When Fred Hoiberg took the Chicago Bulls’ head coaching job in June, he was inheriting a roster that had championship expectations. That presents its own set of challenges for a first-time NBA coach.
But with a roster as deep as this one comes another challenge, and how he manages it will go a long way toward determining the Bulls’ fortunes this season.
The Bulls have a lot of frontcourt players who need—and deserve—heavy minutes. A few of them are highly decorated veterans who aren’t used to making sacrifices, and their livelihoods depend on how the minutes and rotations shake out.
Joakim Noah is in an unenviable position with the Bulls. He’s just one year removed from being named Defensive Player of the Year, but he's also coming off a 2014-15 campaign hampered by a knee requiring offseason surgery. He’s in a contract year, and his new coach’s philosophy is centered around tempo and spacing, which heavily favors Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic.
So that’s the starting frontcourt combination Hoiberg has gone with in the Bulls’ firs ...
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Article written by Sean Highkin