The hesitation said it all.
During his Friday meeting with the media, Fred Hoiberg was reminded of his success from his days coaching at Iowa State, and then asked if his current gig with the Bulls was really worth all the headaches that seem to surround this team in his first two seasons.
His reply started with a laugh.
Then a long drawn out, “Ummmmm.’’
“It’s a job that’s tough, all 30 of us that are in this position have tough jobs,’’ Hoiberg said. “There’s a lot of pressure. It’s a high stress. It’s tough on our families. It’s all those things. At the same time, being in this league, you know what you’re getting into. I was in the NBA for 15 years – 10 as a player and five in the front office. My dream was to get back in and coach.
“You’re in these situations, these things come up over the course of the year with pretty much every team, with maybe the exception of a few. You deal with it the best you can and try to move forward. We did that. Again, hopefully we learn from it and become a better basketball team.’’
While a lot of the focus on Friday was on Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo speaking to the media about the jabs all three players took over a 24-hour period, almost lost in all the explanations was the fact that some of what was said was an indictment on Hoiberg.
Following the Wednesday loss to Atlanta, Wade and Butler used the media to fire on their teammates about work ethic, heart, shot selection and caring about the game. Rondo retaliated on his Instagram account Thursday, and at one point wrote, “My vets didn’t have an influence on the coaching staff. They couldn’t change the plan because it didn’t work for them. I played under one of the greatest coaches, and he held everyone accountable.’’
A couple of important messages there by Rondo. First, that Wade and Butler were influencing Hoiberg and changing his gameplans when they didn’t like them. Secondly, that Hoiberg wasn’t holding “everyone accountable’’ like Doc Rivers did in the Boston days.
Even Butler was asked about the influence he has on Hoiberg, and didn’t exactly deny it.
“Maybe,’’ Butler said. “If I have a concern, I go to them. That don’t mean [Hoiberg] listens to me all the time, but I would hope that he takes my opinion into mind.’’
Hoiberg was asked if Wade or Butler do have influence over the staff and gave a one-word reply of, “No.’’
As far as the accountability, well, even Hoiberg admitted that it’s a part of this team that remained a work in progress.
“It’s something that we talked a lot about,’’ Hoiberg said of accountability. “It’s something that we’re going to continue to address, continue to get better in all areas. It starts with me. I got to get us prepared to play. I got to get us prepared to go out and play consistent basketball and then try to put a plan to get us to go out and win games and be consistent in all areas.’’
Players weren’t about to dispute that either.
“We’re getting better at it,’’ Butler said, when asked if accountability was an issue. “I think that’s what everything’s about, is getting better at what you’re not the best at, every single day. We’re learning, man. Even though it’s 47 games in. We’re still learning. We gotta be better in a lot of ways. That could be one.’’
