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, \u201cUmmmmm.\u2019\u2019
\u201cIt\u2019s a job that\u2019s tough, all 30 of us that are in this position have tough jobs,\u2019\u2019 Hoiberg said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of pressure. It\u2019s a high stress. It\u2019s tough on our families. It\u2019s all those things. At the same time, being in this league, you know what you\u2019re getting into. I was in the NBA for 15 years \u2013 10 as a player and five in the front office. My dream was to get back in and coach.
\u201cYou\u2019re 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.\u2019\u2019
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, \u201cMy vets didn\u2019t have an influence on the coaching staff. They couldn\u2019t change the plan because it didn\u2019t work for them. I played under one of the greatest coaches, and he held everyone accountable.\u2019\u2019
A couple of important messages there by Rondo. First, that Wade and Butler were influencing Hoiberg and changing his gameplans when they didn\u2019t like them. Secondly, that Hoiberg wasn\u2019t holding \u201ceveryone accountable\u2019\u2019 like Doc Rivers did in the Boston days.
Even Butler was asked about the influence he has on Hoiberg, and didn\u2019t exactly deny it.
\u201cMaybe,\u2019\u2019 Butler said. \u201cIf I have a concern, I go to them. That don\u2019t mean [Hoiberg] listens to me all the time, but I would hope that he takes my opinion into mind.\u2019\u2019
Hoiberg was asked if Wade or Butler do have influence over the staff and gave a one-word reply of, \u201cNo.\u2019\u2019
As far as the accountability, well, even Hoiberg admitted that it\u2019s a part of this team that remained a work in progress.
\u201cIt\u2019s something that we talked a lot about,\u2019\u2019 Hoiberg said of accountability. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we\u2019re 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.\u2019\u2019
Players weren\u2019t about to dispute that either.
\u201cWe\u2019re getting better at it,\u2019\u2019 Butler said, when asked if accountability was an issue. \u201cI think that\u2019s what everything\u2019s about, is getting better at what you\u2019re not the best at, every single day. We\u2019re learning, man. Even though it\u2019s 47 games in. We\u2019re still learning. We gotta be better in a lot of ways. That could be one.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

\nSimilarity rank: 1.1\n<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: 3.5<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n