For Bulls vice president John Paxson and other higher-ups, when it comes to improvement, the burden falls squarely on the players.
Paxson made that case clear several times leading into the season.
So on Monday, coach Jim Boylen was simply reaffirming that point of view.
The topic was toughness, and Boylen said a coaching staff can only do so much. At some point, this 2-5 team either learns toughness and runs with it or it doesn’t.
“I think they need to take more responsibility for their preparedness,’’ Boylen said. “I think they need to take more ownership of their readiness to play.