His chances just got better with Jabari Parker's announcement he will have ACL surgery and miss the rest of the season. Though I think Mitotic may already have proven to be the best choice anyhow.
Sun-Times Basketball @suntimes_hoops As far as minutes for Mirotic, Thibs compared the rookie to Omer Asik's rookie year, and how he played his way into more minutes.
I've always thought people underestimate how pragmatic Thibs is. He's too maniacally competitive to let orthogonal issues get in the way of the best product on the court. The only thing I can conclusively say about his "preferences" for who he plays is that he really doesn't like guys that suck. Other than that I see no tilt towards offense/defense rookie/veteran in and of itself. If he thinks you'll help him win you're in.
I've posted all along (in many posts) that Thibs would start and play a really good offensive player over a really good defensive one. He started Boozer, case in point.
IMO, in general the media/fans who hold onto the "Thibs has these quirky biases" storyline want to remain on the record as Thibodeau fans while damning decisions that Thibodeau makes that they happen to disagree with.
I think if you start with the minutes cap for Derrick, and then work your way through various lineups so that guys get appropriate rest without creating gaping chest wounds then Kirk's playing time makes sense.
Ramon Sessions playing time makes more sense, though. He's just one of the guys better that were linked to us in rumors.
K.C. Johnson @KCJHoop Thibodeau on Mirotic playing small forward: "We've tried it some. Let's just say it's a work in progress and it'd be very difficult to do."
I agree. He actually said exactly this in his post game press conference last night when someone asked him if it bothered him giving up so many points. Now, to win a title, getting stops is key, so a focus on defense is important. Thibs is amazing, IMO, at getting the most out of the talent he's given to work with. Right now he has a tricky situation with Gasol, Rose, Mirotic, Dunleavy, a gimpy Noah and a Hinrich that has lost another step, so its not going to be the same stout defense. But, he has more offensive weapons. A Skiles type coach would not be able to handle this. Thibs can, and does. He does a great job at managing egos as well. He knows the vets are proud. He knows the younger guys want to get paid. He tends to get the most out of the guys he has while winning games.
I think Thibs is about winning basketball games. Whatever it takes. Give him a roster of girls, and he'll get them playing defense hard and slowing the pace to a crawl. I don't think that's his preference. Nor is it mine.
I'm not crazy about the idea of Mirotic at SF. I think most of his matchup advantages go away playing SF. When I watch games on League Pass I see more and more teams using a big wing to guard the stretch 4's and it's more effective than putting a traditional big guy on them. They're better at closing out, and it's harder for them to use the extra space. Plus learning the defensive schemes for two positions won't help his learning curve.
He's not a SF at this point. There is a reason the "stretch 4" is so popular.... and its that the player plays the 4.
Playing him at SF seems like a move out of desperation. For lack of a quality starting SF in the first place, let alone a backup that doesn't require playing Kirk and moving Jimmy to SF.