Five minutes haven’t passed in my sit-down interview with Jim Boylen and the Bulls coach has backed his chair against a white dry erase board inside the coaches meeting room at the team’s practice facility.



His voice rises. His emotion bubbles. His demeanor intensifies.



With a blue Sharpie, Boylen begins diagraming plays, illustrating his desired defensive strategy in the same way he shows his players. On the opposite dry erase board hanging on the conference room’s east wall, a detailed scouting report on the next opponent, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, is written in red marker.



It’s a Monday afternoon at the Advocate Center. Twenty-four hours earlier, the Bulls suffered a 23-point loss at Detroit, yielding the eighth-most points they’ve allowed all season. Now, in an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the team’s planning and preparation, Boylen is breaking down the basics he’s hellbent on instilling into...