Pau Gasol on Fred Hoiberg: “I think we’ll play with a better flow offensively”

When the Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau and replaced him with Fred Hoiberg, it represented a complete shift in coaching philosophy. Thibodeau was a demanding, old-school, grind-it-out coach with a stellar defensive reputation but shaky history coaching offense. Hoiberg, meanwhile, was lauded at Iowa State for his fast-paced offense. With his hire, the Bulls expect to be more dynamic at that end of the ball.

Here’s what Pau Gasol said about how he envisions the Bulls functioning offensively under Hoiberg, via ESPN.com’s Jon Greenberg:

“Well, I think offense wasn’t really too much of an issue last year,” Gasol said on a conference call from South Africa, where he’s taking part in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders event, which culminates with the first-ever NBA exhibition in Africa on Aug. 1. “We have a lot of talent offensively, and I think we’ll play with better flow offensively with Fred. We’ll have more freedom to play in transition and explore our abilities as individuals and as a team. As long as we understand that defense wins championships and makes the difference, and make sure we don’t neglect that side, we should be fine.”

Gasol had an excellent statistical season in his first year in Chicago, averaging 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, but he played almost 35 minutes a game, which at his age (he turned 35 at the beginning of July) is a lot to ask. For the Bulls to reach their full potential, Hoiberg needs to better manage the minutes of Gasol, Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler, among others.