Rose says it is the responsibility of the players to show effort on the court…
READ MORE:
Rose slams Bulls team effort: Point guard frustrated with recent play.
Rose says Bulls can get better: Chicago will compete for championship says former MVP.
Rose to give Jabari Parker advice: Rookie out for season with torn ACL.
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose insists that the team’s recent troubles are down to the players and not coach Tom Thibodeau.
The Bulls had lost six of their last eight games prior to Thursday night’s impressive win over the San Antonio Spurs, and speculation had spread that Thibodeau had possibly lost the locker room.
Chicago had lost their defensive intensity and looked a shadow of the team that Thibodeau has built over the last three years, but Rose insists that it was down to the players not the coach to go out and perform.
“This don’t have anything to do with Thibs at all,” Rose said.
“The way that we’ve been playing don’t have anything to do with Thibs. He’s preparing us right. He’s doing everything and did everything possible to prepare us as a coach. It’s up to the players to give that effort.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich also came to the defense of Thibodeau by insisting that he is “not gonna lose any team”, while blaming the media for bringing up the story and putting pressure on him themselves.
Popovich added that half of his players, Tim Duncan in particular, barely listen to him anymore as they know how to play and get on with their role, and so it isn’t such a big deal if everyone is on the same page.
The Bulls held a team meeting on Tuesday in which Pau Gasol said that Thibodeau encouraged players to speak their mind and it clearly paid dividends as they produced their most complete performance of the season so far against the defending champions.
Popovich described the performance from his team as “humiliating and embarrassing” but that was also because they couldn’t match the tenacity and sense of purpose from the hosts.
COMMENTS