CLEVELAND – Outside the coach's office, there was life within the eyes of Tom Thibodeau. The possibilities percolated. For three years, the coach of these Chicago Bulls has come to the Eastern Conference playoffs with a battered roster bereft of Derrick Rose. For three years, they wondered whether they would ever be whole again, whether management's obsession with ousting Thibodeau would ever let him, let these players, make one more run for everything.

"They sense that you don't get these opportunities all the time," Thibodeau told Yahoo Sports late Monday. "You've got to make the most of them. These guys are starting to build a chemistry. Whatever our circumstances are, we've got to go.

"This is it."

As Rose makes an inspired return to a playoff stage that desperately missed him, Thibodeau is pushing closer to the end of his run here. This wasn't on his mind on Monday after a 99-92 Game 1 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers; only winning. Only the opportunity now. Rose is becoming Rose again, slowly, surely, but the progression's unmistakable. It changes everything for Chicago, except this: Amid the twisted culture of Chicago's regime – where winning is losing, where success is failure – management can't wait to rid itself of one Tom Thibodeau.

For everything Chicago management does to undermine the coach, this Bulls locker room has remained something rare in professional sports: unaffected and unrelenting.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau (right) speaks with guard Jimmy Butler during Game 1 against the Cavaliers. (Getty Images) More

"Ahhhh, that's all noise," Thibodeau told Yahoo Sports. He won't do it. He won't think about endings on Monday night, when this feels so much like a beginning for these Bulls.

"I want them to be mentally tough," Thibodeau said. "In this league, it's so easy to get sidetracked. There's so much noise. Trades. Free agency. This. That. Whatever. To me, none of that is important. All that matters is what we think. Are we doing the right things every day? Are we putting the proper work in? Are we playing the right way? Practicing the right way? That's how you play well in this league. All that other stuff is just noise, it doesn't mean anything."

Thibodeau promises to be defiant until the end, until someone beats these Bulls four times in the playoffs. The reemergence of Rose, the rise of Jimmy Butler and the arrival of Pau Gasol make these Bulls a problem for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Rose is retracing his steps of greatness, allowing for adjustments of mind and body. It's coming, though. Between big shots and bigger passes, the Game 1 victory over Cleveland had been telltale for the Bulls' chances in this series. They had to get a game here with Kevin Love out for the season, with J.R. Smith out until Game 3.

As much as anything, Thibodeau loves the chance he has to coach Rose again. This isn't the old Rose. In every way, Rose has been fiercely loyal to Thibodeau. He'd never do what James did to Cavaliers coach David Blatt on Monday night, insisting that the Bulls were "exploiting us with our coverage."

When management has tried sidling to Rose, he's never sold out Thibodeau. When people have tried to blame Thibodeau for playing a part in Rose's rash of injuries, Rose has never blinked. In a lot of ways, the Bulls-Thibodeau partnership survived because of Rose. Even now, his stature won't stop the inevitable parting this spring.

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