Was Vinny the greatest coach?  Absolutely not.  The guy was terrible.  He had no experience, no offensive gameplan to speak of, and no idea how to call plays out of timeouts or manage rotations.  That being said, he learned pretty quickly and went from the worst coach in the NBA to around average within two years.  He also helped develop Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose into budding superstars.  The organization on the other hand?  They really mishandled everything.  Reinsdorf was too cheap to pay an experienced coach, so he forced Vinny on Pax and the Bulls.  Obviously the situation with Noah’s minutes and the Bulls choice to keep quiet and let Vinny sit as a lame-duck coach for 4 months to end this season were also poor moves.

That’s all in the past, and I do wish Vinny well, but where do we go from here?  According to ESPN, the list of Bulls coaching candidates is not a short one.  Here is what they are saying so far:

Doug Collins, Maurice Cheeks, Eric Musselman, Phil Jackson, Byron Scott, Sam Mitchell, Tom Thibodeau, Lawrence Frank, Dwane Casey, Avery Johnson, John Calipari, and Jeff Van Gundy.

I’m not sure if any of those guys is interested in being physically assaulted by Paxson, but hopefully we can get one of those guys.  In all honesty, just go out to LeBron, Wade, or Bosh and say “Who do you want to coach you?”  Then acquire the free agent, acquire the coach, and win the East.  Simple enough.

“People are less likely to sue if they feel the organization is owning some responsibility,” said Bernie Dyme of Perspectives Ltd., a Chicago company that creates employee training programs.

The lawsuit question kind of gets pushed to the back of my mind when I hear that quote, however.  Lawsuits are not the only thing that are less likely if the organization owns some responsibility.  An organization that is so eager to shirk responsibility is going to find itself less customers, less qualified employees, and a less profitable product.  This whole situation is just another example of bad business practices by a front office that has been attempting to regain credibility in this city since the great Jerry Krause took a huge dump on their front office’s reputation.

With everything that has happened, do you believe the front office has regressed to Krause-era levels of ineptitude?  An argument could be made that it has.  It’s funny how one lucky bounce of a draft lottery ball can cover up a lot of errors.

(Sidenote: Brownie points to anyone who recognizes the person quoted in that Tribune story.)

If this get up didn't hurt Vinny's coaching career, then this episode with Pax won't either.

Stormin Norman aptly wrote in this space earlier this week that the Bulls were trying to build a shady case to fire Vinny Del Negro. Well today the news broke that Bulls management went further than just trying to question his in-game management skills or refusing to publicly support Vinny Del Negro with reporters.

Reports have John Paxson confronting the coach in the locker room after the March 30th game against the Phoenix Suns when Joakim Noah played beyond his organizational set minute limits.

The Tribune reported that Paxson allegedly grabbed Del Negro’s tie (not the hair John!) and shoved him twice in his chest.

ESPN Chicago downgraded the contact, claiming Paxson “poked him with jabs to the chest”. Paxson then challenged Del Negro to a fight before being restrained by assistant coach, Bernie Bickerstaff.

Last month during their tilt against the Houston Rockets, the Bulls players all laughed after one of the players suggested they “Win this for Vinny!” when Del Negro was ejected for arguing foul calls. It’s unclear whether the Bulls players will rally around their coach in this last week and hopefully, into the playoffs. But what is clear, is that in showing restraint, Del Negro saved himself for being fired for cause (although you could argue that his coaching coming out of timeouts may constitute “for cause”) and kept his reputation clean for his inevitable job search in his future.

*UPDATE: Charles Barkley, quickly becoming the Joe Rogan of the NBA (fight analyst/mediocre comedian/mediocre actor), admitted that no one would want to see a Vinny Del Negro v. John Paxson fight in the first place. But if a fight happens? “Vinny will whup his ass.”*

Derrick Rose was whistled for a charge on this play.

So I went to last night’s game with my 80+ year old grandmother.  I figured I’d recap the game through her eyes.

