By Danny Moran
CSNChicago.com
Jeff Van Gundy and Tom Thibodeau have quite the history together. Thibodeau was an assistant under Van Gundy during his entire tenure at head coach of the New York Knicks and then followed Van Gundy to Houston when he became the head man in with the Rockets.
But the current Bulls head coach may not want too much to do with Van Gundy after his recent assessment of Thibodeau's team.
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In an interview with ESPN 1000's Waddle & Silvy show, Van Gundy did not have a very optimistic view of the team's chances next season. Mainly citing the teams injuries issues with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Rip Hamilton, the former coach said, "Listen, if they win half their games next year and make the playoffs, its a heck of a year."
Earlier in the interview, Van Gundy had foreshadowed his comments by saying, To lose Rose by itself is going to cost youeven if you thought they were a 55-win team with Rosethat costs you 12-15 games right there.
Another reason for Van Gundy's pessimism is the loss of the team's vaunted "Bench Mob" to free agency and trades. That bench had been ranked by many as the best in the league and he believed it would be hard to replace. The performance of rookie Marquis Teague during the team's summer league in Las Vegas only added to Van Gundy's fears.
"Did you watch him in summer league," he asked. "'Struggled' is being kind. Thats not a knock. The 29th pick in the draft is such a hit-and-miss selection anyway. You have to give him time to grow and mature. But to think hes going to come in and play behind Hinrich next year.
Teague shot under 30 percent in five games and averaged 10.6 points and three assists per game.
What do you think about Van Gundy's comments? How many games will the Bulls win next season?