Is the Tom Thibodeau era over with Chicago Bulls?

Following the torn meniscus to Bulls’ point guard, Derrick Rose, rumors are starting to surround Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and whether or not he will be with the organization much longer

Heartbreaking. Devastating . Unfair.

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These are words that Bulls players and coaches had in response to hearing that Derrick Rose had torn his meniscus. This will be Rose’s third major knee injury that has led to surgery in his career. His future with the Bulls and in the NBA is without a doubt a huge question mark right now.

But even though his teammates and coaching staff are feeling the utmost sympathy for Rose, the show must go on.

Part of that show is Coach Tom Thibodeau preparing his team day in and day out for the tests an NBA season has to offer. According to USA today’s sports analyst, Nancy Armour, one of those tests might be transitioning to a new head coach.

The Bulls should not rebuild. They should not get rid of Thibodeau. And they should definitely not do a combination of these two

Armour brings up a valuable point: Thibodeau has had some issues with the Bulls front office in the past. Despite having a huge success as a coach, winning over 65% of the time and making the playoffs each year, the criticism he has had of Bulls management and the delay in the signing of a contract extension doesn’t necessarily speak to a quality relationship between the two parties.

But does a parting of the two make sense for the Bulls? With so many question marks surrounding Rose, what do you do as an organization in this situation?

It is hard to believe that the Bulls would abandon all the talent they have and start a rebuilding process around a new coach. After all, Jimmy Butler became an All-Star for the first time in his career this year alongside Pau Gasol. It seems the only void in the Bulls lineup has been whether or not Derrick Rose has been healthy and if he is playing to his full potential.

On top of this, Thibs has proven himself to be one of the best coaches in the NBA. Especially for point guards.

Completely abandoning your head coach because your star point guard can’t stay healthy is asinine.

After jumping from the New York Knicks, to the Boston Celtics, back to the Knicks, then back to the Celtics, point guard Nate Robinson finally landed a spot on the Bulls roster in 2012 where Thibodeau could coach up the point guard. At times, his free style of play was as frustrating to the his fans as it was to his teammates.

Under Thibodeau, Robinson averaged the third most points in his career, at 13.1 and the second most assists, at 4.4. Robinson’s career was kind of revitalized by Coach Thibs.

Additionally, Robinson also had one of the most memorable games he will ever have in the Eastern conference playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets. He scored 34 points in a triple overtime victory.

In the 2013-14 season, point guard D.J. Augustine played an 1/8th of the season with the Raptors before landing himself a spot on the Bulls following Rose’s second knee injury. He went from averaging 2.1 points and 1.o assists to 14.9 points and 5.0 assists. The best season of his career.

Fast forward to this year… the Bulls were looking for a backup to Derrick Rose, and Augustine was already snagged by the Detroit Pistons because of his performance under Thibodeau. So the Bulls went for Aaron Brooks.

Whatever the Bulls decide to do regarding the future of Rose and Thibodeau will have a huge impact on the future of the Bulls

Brooks had just come off of several dissapoiting seasons in Houston, Denver and Sacramento. But who better to revitalize his career than the man who had done it for two other point guards? Brooks has been averaging 10.6 points and 2.7 assists as a backup. That’s right, the man whose career was digressing came into an unfamiliar organization, only to be coached up by one of the finest in the game to make a huge impact coming off the bench.

The point of all of these success stories is this. The Bulls should not rebuild. They should not get rid of Thibodeau. And they should definitely not do a combination of these two. Even if the worst case scenario happens and Rose cannot play basketball again, why not sign one of the premiere point guards on the free agency market this off-season and see what the 2011 coach of the year can do with him?

Whatever the Bulls decide to do regarding the future of Rose and Thibodeau will have a huge impact on the future of the Bulls. These two figures have been at the front of any success the Bulls have seen since the hiring of Thibodeau. Completely abandoning your head coach because your star point guard can’t stay healthy is asinine. For Chicago’s sake, I hope Gar Forman and company realize this as the Bulls will have some decisions to make this off-season.

Following the torn meniscus to Bulls’ point guard, Derrick Rose, rumors are starting to surround Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and whether or not he will be with the organization much longer

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