• Oh, I don’t follow these guys like I used to. I don’t know half of them.

To be fair, there has been some significant roster turnover since the beginning of the season. What was more interesting in last night’s win was VDN’s willingness to play with his lineups. The Rockets are an unorthodox team starting a 6′6″ center and a generously listed 6′0″ point guard but seem to make it work. James Johnson started and seemed to be more comfortable focusing on his defense and just running the floor, rather than trying to stand out on the second squad.  And on several occasions, Vinny countered the Rocket’s small lineup of only Luis Scola in the middle with a big lineup with Brad Miller and Joakim Noah on the floor. This led to interesting results as Trevor Ariza blew past Noah on one end, but then Miller responded by driving on Ariza and drawing a foul.  Apparently, no one told Brad of the mismatch.

• Come on guys, play some defense!

She shouted this early and often as the Bulls gave up a number of open looks in the first half. Luis Scola exhibited some crazy Hakeem the Dream up and under moves and Ariza and Kevin Martin had a number of uncontested jump shots.

I’m not sure if the Bulls were completely responsible for the Rockets’ shooting woes in the second half (Chase Budinger did nearly airball two straight wide-open three-point attempts) but they did obviously frustrate the Rockets, particularly denying Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks the ball in the open floor. Before Brooks nailed a few shots late in the fourth quarter, he was staring at a box score with 1 point from the FT-line despite playing 35 minutes.

A lot of people writing today are crediting Derrick Rose for his improved defense, but I also think some credit has to go to Jannero Pargo and Flip Murray for recognizing that their minutes could disappear to Acie Law at any time and to stay on the floor they have to bring some defensive intensity. They truly seemed to be laboring out there on getting up in Brooks and Lowry’s faces and funneling them into Noah and Gibson (6 blocks combined).

• Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice!

The refs were just plain terrible and the Rockets exacerbated the problem. Luis Scola must have taught them a class in Argentinian flopping over the All-Star Break because they perfected standing right at the edge of the circle under the basket and then pretending they had been shot by a cannon ball when a Bulls player drove the lane. The Bulls were whistled for 7 offensive fouls throughout the game.

Aaron Brooks, taking a page from Reggie Miller’s playbook, routinely attempted to draw fouls on every three-pointer he attempted. It worked once, and the rest of the time he just looked ridiculous flailing backwards sliding on his backside after bricking another attempt.

Woah, woah Vinny. Listen, I can't hear you from all the way over here but I'm going to T' you up for being Italian. Two Times!

At one point, the Bulls were up 13 and looked like they could put away the Rockets but a series of one-sided calls seemed to kill any momentum the Bulls had leading to a 9-0 run by the Rockets bridging the 3rd and 4th quarters. This was what led to Vinny getting thrown out of the game. Which was ridiculous in itself because the ref who gave him both technicals remained 50 feet away on the far end of the court. I did appreciate Vinny’s anger because it prevented Brad Miller or Kirk Hinrich from getting involved and risking another costly suspension.

• I can’t stand it. Derrick Rose gets the ball and everybody just goes to their spots and stands around.

She said this towards the end of the 4th quarter when the Bulls players obviously looked for Derrick Rose to finish the game. While the first place I would look is to blame Vinny, he had already been kicked out of the game by this point. So this falls squarely on Bernie Bickerstaff, just kidding. The Bulls players need to be able to run some semblance of an offense late in games. My grandma was right to say that the Bulls just parked three players in the corners around the three point line, and just relied on the pick and roll with Brad Miller in on offensive possessions. The problem with this strategy is that the Rockets just hedged into the lane, preventing any real penetration and forcing the Bulls’ jump shooters to beat them. Last night, it worked to mild success, but on an off night the Bulls will need to do better.

The Honorable Lindsey Hunter now presiding. Next up: Vinny Del Negro v. Tyrus Thomas.

