Rank all Bulls post Dynasty head coaches

[League Circles]

In your opinion how do all the head coaches since Phil stack up?

IMO:

1. Thibs - huge at defensive tactics, motivation and preparedness
2. Donovan - highly controversial pick, and I don't really think that much of him. Mediocre at best with tactics and rotations. But, IMO, really sets a good stable team culture. I think that's hugely important and he's good as I've seen since Phil for this org at that. Not special, but high floor as a coach. Won't ruin your team while many coaches can.
3. Skiles - good at tactics and decision making. And preparedness. But questionable on rotations and locker room culture.
4. Cartwright - brought a tough steadiness with an achievable plan
5. Boylen - kind of a joke, but a solid tactician and decent motivator
6. Del Negro - like not having a coach at all. Which is better than you might think lol.
7. Hoiberg - really kind of embarrassing. The opposite of a commanding leader. Didn't bring anything to the table as an NBA head coach.
8. Boylan - took what should have been a very solid team and just absolutely wasted the season. No positives. We got Rose though haha.
9. Floyd - just couldn't get a hint of anything going in any way for years

This was all off the top of my head let me know if I missed someone or where I'm wrong.

[League Circles]

Really makes you wonder what would have happened if Mike D'Antoni or Doug Collins hirings would have gone through. Pretty certain both were on the verge of signing here but then Jerry Reinsdorf nixed both deals for various reasons.

[Kurt Heimlich]

Thibs number 1 super easy and boylen(an) number worst for both. The bald boylan(en?) was so hilariously bad that's when it was un-ignorable how truly terrible this franchise has become. And...here we are.

[dice]

do i have to?

[prolific passer]

1. Thibs
2. Skiles
Meh @ the rest

[Dominator83]

Really makes you wonder what would have happened if Mike D'Antoni or Doug Collins hirings would have gone through. Pretty certain both were on the verge of signing here but then Jerry Reinsdorf nixed both deals for various reasons.

With Collins, JR just didn't wanna have to fire him again (he should have kept that philosophy with La Russa) and he mixed D'Antoni because he's cheap.

[DuckIII]

Thibs
Skiles
BD

A pile of crap.

With Jim BoylAn at the bottom. In his brief time he was the worst head coach I have ever seen in the Bulls. But then again you think about BoylEn who the players hated and and Vinny who was just awful on so many levels, the whole exercise is depressing.

[Stratmaster]

1. Thibs
2. Skiles
Meh @ the rest

My sentiments exactly. The sad thing is if I had to rate them Billy would actually be 4th or 5th which tells you just how bad the others were.

[MrSparkle]

How many guys worked much longer in the NBA, after the Reinsdorf gig? I think besides Thibs and Donovan, their guys were mostly not long-term head coaches in the NBA. I’d be willing to argue Donovan isn’t entirely suited, but he got one of the most secure tenures in basketball, so oh well.

Skiles was combative and sharp but a very stubborn coach. 04-07 was a fun run, but wheels fell off the bus as Big Ben staled. Overall, that Kirk/Deng/Noc squad was a perfect fit, but I don’t think he could’ve gelled with your regular type of NBA talent (Wade, Lebron, etc.).

Boylen was obviously a solid basketball mind, albeit a terrible HC. Recently got back to assistant coaching the Pacers and Team USA qualifying team. But this organization has been exceptionally special at finding some bizarre head coaches, and firing the great ones.

So anyway, I see them like this:

Thibs
Donovan
Skiles
Boylen
Tied: Hoiberg, VDN, Cartwright, Floyd

[dougthonus]

In your opinion how do all the head coaches since Phil stack up?

IMO:

1. Thibs - huge at defensive tactics, motivation and preparedness
2. Donovan - highly controversial pick, and I don't really think that much of him. Mediocre at best with tactics and rotations. But, IMO, really sets a good stable team culture. I think that's hugely important and he's good as I've seen since Phil for this org at that. Not special, but high floor as a coach. Won't ruin your team while many coaches can.
3. Skiles - good at tactics and decision making. And preparedness. But questionable on rotations and locker room culture.

Agreed with this list so far, not necessarily all the context around why, but I'd put them in this order too.

Thibs is obviously an elite tactician and one of the better guys in the league in terms of preparing a team to play. Biggest questions around him are around his inability to develop role players and lean too heavily on players and wear them down.

Donovan is great overall. Players under him have universally praised him, he's shown with the Bulls he can completely change his system to fit his personnel. He's historically been flexible to play young talent a lot and tries to develop players. Think he's a lot better than most people think.

Skiles was Thibodeau except that without any staying power

4. Cartwright - brought a tough steadiness with an achievable plan
5. Boylen - kind of a joke, but a solid tactician and decent motivator
6. Del Negro - like not having a coach at all. Which is better than you might think lol.
7. Hoiberg - really kind of embarrassing. The opposite of a commanding leader. Didn't bring anything to the table as an NBA head coach.
8. Boylan - took what should have been a very solid team and just absolutely wasted the season. No positives. We got Rose though haha.
9. Floyd - just couldn't get a hint of anything going in any way for years

This was all off the top of my head let me know if I missed someone or where I'm wrong.

