Chicago Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau Rips Officiating in Game 3 Loss
By Josh Hill
Tom Thibodeau is a scary man and he’s never afraid to call it how he sees it. If you’ve ever watched a Chicago Bulls game in your life, you’ll know from Thibodeau barking his voice hoarse on the side of the court just how subtle he is. That attitude bubbled over in his postgame press conference following the Bulls Game 3 loss to the Miami Heat, where Thibodeau ripped the officials and danced around saying they were purposefully making calls in favor of the Heat.
“From my angle, I just saw a guy basically flop,” Thibodeau remarked when asked about Nazr Mohammed’s ejection in the first quarter after he shoved LeBron James to the hardwood following a technical foul on James. “And I’ll leave it at that.”
But Tom Thibodeau didn’t leave it at that, as after being prodded with questions about the officiating, particularly in the first half of the game when Joakim Noah also drew a technical foul, Thibdoeau danced around the notion that the Bulls are not only playing against the Heat, they’re playing against the NBA officials as well.
“Watching how things are going, I see how thing are going,” he said of the officiating on the Nazr Mohammed call. “I watch things very closely. And what I’m seeing… we’ll adjust accordingly.”
Thibodeau later said that he’s not expecting the Bulls to get calls but he’s not making that an excuse for losing the game. Still, the Bulls are depleted and their backs are up against the wall, so this kind of talk isn’t a new thing in the NBA. There is also a large faction of fans not just in Chicago that think the league has an interest in helping get the Heat to the NBA Finals again and getting LeBron James another trophy.
That’s dancing into dangerous territory, and you could tell that Thibodeau was choosing his words very carefully when he spoke after the Game 3 loss. For the record, LeBron James was handed a technical foul for tripping up and then grabbing Mohammed and Nazr has only himself to blame for being ejected. If the Bulls continue to play the way they’re playing, the series may end up being dictated by officiating but that’s what happens when you start shoving guys around when things aren’t going your way.
There are other ways to fire up your home crowd and while shoving LeBron James to the hardwood is a good way of doing it, Chicago needs to find a less costly way.