Now as more details come out about Thomas’ outburst, it appears he went off on Vinny Del Negro (the head coach, not an assistant like two years ago) and used language that would make even Joakim blush.

Time will only tell if the Right Honorable Lindsey Hunter convenes the Bulls’ Senior Panel on Player Discipline and extends Ty’s sentence to Tuesday’s game against the Pacers. One would think that this staff wouldn’t allow such a spectacle, since the rookies, Taj Gibson and James Johnson, seem to be pretty damn mature and won’t be swayed by Thomas’ immaturity.  Although, you can’t blame VDN for taking action since James Johnson just had to sit the entire game while NBDL call-up Chris Richard earned 20 minutes of playing time in Friday night’s win.

h/t: Docksquad Sports

Although the Bulls have started to play a bit better lately against some weaker opponents, they still have a long way to go.  This season may not be entirely lost, but things are looking very grim.  As Vinny battles to keep his job, the Bulls must come together as a team, or risk ruining not just this season but future seasons.  That will be especially true if Chicago becomes so unattractive that no big-name free agent ends up coming here.  I hope they can do it.

Tim Floyd: Our first stop is December 24, 2001.   On that Christmas Eve, an embattled Tim Floyd had the led the Bulls to a 45-169 from 98-99 through 00-01 and was carrying a beautiful 4-21 into the holidays during the 2001-2002 campaign.  In all fairness to Tim, he wasn’t exactly working with the cream of the crop in terms of talent in the NBA, but he also wasn’t making lemonade out of lemons.  After numerous fights with players and management (Charles Oakley is not a good guy to be in a fight with), he was forced to resign on Christmas Eve, bringing joy and happiness to all Bulls fans around the world.

Scott Skiles: And now, my friends, I want to take you forward to another great Christmas Eve.  It was December 24, 2007, and all through the house, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse.  Except for Bulls management of course, which apparently is at the office firing people instead of being with their families.  Skiles had actually brought the Bulls back to the playoffs during back-to-back seasons, but after a string of ridiculous rules (no headbands was my favorite inane rule), and screaming at his players for his entire tenure, the team tuned him out.  It was obvious he had to go, but no one could have possibly imagined how wonderful it would be to have Skiles firing gift-wrapped for Christmas like a beautiful present under the tree.

Vinny Del Negro: Now, my friends, I will be serving as the Ghost of Christmas Present.  It is December 23, 2009.  Vinny Del Negro is about a third of the way through his second season as Bulls coach.  The results from his first season were mixed in that he took the Bulls to the playoffs but they seemed to win in spite of him instead of because of him.  Now, in year 2, things have gone from bad to worse.  His offense is incomprehensibly bad, stupid, or both.  His rotations make little sense.  His team won’t play cohesive defense even though they clearly have the talent to do so.  And now as the team skids into the holidays with a 10-17 record and some really REALLY bad losses to Toronto, New Jersey, Atlanta, Sacramento and others, it appears that we may be getting another Christmas present from our friends in the Bulls front office.  We can only hope.

So kids, make sure to leave cookies for Santa this year, but don’t forget to leave some extra ones for Jerry, John, and Gar.  Hopefully if everyone is good we’ll get the firing we all desperately want.

[Sidenote: In all seriousness, as much as Vinny deserves to be fired, the Bulls are huge dicks.  Who fires people on Christmas Eve?  I mean maybe once, but a pattern of it?  Terrible karma.  Just terrible.]

h/t: Smells Like Mascot

2008-2009 (w/Ben Gordon):

FG%: .457 (16th)
PPG: 105.1 (8th)
Opponents FG%: .458 (15th)

2009-2010 (w/o Ben Gordon):

FG%: .433 (27th)
PPG: 91.4 (27th)
Opponents FG%: .457 (18th)

The obvious answer to the question posed is that this city was over him about 6 months after he won 6th Man of the Year.  I will never understand why.  After all that hater talk about how bad his defense was and how all his turnovers were killing the Bulls on offense, it sure looks to me like the Bulls are missing Gordon, wouldn’t you say?  Sure he took some bad shots, but he hit a lot more of those than the “good” shots that Vinny and the Bulls have been creating for themselves lately.  And its not like the team defense has improved all that much without him, as opponents’ fg% has dropped only 1/100th of a percent this season.

