New Coach Tiago Splitter Unveils his Vision for Chicago Bulls' Future

As a child in Joinville, Brazil, Tiago Splitter would hide from his parents so he could stay up late and watch Michael Jordan play basketball. More than three decades later, Splitter is now the head coach of the same team he grew up rooting for.

"I'm honored to be the head coach of the Chicago Bulls," Splitter said during Wednesday afternoon's introductory press conference. "I think we have a great future in front of us. We want to create a culture of high standards, great habits every day, get better, grow. It's going to be a lot of work. It's going to take some time. I know what it takes, and I know the responsibility that I have and the expectations that come with being the head coach of the Chicago Bulls."

Splitter and executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham sat across from rows of media members at the Bulls' practice facility, ushering in a new era in the Windy City. The two lynchpins of the franchise's future spelled out their collective vision for returning Chicago to its former glory.

That all starts with Splitter's on-court impact with his athletes. Heralded as one of the league's top developmental coaches, Splitter's ability to form relationships with those he leads makes him a guy that his players want to play for.

"The first thing you do is connect," Splitter said. "That's the foundation of everything you do, especially at this level. If you don't have that, it's really hard to demand and make them respect you. The foundation is to connect with the players in different ways. Generations, they change, and you've got to adapt, but this is the first thing you've got to do. It's one of the pillars of the things you do in basketball, is the togetherness."

Splitter has already begun reaching out to his new Bulls players. Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams and Noa Essengue were present at his introductory press conference, while young cornerstone Matas Buzelis met Splitter in a video posted to the team's social media.

Chicago's roster is far from finished — especially with four picks coming up in next week's NBA Draft — but it projects to be one of the youngest in the league. Splitter's experience developing young talent and maximizing their abilities will be a critical aspect of the Bulls' rebuild.

"We want to be excellent on everything we do," Splitter said. "We're going to create profiles. We're going to create goals. We're going to create the path that we want to develop these players. We've got a great chance with the draft now to bring in some young talent and make them the best player they can be. [Bryson and I] have the same vision. We have the same goal, and that's a big part of it."

Next season could be a tough one for the Bulls, which have missed the playoffs in eight of the last nine years. After trading away long-tenured players like Coby White, Nikola Vucevic and Ayo Dosunmu, Chicago is entering a full-on rebuild. Splitter and Graham will look to revitalize the once-great franchise around young talent in a sustainable manner.

Whether that's led by Buzelis, an upcoming draftee or someone who won't even be on the team next year, one thing's for certain: the standard that Splitter and Graham want to set is a non-negotiable, regardless of whether the team is contending or not.

"We are going to compete every night, and we're going to have high standards with everything that we do," Splitter said. "It's very hard to tell you, 'We're going to win X, or Y, or Z amount of games.' It would be very not smart by me saying that. We've got to know what's going to be the roster, we're going to compete every day, we're going to set high standards and we're going to go from there. And then, eventually, we can make small goals and small wins."