Jan. 01--The Bulls face the Knicks on Friday, 13 days after losing to them at Madison Square Garden and prompting Jimmy Butler's postgame claim that Fred Hoiberg needs to "coach harder."
Since then, the Bulls are 3-2 with one bad home loss to the Nets, one competitive road loss to the Mavericks before a late fade and three victories over playoff teams in the Thunder, Raptors and Pacers.
"We have put together four games in a row where we competed from beginning to end," Pau Gasol said, citing the 3-1 stretch after the loss to the Nets. "And that's a very good sign."
The Knicks' arrival also brings to town Carmelo Anthony, whom the Bulls aggressively and unsuccessfully pursued in 2014 free agency. That attempt preceded Butler's ascension from role player to All-Star and landed on Butler's seemingly never-ending list of motivating factors.
It's tough making sense of these Bulls. They're 5-1 against top-three teams from either conference but have suffered head-scratching meltdowns against supposedly inferior teams. Each victory carries the feel of a corner turned. Then comes a loss that hints at implosion.
"Our team puts in a lot of work. There's been a lot of talk. Everything's been coming at us," Taj Gibson said. "We've stayed together as a group. I'm happy we've kept the wins coming and just keep pushing through."
Since his declaration early in training camp that he planned to add leadership to his lengthy to-do list, Butler has placed himself at the center of several storylines. Perhaps that's why his media session after Wednesday's victory over the Pacers felt like it needed a counselor's couch, such was the level of his introspection and vein-opening.
"There's always something going on in my head," Butler said. "I could come in a happy-go-lucky guy. But when something is bothering me, I don't (have any) energy. And you could really tell."
Butler typically brings it at both ends, which is why his low-energy outing in Monday's victory over the Raptors stood out so glaringly. Though he played solid defense against DeMar DeRozan, he scored a season-low five points, lacked his usual aggression and skipped out of postgame media responsibilities.
Butler downplayed any physical issues and said he can't let his off-the-court moodiness affect his on-the-court performance.
"I have a job to do and I didn't do it then," he said. "That's my fault."
Butler called the consistent talks and check-ins from Hoiberg and his staff "a lot of love" that's "very important to me." And he followed the subpar Raptors game by scoring the winning basket against the Pacers on an incredibly acrobatic play and then thwarting Paul George's attempt at the buzzer with physical defense.
Butler, who has repeatedly doubled down on his "coach harder" comment, thinks the incident can be a building block.
"I've still got respect for him," Butler said of Hoiberg. "Nothing I do is to disrespect anybody. He realizes I'm going to be here. I realize he's going to be here. So we have to deal with each other anyways.
"He's holding me accountable for everything. He talked to me when I was low-energy (Monday), and I fixed it. That's the type of guy he is. He has the utmost confidence in me because he continued to put the ball in my hand when he didn't have to.
"We're both learning a lot about each other. He's probably learning how moody I am on a daily basis, to tell you the truth. It's hard. But he lets me be who I am. He handles everything that I do very well. I'm not a big communicator, but he's always talking to me, always asking, 'Hey, how you doing? What can we do?' He's always asking my opinion on a lot of things. So, yeah, it helped a lot."
One man's moodiness could be another's disrespect. The Tribune reported last week that Butler has directed profanity at the coaching staff often this season. But Butler insists everyone is pulling in the same direction.
"I'm going to get criticized anyway. Some people are going to like me. Some people aren't. It's fine," Butler said. "I just have to focus in on what we've got going here and not let the outside things bother me.
"We've always got each other's best interest at heart. We always want everyone to succeed. And everyone in here wants to win for one another. I think we're only going to get closer."
kcjohnson@tribpub.com
