They went from unbelieva-bull to unpredicta-bull.
Of all the teams this year, they are one of the hardest to figure out.
When the Bulls couldn’t land Suns’ head coach Mike D’Antoni,and former Bulls’ coach Doug Collins withdrew his candidacy, they went upstairs and offered the position to Phoenix Suns’ Asst. GM Vinny Del Negro, a man with no coaching experience. He accepted.
New Bulls rookie head coach Del Negro then sought advice from another NBA head coach who started the same way, without any experience – NBA Champion Coach Doc Rivers.
Vinny had played with Doc in San Antonio for 2 years from 1994-1996. According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
“Doc gave me some advice, but it’s more between me and him,” Del Negro said. “He knows what it’s like. Those are the people I talked to a lot and sought out. He was kind enough to give me some helpful information.”
A solid core of talent remains from the Bulls’ play-off team of 2 years ago. Last year the team melted down, going from 49 to just 33 wins. Trade rumors early in year worked chaos on fragile egos. Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, two team cogs, turned down enormous and fair multi-year offers before the out of control season began. Some on the team had grown weary of Skiles dictatorial style. Scott was fired. The team never recovered.
Interim coach (asst. coach Jim Boylan) was unfairly thrust into a caretaker position to chaffeur team to the neverending season’s end. Someone’s got do it. He drove a limo with 4 flat tires into the Chicago garage.
2008
Enter: Untried 42 year old Vinny Del Negro who wisely surrounds himself with NBA Eternals Bernis Bickerstaff and Del Harris.
Bickerstaff brings over 30 years NBA experience to his position. Over 13 years, he was head coach of 4 different teams (Supersonics, Nuggets, Bullets/Wizards, and Bobcats). He has coached teams to the play-offs five times. He was named Coach of the Year in 1987 while with the Sonics. He was most recently the head coach and GM of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Del Harris has been an NBA coaching fixture for 20 plus years – 7 as an assistant and 13 years as a head coach with 3 different teams.He was named Coach of the Year (1995) with the Lakers. He also coached the Rockets and Bucks.
I’m sure between the two of them, there isn’t a situation they haven’t already seen.
For their misery, the Bulls lucked out with the number one pick in the draft and they took talented point guard, Derrick Rose from NCAA finalist Memphis. They lost back-up point guard Chris Duhon to the New York Knicks who are trying to distance themselves from a radioactive situation of their own.
The Bulls are trying to put last year behind them and regain lost momentum. They managed to re-sign forward Luol Deng to a multi-year contract this summer, but were unable to convince shooting guard Ben Gordon to accept their slightly lower offer (than their original one) after that disappointing season. He decided to play out the final year of his contract in hopes of landing a
better payday in free agency.
The Bulls started out the new season with a win against their old coach, Scott Skiles, and the Milwaukee Bucks.
It should be a competitive match up. The Bulls are a starless team, in search of a post presence and a bonifide go-to guy at crucial times. When motivated, they can play at a high level.
The match up between Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose will be something to watch for. Perkins should be able to overpower Drew Gooden in the middle, but must stay with him outside where Drew can hit the mid range shot. Luol Deng always seems to give Paul Pierce trouble defensively. Tyrus Thomas is coming off a strong start, but should be no match for Kevin Garnett. Thabo Sefolosa started at guard, but played only 11 minutes in the last game.
The Celtics are on a mission to repeat last season. The Bulls are on a mission not to.
We’ll see who is more successful.
