Scottie Pippen Wants Carlos Boozer to Be Tougher

Head coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t believe in this idea, but Pip thinks the Bulls — Carlos Boozer, specifically — need to commit harder fouls, and dish out some payback for the hits Derrick Rose has been taking in the Pacers series. From the Chicago Sun-Times: “In light of the way the Pacers have been hammering Rose, Pippen is among the fans and media who believe the Bulls aren’t matching Indiana’s rough stuff. ‘You don’t give up layups in the playoffs,’ Pippen said. ‘You knock a guy down and you make them go to the foul line and earn it. That’s what Derrick’s doing for the Bulls. And to me, it’s an eye for an eye.’ Thibodeau is counseling against that. ‘In this league, you can’t do that,’ [Taj] Gibson said. ‘Nowadays, you look at the fines, the technicals being called. You can’t afford to lose players late. Thibs has been telling us to play with aggression. Don’t worry what the fans are saying. Just play our game.’ Pippen, though, wants to see Rose backed up by his teammates. ‘They’ve all got two legs and two arms,’ the six-time NBA champion said. ‘You’ve got Carlos Boozer out there who’s spending fouls and a lot of his fouls are not needed at the time that he’s giving them. Those could be hard fouls. Those could be fouls that you knock a [Darren] Collison to the floor, you knock a [Jeff] Foster to the floor. ‘Utilize your fouls and make them more valuable for you and your team.’ Thibodeau wants to see all-around aggressiveness, rather than retribution. ‘It’s playoff basketball,’ the coach said. ‘You have to play hard all the time. You have to have great urgency. And we have to be ready at the start of the game. That’s the big thing. We have to do a better job of starting the game.’”

(H/T: PBT)