When a player the caliber of Derrick Rose says “We are not on the same page,” that is a mouthful. I have been reporting since Monday that there is a growing belief that Tom Thibodeau has lost the locker room in Chicago, and Rose’s comments after Monday night’s loss to the Cavs poured jet fuel on the still smoldering fire. How much does this have to do with Thibodeau’s methods? Or with his personality? And who might replace him if owner Jerry
I told you yesterday about mutterings I have heard around the league that Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has lost his locker room. Then last night, Derrick Rose poured jet fuel on the fire with some of the strongest comments he has made as a professional, including “we are not on the same page.” Rose rarely if ever uses expletives, but he used them Monday night after the Bulls got crushed by the Cavs, 108-94. A source close to the Bulls
You hear a lot of things when you are connected to a bunch of heavy hitters, and I heard a couple of things last week that sent me in search of the truth. And whatever the truth is, it was not readily apparent. First I heard from a source close to the Bulls that Tom Thibodeau had lost his locker room, his football coach mentality wearing thin with key members of a roster who it is fair to say have underperformed.
The Cavaliers vs. Suns game went down on Tuesday, which features top players like LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, and with David Blatt coaching the Cavs. In the game, Love spent the fourth quarter on the bench. [Read more…]
The three-team deal sending Jeff Green to Memphis has been completed, adding another top Western Conference contender to the list of teams that have made upgrades. Grades for all the deals made by West teams can be viewed here. To remind you: The Rockets got Corey Brewer in a trade and signed Josh Smith; the Mavericks acquired Rajon Rondo; the Suns picked up Brandan Wright; and the Thunder added Dion Waiters. In the East, the Cavs have brought in Timofey Mozgov, Iman
Greetings from New York, where Langston Galloway is the new face of the New York Knicks, and where Phil Jackson’s apologists are applauding the fact that his addition by subtraction trade of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert netted a second-round draft pick in 2019. In other local news, the New York Times invited its readers to find better things for Scott Cacciola to do other than cover the ‘Bockers. His editors feel sorry for him. Memo to Phil: It is one
Now that the entire NBA knows that Phil Jackson will take pennies on the dollar for his few remaining assets, there are two tams that should be picking up the phone this morning and trying to take Jose Calderon off his hands. Those teams are the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings. Both are in win-now mode, and both could use a 41 percent career 3-point shooter who knows how to run an offense and get the ball into the hands of
Is this some sort of way to earn a quasi 12th ring? New York Knicks president Phil Jackson could not have done much worse Monday night in dealing away Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-way trade that netted the Knicks three non-guaranteed contracts and a second-round draft pick in 2019. We’ve all heard of selling low, but this? This was a gift to the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers, who just became the first team to lose in