Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t care about an opponent’s lingering hurt feelings.
He isn’t concerned that Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard broke the Bulls’ hearts with a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer Saturday.
Much like a shark is single-minded about hunting for food, Thibodeau’s focus is on winning basketball games. And both are good at recognizing blood in the water.
No wonder Bulls forward Thad Young was putting out a warning to his teammates.
Thibodeau and the Knicks are coming to town for games Monday and Wednesday, and if the Bulls are still sulking or have any ideas that playing the Knicks twice will make for an easy week, they had better snap to attention.
‘‘[We’re] preparing for a team that’s going to be very, very tough, that’s going to come in and get after it on the defensive side of the basketball,’’ Young said after practice Sunday. ‘‘And they’re not just going to be tough on the defensive side, they’re going to be tough on the offensive side also.
‘‘Tom has coached some teams with a lot of physicality, and we have to come out and be ready to take punches. But every punch that we take, we have to throw three back. So it’s just about us coming out and imposing our will on the game early and making sure our presence is felt from the get-go.’’
That’s a philosophy the Bulls have had trouble putting into practice too often this season.
Yes, it was a step toward improvement to rally from a 19-point deficit in the third quarter against the Blazers and seemingly have the game in hand with 11 seconds left until Lillard’s heroics. But Young’s point was the Bulls shouldn’t allow themselves to fall behind by 19 points because of lethargic play.
‘‘We can’t have mental lapses which put us in a deep, deep hole; we’ve just got to continue to play,’’ Young said. ‘‘We’ve got to continue to lock in and fight through adverse situations. We are beginning to get there, but we haven’t turned the corner because we haven’t translated it into wins.’’
It’s a safe bet Thibodeau doesn’t want them to start at his expense.
Since his firing from the Bulls in 2015, Thibodeau has faced them four times — all with the Timberwolves — and is 3-1 in those games. As much as he’ll downplay the two games against the Bulls this week, he’d like nothing more than to extend that record to 5-1.
On paper, the Knicks might look like easy pickings for the Bulls. But that’s where Thibodeau-coached teams are deceiving.
The Knicks are 9-12 and have impressive victories against the Bucks, Pacers, Hawks, Jazz and Celtics. The Bulls are 7-11, and four of those victories have come against the Wizards and Mavericks.
If the Bulls want to start being taken seriously for a shot at an Eastern Conference play-in game, beating teams such as the Knicks would be a good place to start.
Coach Billy Donovan knows that won’t be easy, especially knowing Thibodeau the way he does.
‘‘Thibs used to come up and watch us practice when I was a player at Providence,’’ Donovan said.‘‘He was a college coach back then, and he would come up and watch practice.
‘‘And then I got friendly with him because Jeff Van Gundy coached me in college, so he developed a relationship with Jeff, and then he worked with Jeff in Houston and Doc Rivers [in Boston]. But I’ve known Thibs for a while. He’s a great guy.’’
