Like a kid having trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve, I sat up last night thinking about what exactly would be said this morning at the Berto Center. For much of the season I was on Team Gar-Pax, but after the March 30th incident, I began to drift over to Team Vinny. Now that didn’t mean that I necessarily wanted Vinny to stay on and coach next year, but I did feel a little bit more blame could be placed on management for not acquiring a replacement for Ben Gordon’s 3-pt shooting.

I had concluded that I would try to take up Henry Abbott from TrueHoop’s challenge to write a recap focusing on defense only. I figured that would be easy as I expected Gar-Pax to be extremely defensive about their decision to hire Vinny in the first place, not firing him in the winter when they offered him little to no support, the March 30th incident, and the firing of a coach that brought a young team to the playoffs two years in a row.

If the Forman or Paxson were defensive in today’s press conference they must have been watching Golden State game tape (lack of defense, not the whole completely dysfunctional organization part). In what I thought a wise choice, they refrained from double-teaming the press, instead choosing to go with a man-to-man approach.

Forman went first, as a GM should, and acknowledged that Vinny Del Negro had worked hard, and had certainly done some good things with the Bulls. I thought it was odd that when asked why they fired Del Negro, Forman responded there was not “anything specific” and then went on to say that where they were just wasn’t where they wanted to get.  I can’t quite remember but didn’t the Bulls make the playoffs these past two seasons? Even more remarkable this year considering they struggled with numerous injuries, BG’s departure, ho-hum free agent signings and two significant trades during the season? Where else did they expect the Bulls “to get”? What Forman really meant to say was that they didn’t believe Vinny could get them to where they wanted to go.

Forman was clear, in his last bit of defense he played, that he would let the media drive past him and discuss the March 30th incident with the man responsible for it, John Paxson, sliding over to provide the weak side help defense. Interestingly enough, he said that Paxson wanted to address the matter with the media immediately after it happened, but Forman told him to hold off until the end of the season to avoid distraction (Whoops!).

From there Forman then went on the offensive, turning the press conference into an extended free agency pitch. It was as if they were saying “we know we can’t talk with all of you until July 1st, but put on these 3-D glasses and it’s as if I’m talking directly to you -Lebron, Chris, Dwyane, Joe, Carlos, whomever”. He praised his young nucleus of Rose, Noah, Deng, Hinrich, Gibson and Johnson, explaining that they were almost all in their early 20′s (although he called Kirk a glue guy, which is code for “I know Kirk is turning 30 next year”). He went on to detail the great city of Chicago, the great fans, and the great organization – insert talking points – which was first rate, with great ownership, and unified.

Forman offered very little in terms of what he would look for in a new coach, indicating that today was truly the start of their search and that he had twenty messages waiting for him on his voicemail after the press conference.

With that, John Paxson took the podium and without recanting too many of the specifics of the March 30th incident, apologized to Del Negro and the rest of the Bulls organization. He explained that as a player he had to fight and scrap for everything he had, but that there was no place for such behavior as an executive in the organization. Paxson also smartly acknowledged that it didn’t matter the reason for why he stood up to Vinny on that day, he was wrong and he was still embarrassed by his decision. Consistent with the Bulls organization’s message that Vinny didn’t do anything wrong and they were merely looking for a new dynamic moving in the future, Paxson saluted Vinny for being a diligent, hard worker, who did not short change the Bulls in his preparation.

Post-Script to Press Conference:

About a half an hour later, Vinny briefly spoke with the press outside of the Berto Center. He thanked Jerry Reinsdorf for the opportunity to coach the Bulls and thanked his players for their effort and support. He credited his assistant coaches for working extremely hard throughout the two seasons. Lastly, he thanked the fans for continuing to support the team and its growth.

Notice anyone missing? You can’t blame Vinny for omitting the two guys above after the complete lack of support throughout the season. They easily could have lent Vinny the support and still made the same decision at the end of the season. It should not be hard to get a quality coach in place this offseason, but only time will tell whether Forman and Paxson can succeed with the upcoming free agent class.

If you’re a Bulls fan, you might be feeling a bit nauseous this season.  It has been a roller coaster of hot and cold streaks that has us pining for some sense of consistency.  I know we are in a “playoff race” right now (I use the term loosely considering we can’t beat the lowly Nets and even if by some miracle we make it, the Cavs will eat us alive), but something happened after last night’s catastrophe of a game that should make us step back and take a look at some bigger picture issues regarding the Bulls front office and how they deal with personnel.

Just to provide a little background, the Bulls lost a double overtime game to the Nets last night.  Noah, who is on a strict minutes count due to his plantar fasciitis, was only allowed to play 35 minutes.  This game was the second of a back-to-back in which Noah played 33 minutes the night before.  Also, back on February 26, Vinny took a lot of heat for playing Noah 27 minutes when he was told to keep him to 20 minutes or below.  Last night, in double overtime, Noah was pulled after playing a little over 35 minutes.  The Bulls got smoked in the Noah-less OT period and went on to lose the game.  And the controversy begins:

“He has a 35-minute limit, so I had to get him out of the game,” Del Negro said.

But general manager Gar Forman said that Del Negro could have played Noah more.

According to Forman, who was at the game, player development assistant Lindsey Hunter, who sits behind the bench, approached him after regulation and asked if Noah could play additional minutes.

Forman said he called executive vice president John Paxson (who was home) and was given clearance for Noah to exceed the limit. Forman also said that message was relayed to Del Negro on the bench.

So what’s the big deal?  It was a simple miscommunication, right?  Maybe.  But why would Gar go to the media with this before even talking to Vinny about it?  Here’s why.  This is part of a pattern of management strategy the Bulls (and many teams, frankly) employ when they are trying to cut ties with a member of the organization. 

Before I give the list, I want to make clear that I’m not saying any of these guys were in the right or that the Bulls should have made stronger efforts to keep them.  I’m just saying that management has used a very shady and backstabbing strategy in recent years to justify sending people out of town.  Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, and to a lesser extent, Tyson Chandler.  What do those names have in common?  Most likely it’s that Bulls fans were relieved to finally get rid of them after drama/injuries that surrounded them.  But ask yourself: Who created that drama?

In Ben Gordon’s case, it was well-known that both him and Deng would be negotiating new contracts at the same time and that the Bulls would unlikely be able to afford both of them.  This became especially true after all that money was thrown at Ben Wallace and the Bulls cap flexibility was strained.  Reinsdorf always preferred Deng and Bulls management did everything in its power to hang Ben out to dry and make him look bad.  He was riding the bench for years while far inferior players were starting (see: Chris Duhon).  And then when he essentially told the Bulls he would not accept a certain amount, they offered it to him anyways.  He of course rejected it, but even after he tried to reconsider, the Bulls didn’t give him a chance (presumably because the offer was a ploy in the first place to make him look bad).

Tyrus Thomas was a similar situation.  Sure he was a head case in his own right, but the Bulls knew the kind of person he was when they drafted him.  Instead of giving him guidance and support, they hung him out to dry at every turn.  The Bulls management continually splashed quotes all over the local media about how immature and unfocused he was.  Why not keep that internal?

Here’s why:  The Bulls were building a case to justify moving these people out of town.  If you are a Bulls fan, you are sitting there thinking “I didn’t need to be convinced, those guys sucked”.  Maybe you are right, but that didn’t stop the Bulls from making sure to vilify these people so that they could avoid any sort of fan backlash.

Which brings us back to Vinny.  Sure he should be fired, and I’m the first one who will tell you that.  But there are some around the league and even in Chicago who feel he has not only improved significantly this year, but that he has done a good job with an injured and depleted Bulls team whose front office is essentially trying to tank this season for summer of 2010 free agent frenzy.  Doesn’t it seem strange that Gar would make those comments to the media?  Why not keep something like that internal?  Because Vinny is on his way out, and apparently the Bulls front office believes they must build their case once again by disparaging its own personnel while they are still employed with the team.

I wouldn’t want to work for an organization like that.  Would you?

NQTC Reader/Contributor Gavin will be doing a 4-part series leading up to Thursday’s draft discussing, among other things, the pros and cons of drafting an international player.  Enjoy!

The Chicago Bulls organization has never been afraid of drafting international players, and as of a few weeks ago some pundits opined that the Bulls might add another name to the historic list of drafted internationals: Kukoc, Tarlac, Duenas, Bagaric, Sefolosha (immediately swapped Carney for him), and Asik (immediately traded for from Portland).

After seeing articles like this one in the Sun-Times (raising the possibility that we might see the Bulls drafting Omri Casspi with one of their first round picks) it got me thinking of the whole idea of drafting international players. Sure these picks are great for a GM to sell to their fan base, explaining that the team is getting a “fundamentally sound” and “unselfish” player who they can hide overseas for a couple years for extra seasoning while saving some cap room to sign that key American free agent you are much more familiar with immediately after the draft. A number of questions came to mind as I contemplated the Bulls drafting Stormin’ Norman’s favorite Israelite, the Maccabi Tel Aviv product who is working on an answer to Kareem’s signature move which he calls the “Hebrew Hook.”

These questions included: 1) How many of these foreign draft picks actually get signed by the team that drafts them? 2) If they do get signed, how many make it onto a roster? 3) How long does it usually take for these players to make it to the NBA, or in other words how much “seasoning” do they get before they are ready? 4) Is Fran Vasquez then officially over-seasoned? 5) For as much as international players are hailed for their sound fundamentals honed in team-focused basketball academies rather than individual-focused AAU tournaments, does that skill set prepare them any more for the NBA than going to a U.S. college for a few years (a question that Memphis is undoubtedly asking in its analysis of Ricky Rubio and Hasheem Thabeet)?

Over the next few days leading up to the 2009 NBA Draft we’ll look at previous drafts and look to answer these questions and others that pop up, while also offering some advice to Gar Foreman and the rest of the Chicago Bulls’ braintrust. (Psst… Gar… don’t draft Omri Casspi. Stick to the Blueprint. Say it with me and Commissioner Stern: “the Chicago Bulls with the 26^th draft in the 2009 NBA draft select Wayne Ellington.” Trust me, we won’t be angry with you.) (That’s a USA jersey, he’s wearing. His nation wants him Gar. If you don’t pick him, the terrorists win.)