These guys are all basically the same to me, as in "not NBA quality coach". I'd say Hoiberg was probably the best of these guys.

[League Circles]

It's really amazing how bad the coaches we've had have been. Paxson's worst skill was identifying good coaches IMO. Which is ironic cause IMO Paxson would have been a good coach for us, and I think he should have made himself coach at some point.

[TheSuzerain]

The gap between Thibs and #2 is as big as the gap between #2 and dead last.

[ChettheJet]

Thibs won the most games but without a doubt he had the most talent to work with. The fact that he hasn't gotten to the Finals anywhere else tells me he wasn't perfect with the Bulls and still isn't.
Billy had part of the very good team he was supposed to. Without Lonzo he had a real uphill battle. If he would have just had Lonzo to keep Demar and Zach from having the ball so often, I think we go places. Games missed, for Lavine, Williams, Caruso and Ball is what has held him back
I actually rate Del Negro higher. To me he was in the Paul Westphal mode, he didn't have a rigid system on either end, he tried to put the players in the best position to do what they could do. A players coach who knew how to get across to them
I remember hearing that Scott Skiles was the coach to get a bad to be good but was never gong to take that good team to great. And he showed that in several places. He was a good teacher for a young team but a veteran team that maybe works well together doesn't need the constant badgering from the bench. He was a scrappy player who resented the stars taking over the game all the time and it showed as a coach.

Cartwright would have been good for an expansion team. Hoiberg and Floyd were just not NBA coaches. Boylen a career assistant and Boylan not a coach at any level.

[DuckIII]

I actually rate Del Negro higher. To me he was in the Paul Westphal mode, he didn't have a rigid system on either end, he tried to put the players in the best position to do what they could do. A players coach who knew how to get across to them

He deliberately violated physician’s orders regarding Noah in order to pad his resume with wins because he knew he was going to be fired at the end of the season. He sold himself as a player’s coach and I’m sure Noah loved getting the extra minutes as a competitor, but dude was a POS. And incompetent.

I don’t remember any players in Chicago or LA crying over his firings. He’s a one of our many HOF level **** show coaches.

[League Circles]

I actually rate Del Negro higher. To me he was in the Paul Westphal mode, he didn't have a rigid system on either end, he tried to put the players in the best position to do what they could do. A players coach who knew how to get across to them

He deliberately violated physician’s orders regarding Noah in order to pad his resume with wins because he knew he was going to be fired at the end of the season. He sold himself as a player’s coach and I’m sure Noah loved getting the extra minutes as a competitor, but dude was a POS. And incompetent.

I don’t remember any players in Chicago or LA crying over his firings. He’s a one of our many HOF level **** show coaches.

Holy **** I had blacked out his stint as Clippers coach. Simply amazing that he got another head coach gig.

[sco]

Meh, I watch the Knicks (local team) as well this season, and despite an elite roster, I firmly believe that Thibs will wear out his starters by the time that the playoffs come around. Dude can be up by 30 with 5 minutes left and won't take guys out.

[DuckIII]

Meh, I watch the Knicks (local team) as well this season, and despite an elite roster, I firmly believe that Thibs will wear out his starters by the time that the playoffs come around. Dude can be up by 30 with 5 minutes left and won't take guys out.

He’s still very good. I don’t agree with the hero worship he gets from some Bulls fans though. It’s as though we pretend there were no full life cycle to his tenure.

Regardless I do think he is clearly the best we have had since the Dynasty. I would disagree with the notion, however, that there is some kind of huge gap between him and Skiles.

[prolific passer]

1. Thibs
2. Skiles
Meh @ the rest

My sentiments exactly. The sad thing is if I had to rate them Billy would actually be 4th or 5th which tells you just how bad the others were.

Thibs and Skiles had the most success since Jackson. So they are an easy 1 and 2 imo. The gap between them at 1 and 2 is pretty steep though.

[Mk0]

Thibs
Skiles
BD

A pile of crap.

With Jim BoylAn at the bottom. In his brief time he was the worst head coach I have ever seen in the Bulls. But then again you think about BoylEn who the players hated and and Vinny who was just awful on so many levels, the whole exercise is depressing.

How dare you disrespect Vinny Del Negro's Ninja Scroll. His hair playbook was immaculate!

[NZB2323]

The gap between Thibs and #2 is as big as the gap between #2 and dead last.

Is it?

Skiles in his first year improved the team from 23 to 47 wins. In the playoffs Curry and Deng are injured. The team trades their leading scorer for draft picks. The Bulls still make the playoffs the next season with 41 wins, lose in the playoffs when Shaq destroys Chandler. The next season the Bulls win 47 games, sweep the Heat, and lose to the Pistons in 6.

The season after that was terrible, but it was a nice 3 year run. No other coach besides Thibbs and Skiles has won a playoff series.

He got a gig coaching the Bucks afterwards and they improved from 26 to 34 wins. In his 2nd season they won 46 games and lose in 7 in the first round.

Before the Bulls, he was coach of the Suns. He improved them from 27 wins to 53 wins and a playoff series win his first season.

Things don’t end the best with him, but could another coach have done better with the talent? The best players his teams have are 1999 Jason Kidd, 2007 Luol Deng, and 2010 Michael Redd.

He’s much better than JB.