Assistant Jim Boylen leaves Spurs to join Fred Hoiberg’s staff

There were very few questions that Fred Hoiberg stumbled upon during his 42-minute-plus introductory press conference at the Advocate Center two weeks ago.

Keeping the Bulls at a high level on defense was one of them.

After Hoiberg tried to explain a few philosophies he used at Iowa State, the NBA rookie coach simply said, “But yeah, I want to get a veteran assistant in here who can really help me through things. Whether he’s been a head coach or he’s been around the game for a long time, that hire’s going to be really important.’’

It also seems to be completed.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Bulls have landed San Antonio assistant Jim Boylen to help be the architecture of the post-Tom Thibodeau defense, as well as give Hoiberg a safety net as he makes the jump from life in the Big 12 to the NBA.

Boylen joined Gregg Popovich’s staff in 2013, after he spent two seasons next to Frank Vogel on the Indiana Pacers bench, and came up through the college ranks at Michigan State, eventually named the head coach at the University of Utah from 2007-11.

As far as the rest of the Bulls staff, Thibodeau assistants Adrian Griffin, Ed Pinckney and Mike Wilhelm all went through interviews with Hoiberg, according to a source, as decisions were still being made by both parties.