Bulls' Tom Thibodeau defends aggressive coaching style

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND — Tom Thibodeau, in case you hadn't heard, isn't the shakable sort.

From the steady cadence of his speech to his strong style of coaching to the boulder-like shape of his physique that so perfectly reflects his essence, the man is nothing if not resolute. So as the Chicago Bulls coach discussed the state of his team Tuesday night, a win against the Golden State Warriors having provided the latest uptick in their strangely inconsistent season, it came as no surprise that he wasn't fazed by all the critical chatter that surrounds him.

Even with the win against the Warriors that snapped Golden State's 19-game home winning streak, the Bulls have lost seven of their last 12 games and are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference at 30-17. There's speculation in the Chicago media that Thibodeau and the Bulls might part ways this summer if their playoff run doesn't last long enough, and a recent rant from ESPN analyst and longtime Thibodeau friend Jeff Van Gundy only fed that fire.

Van Gundy, who employed Thibodeau as an assistant while coaching the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, was critical of the Bulls for allegedly undermining their coach through the media. Bulls executive vice president John Paxson fired back, denying the accusation in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and calling it "pathetic."

Meanwhile, the age-old questions about Thibodeau and whether his intense style is wearing his players down are — quite predictably — back again. Never mind the long list of more substantive factors that have come into play.

As Thibodeau is first to point out, the Bulls have had their preferred starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah together for 15 of 47 games this season because of injuries. Dunleavy (right ankle sprain) is the lone missing piece now from that group, as he has missed 14 consecutive games and the timeline for his return is unclear.

What's more, the combination of Rose's long-awaited return from his two injury-riddled seasons and the integration of Gasol and his unique game has played a part in the inconsistency. Most alarming is the fact that the Bulls' defense that has been the league's best in two of Thibodeau's four seasons (and ranked second and fifth in the other two) has slid to 12th in the league this season.

Yet as Thibodeau made clear, he's not the least bit concerned with those who keep questioning his hard-driving ways. He'll charge on, unapologetic and — as always — unshaken.

"You want to be a championship team, there's a price to pay," Thibodeau declares. "And that's what you have to do. There's no shortcuts. You can't shortcut your way to success. ... I'm going to give everything I have each and every day, and I have no regrets."

Here is a transcript of USA TODAY Sports' discussion with Thibodeau on the Bulls and the noise surrounding them:

Q: Tom, you're getting asked about your coaching style quite a bit these days, from the managing of minutes to practice habits and all those kinds of things. Any part of you feel like there's too much focus on that aspect of your guys' season?

A: To me, it's not a big deal. If you coach in this league, it's part of the territory. They're going to criticize you for something. You have to stand by what you believe in, and I don't believe that we lost in the playoffs (last season) because we were out of gas. If you look at what we've done the second half of the season (in the past), we've always done extremely well the second half of the season. Now you get to the playoffs, and when you're down a Derrick Rose and you're down a Luol Deng and you're down a Joakim Noah, now it's different. Once you get to the playoffs, now it becomes more equal talent. Maybe we lost because we were shorthanded. That's the way I look at it.

Our team has overcome a lot of obstacles. When you lose a Derrick Rose and a Joakim Noah and a Luol Deng, and you still manage to get into the playoffs, I thought it was terrific accomplishment for our team. One year (2013), we advanced to the second round short-handed. When we got there, Luol Deng was out with a spinal tap, Kirk (Hinrich) was out with a calf injury, Derrick was gone, Joakim had plantar (fasciitis), and we still managed to win a round and then last year won 48 games (in the regular season). So I'm not apologizing for any of that. You have to believe — to me, the only way a team can improve is you have to be sharp. The way you execute in this league is through repetition, and that's both offensively and defensively. You're not going to rest your way to success.

Q: What about the idea that no one in the league pushes their players quite like you do? Do you even agree with that premise that has essentially become like gospel?

A: No. Listen, I've been around a long time. There are so many different ways to pace your team. Like everyone, (outsiders) look at minutes but they don't know what's going on in practice. They don't know how much contact you have (in practice). They don't know what your philosophy is in terms of days off. Is (practice) after back to backs? Is first day of a road trip? Is (practice) a day off after never more than three consecutive days? Whatever it might be, there's a lot that goes into it. But you also — if you're looking at performance and how you can get the best out of people — there's a reason why teams have success over a long period of time. You have to have core values. What do you believe in? Do you believe in hard work? Do you believe in discipline? Do you believe in conditioning? Because those are the things I know that do work.

So I'm not surprised if the play is up and down and it's been sporadic in terms of — can you practice or not practice? No, practice is important. The regular season is important. Your meetings are important. Your walk-through is important. Everything is important. You want to be a championship team, there's a price to pay. And that's what you have to do. There's no shortcuts. You can't shortcut your way to success.

Q: When this kind of noise gets louder around you, is there any part of you that becomes more defiant in terms of your beliefs?

A: As I said, this is not something — I didn't just come into the league yesterday. I've been around a long time. I've been around championship-caliber teams for a long time. I know what goes into it.

Q: When it comes to your style, which one or two coaches would you point to in terms of influencing you the most?

A: All of them. They're all important, because I think you're a sum of all your experiences. ... If you aspire to be a great coach, I think being around great coaches is really the only way to get there. And so, I was fortunate to break in with (the late Bill) Musselman. I worked with (UNLV legend Jerry) Tarkanian. When I was in New York, we had a fabulous staff with Jeff (Van Gundy). But more importantly, it wasn't just Jeff. Jeff had worked for (Pat) Riley and John MacLeod and Don Nelson and Rick Pitino, and his dad was a great coach. And then we had Brendan Malone, who had been with Chuck Daly. He's a great coach. Don Cheney, who was under Bill Fitch and the Celtics. You learn from everybody, and Doc (Rivers) is as good as it gets in this league. I learned as much from him (as a Celtics assistant) as I learned from everybody. So you learn from everybody that you're around, and then I don't think you ever want to stay the same. You always want to try to learn and improve. I'm going to give everything I have each and every day, and I have no regrets.

Q: What's your pulse of your locker room? Some folks have indicated that there may be a disconnect with you and your guys. How do you see that?

A: I work every day. I'm not going in there taking their temperature. It's like, "Hey, my job is to be consistent." Come in every day. Give them a good plan. I want them to be able to count on me to tell them the truth. And when it's not good enough, I have to tell them that. I also have to tell them what we have to do to correct it. That's part of my job, so I want them to be able to count on me, to know that I'm not taking a shortcut, I'm going to put the work in and try to come up with answers. We've just got to keep improving. It's really simple.