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K.C. Johnson: Dailyn Swain on Tiago Splitter: “He’s always intense, passionate about the game. He was a player, so he did all this stuff before. He was always motivating, never like ‘C’mon guys.’ You can see how much he loves the game, so it was easy to give your all for a coach like that.”
Joel Lorenzi: Tiago Splitter said he expects Dailyn Swain to be on the ball and run plenty of offense in Vegas. Between him and Swain, the term “big guard” was used a lot today. Swain sounds like he really wants to hone in on being a secondary ball handler to relieve pressure from PGs in NBA.
K.C. Johnson: As we’ve relayed on @CHSN__, Tiago Splitter said he’s “not done yet” with staff hirings. As for holdovers like Wes Unseld Jr. and player development staffers, Splitter said”it’s important to keep on guys who know the players well. A mix of guys who were here and new guys is good”
Joel Lorenzi: Caleb Wilson on his early impressions of Tiago Splitter “First, he has a big accent. He’s really detailed. And he’s pretty serious. You have coaches that are joking around and stuff like that, Tiago’s pretty serious. He knows what he wants, he wants it now.”
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K.C. Johnson: Tiago Splitter said he plans to coach two games at NBA Summer League as head coach. “I want to set the tone, especially having guys like Caleb (Wilson) and Dailyn (Swain). They’re going to be important for this organization.”
Tim MacMahon: "Everybody in the coaching community loves Micah Nori and respects Micah Nori and thinks that he is ready and deserving of a head coaching job. I talked to several coaches who were absolutely irate about the circumstances, specifically the structure of this contract. This is Tom Dundon's work. This is that Stanley Cup winning, Dallas-based billionaire who, in his brief time in the NBA, has been notoriously cheap, frugal, doesn't travel two-way guys for the playoffs, has had layoffs, no late checkout. That's how he conducted this coaching search, which by the way, started midway through the season while Tiago Splitter was working his ass off under insane circumstances leading your team to the playoffs, and you're interviewing mid-major coaches who are telling you, 'Dude, I make more money than what you're talking about offering.'"
Darren Wolfson: Another player of interest to the Wolves, per multiple league contacts: Bulls guard Josh Giddey. Just not sure how you pry him out of Chicago, and I like his fit with new coach Tiago Splitter. #WolvesBack #Twolves
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Without the roster filled out, it’s unclear how Graham’s and Splitter’s shared vision will play out on the court. Among the few noteworthy assets he inherited, Splitter believes in Matas Buzelis. Not seemingly one to guarantee anything, Splitter still detailed prioritizing the 2024 first-rounder. “I’ve been studying him more and more, getting to know him,” Splitter said. “We’re gonna work every day to get him to be the best player he can be. I think nobody knows yet what is his ceiling. “He’s a guy that learns fast. That’s what people have said to me. He’s going to continue to get better physically, he’s going to continue to shoot better, he’s going to read better, become a better defender. We see him as a very complete player (on) both ends.”
Tiago Splitter has been watching the Bulls from afar. Not just Wednesday morning before his introductory news conference at the Advocate Center, not just earlier this season when he was a thousand miles away trying to right the ship in Portland, and not just years ago when he was a championship player in San Antonio. “I’m actually a Bulls fan myself,” Splitter admitted. “Growing up in Brazil, I watched many games late at night, hidden from my parents at 1 am, watching MJ [Michael -Jordan] games and rooting for the Bulls. So super excited to be here.”
Cam Smith: As the 25th head coach in Chicago Bulls history, what do you think that you can bring to this story franchise that can make this group, this organization a consistent winner? Tiago Splitter: Well, I think it's all small steps, right? You got to now we got to finish our staff. We’re going to have the draft coming up, a free agency coming up. Once we have the group of guys that we want, we're going to start the plans and day by day, small steps, we're going to get better. It's not smart by me saying we're going to win this, we're going to do that, we're going to shoot 50 percent from the three-point line. No, that's not it. It's step by step, smart in every step, doing everything with excellence, high standards, and create this culture that is needed.
KC Johnson: One of the ways you created buy-in in Portland with a video that's made its way to Chicago is the box, where the defensive player of the game after a win would write his name and drop it into a box. It was an idea you came up with. You said thinking outside the box. Some teams have the belt or the chain but yours was a different wrinkle. Will we have something similar this season in Chicago? And what did that experience mean to you and the Portland team last season? Tiago Splitter: Yeah, I mean, one of our best defenders there was Toumani Camara, right? And never whenever he got like a big stop, he would do the box sign and basically saying, I put that offensive player in the box. And I want to create something different than the belt or the chain and why not, you're going to put their whole squad in the box and whoever is the best defender. something of course to create a bond and the guys had fun with. Still, I don't have a great idea for the Bulls. I have time. But we'll figure out something, but the most important thing you know like I said is the bond.