockout to ruin his gym-time interaction with players.

Last year, while the players were forced to stay away from Berto Center, Thibodeau’s activities were limited mostly to film study.

This is just a guess, but second-year forward Jimmy Butler figured to be a prime target of Thibodeau’s summer tutoring. Is that correct?

“I think I was a little bit of everybody’s project when it came to Griff (Adrian Griffin) and being a defender, coach (Ron) Adams teaching me shot technique and Thibs over everything,” Butler said. “He molded me. He was trying to get me to do this and do that.”

Two years ago, Joakim Noah attested to Thibodeau’s diligence, saying he even tried to sneak into the Berto Center at night, only to find the head coach in the building, ready to lead an individual workout.

“He loves it,” Butler said of Thibodeau. “He studies games. He loves this game and loves to win, so why not push your players to have that drive you have?”

Thibs back on schedule:Coach Tom Thibodeau has been asked about being back on a regular schedule, as opposed to last year#146;s late start, condensed season and short training camp.#147;Overall, it#146;s a lot better for everybody,#148; he said. #147;Because it#146;s not only the practice time, I think it#146;s the proper amount of rest, the space between games. Your performance is going to be better.#147;Most of the stuff we did last year was ballroom stuff, walk-throughs, film sessions, things of that nature. Those things are important. But the biggest part that was missing was practice and the work. You have to get out here and do it and build the right habits. I think that#146;s how you improve.#148;Teague might stay on bench:With two veteran points guards available in Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson, rookie Marquis Teague doesn#146;t figure to get a ton of early playing time, even while Derrick Rose recovers from knee surgery.The Bulls could send Teague to the D-League for more playing time.#147;Right now, him learning our system and learning his teammates #151; it#146;s a lot better for him to be here,#148; coach Tom Thibodeau said. #147;We#146;ll see how the season unfolds.#148;Ex-Bulls not quite forgotten:The Bulls have been getting used to some new faces during the first week of training camp. But what about the forgotten faces? The Bulls said goodbye to Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson, Omer Asik, John Lucas III and Brian Scalabrine.#147;I have a lot of respect for all those guys,#148; Thibodeau said. #147;They did a great job for us, just the way they handled themselves. But that was last year and this is this year. It#146;s the nature of the league. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what they meant to our team.#148;