Of the Bulls bench, only Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and Nate Robinson had seen any time during Monday’s game — but the trio only combined to play a combined 12:23 in the final 24 minutes. Coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if there was a reason he didn’t use his bench more in the second half.

“No,” the frustrated coach said.

In this case, Thibodeau’s actions spoke much louder than his word. Of course there’s a reason why Thibodeau didn’t play the likes of Marco Belinelli and Nazr Mohammed, while limiting the minutes of guys like Butler and Robinson

For all the flaws guys like Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and C.J. Watson had, they still knew exactly what to do when they were on the floor. While Thibodeau got frustrated with each one at various points throughout the past two years, he still had confidence in them as a group. He knew that if he plugged Asik and Gibson into the lineup they would be stalwarts defensively. He knew that even if Brewer, Korver and Watson were missing their shots they would still find a way to affect the game.

via Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago