Taj Gibson: Playing in new offensive system under Hoiberg will be 'exciting'
Tom Thibodeau was the head coach of the Bulls for the last five seasons, and while a change was made this summer, you'll be hard-pressed to find any of his former players who would have anything negative to say.
But that doesn't mean that they aren't excited about heading in a different direction.
Part of the reason the Bulls and Thibodeau parted ways was over his hard-nosed style, which emphasizes maximum defensive effort at all times with limited chances opportunities for creativity offensively. That can become grating to players, and Taj Gibson is among those who are excited about the changes on the way.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
Again, this doesn't mean that players hated playing under Thibodeau. But guys want to showcase their athleticism offensively, and the Bulls are hoping that under Hoiberg, they'll have a chance to do exactly that.
Once Gibson is cleared, the valuable forward is looking forward to rushing in a different way — running the floor in what he said will be a more up-tempo offense under Fred Hoiberg. Gibson has talked consistently with the new coach, whom he said used to give him foul-shooting tips when Gibson played for Tim Floyd at USC.
“Over the years, I’ve played a halfcourt set where we had to walk it up. (At USC,) I was used to running and being athletic. Coach Fred calls me all the time and told me he felt I left so much on the table playing in halfcourt, dictated — the way our offense was.
“Not taking anything away from (Tom Thibodeau) and the way we played. He was a great coach, taught me a lot. But moving from that kind of offense to this kind of offense is going to be exciting.”