Okay, I am not going to rehash my defense of Ben Gordon here.  The bottom line is that a poor shooting Bulls team right now looks in desperate need of him.  Remember how frustrating it was that Vinny couldn’t seem to draw up plays at the end of games (or ever really) that involved BG dribbling around like a chicken with his head cut off, and then jacking up a terrible shot?  Sure it went in a good amount of the time, since we all know he hit some big shots in his career, but it was difficult to watch.  Well guess what?  Now we don’t even have that.  Rose refuses to pull the trigger, Salmons and Hinrich might as well be shooting blindfolded, and Brad Miller is, well, Brad Miller.

So as Gordon returns to town with claims of having “moved on”, and I believe he has since this team and city basically took a shit on him for most of his career here (Skiles bringing him off the bench for 3 years, Paxson not giving him an extension, Paxson not giving him an extension, etc), the question is, have the Bulls REALLY moved on?  Perhaps psychologically the break with Gordon was occurring since his first day here, but in terms of what the Bulls really need to succeed this season, the people that truly understand basketball know what he meant to the team and we miss him.  Bad.

Rose thinks there is something else afoot, and he intends to act on that tonight versus the Lakers:

Rose made a vow to a group of reporters after Wednesday’s practice at USC that he wouldn’t cut his hair until he gets on track.

“We’re winning, so I don’t care anything about my game. But if we weren’t winning, I’m playing terrible. I’m not going to the hole like I used to. It seems to me that I’m not that aggressive. But it’s going to change (Thursday night against the Lakers).”

“This has to be the first time in my whole life that I’m not being aggressive,” Rose said. “The injury definitely had something to do with it. But I have to fight through it.

Okay, Derrick.  Hopefully you will have a haircut by tomorrow night.  Anyways, here is where you could make an argument to blame Vinny.  Let’s assume that Rose is injured, but that injury is not the main problem.  Instead lets say the problem is mental and Rose has just been too timid.  If that is the case, then why didn’t Vinny sit him down and tell him to be more aggressive a couple weeks ago?  That is literally a coach’s job.  That being said, I am inclined to believe that Rose’s injury plays a far greater role than he will admit, and Vinny is just being cautious with his young superstar.

On the other hand, if Rose is all of a sudden aggressive tonight against the Lakers, that is going to reflect poorly on Vinny Del Crapo.

Coach Vinny Del Negro created a stir late Monday when, for the first time, he said it’s possible the inflamed tendon behind Derrick Rose’s right ankle could keep the guard out of the Oct. 29 season opener against San Antonio.

“Yes, it is in the realm of possibility,” Del Negro said. “I hope it isn’t. But yes, it’s a concern.”

Posed the exact question last Friday, Del Negro had said that wasn’t a possibility. Reminded of this, Del Negro backtracked a bit.

“I don’t think he will (miss the opener),” Del Negro said. “But I thought he would be back the other day.”

Rose ran and shot jumpers for the second straight day, placed his health at “80 percent” and said there’s “no way” he’d miss the opener. He hasn’t played since suffering the injury in the Oct. 2 exhibition opener.

You have to love Rose for wanting to play so bad, but in all honesty if it really is just a nagging injury, wouldn’t it be better to let him rest it and make sure he’s 100% before throwing him out there on national television for the opener and maybe injuring it more?  I know the Bulls have a tough early schedule, but my gut instinct is that this is not a big deal, and if he misses a game or two letting it heal fully that’s not a problem.  He has dealt with nagging injuries before, if you remember he missed summer league last season with some kind of knee injury.  Regardless of what happens lets all cross our fingers and hope its nothing serious.