Since we are a little busy around here this summer, we will hopefully be having some guest writers.  I received this submission from NQTC reader Gavin mocking the Bulls management strategy and Vinny Del Negro, so of course I loved it.  Please treat guest writers as you always treat StevieY and myself: Courteously and Respectfully (sarcasm).  Enjoy!

Yesterday, Gar Forman and the rest of the Chicago Bulls organization continued their exhaustive efforts to build our team according to The Blueprint.  For those who are unaware, The Blueprint is the Bulls’ fool-proof “draft a blue chipper from a power conference” plan that has yielded moderate success every other year. It has become engrained in the organization that The Blueprint cannot be abandoned lest we repeat the horrors of our past.  We all remember the tragedy of 2001, where Jerry Krause, hopped up on Jagermeister and Lipitor, ditched The Blueprint selecting Eddy Curry and trading for Tyson Chandler. One need only look to two years earlier in 1999, to see the potential success that The Blueprint can bring to the organization.  In that year, Krause, in a much more lucid state and impressed by his draft picks’ mothers hand size, selected Elton Brand and the cerebral Ron Artest in the same year.

With Forman, the foreman of the Bulls Draft Crew and a PhD in History from The Universitat Socialist in Prague, at the helm, the Bulls have exhibited a vigorous allegiance to The Blueprint, scheduling workouts with ten players for Wednesday, June 10th, eight of whom played at programs that routinely find their way into the Sweet 16 in March.

Yet this is all unnecessary since the smartest basketball player ever to play the game worked out for the Bulls on Tuesday.  That player is Taj Gibson.  No he’s not the precocious younger brother of Tia and Tamera from “Sister/Sister” fame.  He’s a 6’9″ beast of a power forward (funny that the USC site lists him as 6’9″ but the Bulls had him at 6’10″ in listing their scheduled workouts!) who played under the tutelage of former Bulls head coach, Tim Floyd at University of Southern California.  While his physical attributes are impressive, he let on to his immense brain power during an interview with media shortly after his workouts.

During that interview, Gibson explained that he figured out the offensive system the Bulls were running simply from the drills the Bulls staff ran him through. Is Gibson the Batman to Vinny “the Riddler” Del Negro, who haunted the entire Chicago Bulls fan base and blogosphere this year with his cryptic timeouts where he would seemingly draw up 24 second violations? Maybe Gibson can clue us in to what “system” Vinny plans to unveil, since he couldn’t possibly have been insinuating that such a “system” was in place last year.

So here’s to Gar Foreman and hoping that on June 25th at Madison Square Garden, he picks the hometown kid from Brooklyn, NY, Taj Gibson, and Bulls fans everywhere can rejoice in finally getting a translator for Del Negro’s own version of The Blueprint.

• Jake Peavy says no to the White Sox.  How embarassing. [Smells Like Mascot]
• As embarassing as a 20-0 loss?  I don’t know for sure, but the Sox had a BAD day yesterday. [Deadspin]
• The Bulls have a new GM, sort of, even though Pax is still kind of running things.  Either way, the new guy wants to keep Ben Gordon. [By The Horns] + [Sun-Times]
• Lou is getting angry and D-Lee and Soto may be the first to feel his wrath.  Get ready for the benchings. [Wrigleyville23]
• Get ready for video gambling Chicagoans, because the state senate just passed a bill legalizing it.  WOO!! [Chicago Breaking News]
• Ok Ethan, don’t get too excited, but Mark DeRosa is apparently on the trading block. [Shysterball]
• So now the City is trying to tax Bears season-ticket holders under some amusement tax.  I’m not “amused”. [BlogDown]
• Robert Horry lost his 7 championship rings.  [BDL]
• Well, at least Horry didn’t sell his rings…yet. [Chicago Breaking News]
• The Fridge is out of the hospital.  Whew. [WCG]
• The Bulls are bringing in some potential draftees to work out.  Not exactly the cream of the crop, but they are prospects I guess. [Blogabull]

• Gar Forman will be the new GM of the Chicago Bulls.  He is being promoted to replace Johnny P.  Hard to compete with a guy named Gar I suppose.  [ESPN]
• The Zooker has a Twitter account and he is finding INTENSITY wherever he goes.  Woooooooooooooooo! [Deadspin]
• Sounds like Cutler was showing off the arm strength in the first Bears OTA.  I’m sure this is nothing new after years of Sex Cannon throwing deep in camp.  [Sun-Times]
• Another tough night for the Cubs hitters as they waste a good start from Dempster and lose to the Cards 2-1.  Lee was bad, Soriano was worse, and Milton Miltoned.  [Tribune]
• Holy crap, check out Mark Buehrle’s truck! It’s so irresponsible Al Gore and Michael Moore are making a movie about it.  [Deadspin]
• So Dwight Howard broke the shot clock on a dunk last night.  Don’t see that all the time. [FanHouse]
• The Free Darko guys have done it again.  Here is the Derrick Rose version of some commercials they helped put together.  [Docksquad]