Del Negro

[mike radigan]

to the Bulls.

[BradleyBrave]

Jim Les would have been a better hire. Unbelievable...but not really when it comes to Jerry Reinsdorf.

[Braveman]

Very interesting that despite the fact he has worked for the Suns for several years, he didn't make their list of potential coaches, yet Reinsdorf takes him...

[houstontxbrave]

After the season they endured, how the players simply did not respond to Boylan what makes Paxson/Reinsdorf believe that the current arrangement of players will respond to Del Negro?

They would have been better off hiring a retread like Larry Brown, Westphal or heck even Kelvin Sampson atleast all have at one time or another been head coaches.

This really is a strange surprising hire. Also what was the hurry in hiring Del Negro, why not wait until the end of the finals to atleast interview Rambis, Shaw or Tom Thibodeau seems silly especially considering it seems Del Negro isnt exactly in huge demand. What was the hurry in hiring Del Negro?

[BradleyBrave]

Reinsdorf shows his true colors yet again. Embarrassing. The Bulls remain the laughing stock of the league. What a 'Bait and Switch' he pulled over on season ticket holders. 'Leaks' came out saying the hiring of Collins was imminent just as season ticket holders were contacted to renew their seats. Once Reinsdorf had the influx of cash from season tickets holders' renewed enthusiasm with the #1 pick and Doug Collins on board, he scared Collins away so he could hire a coach he could pay next to nothing. What a jerk. It's the definition of 'bait and switch'.

[BradleyBrave]

I can't agree. I know one thing, Reinsdorf has brought me seven very happy years in my life and the eighth may be on the way, Sox now 7.5 games up. I like JR. Come on Cubs, lets play in the WS.

I know this about Del Negro, he palyed for Jim Valvano (what a fun loving man he was). And that's a good thing if he can bring some of what he learned from him, his fun and spirit, to the Bulls. Valvano was a great coach. Del Negro could be a good hire, we'll just have to wait and see.

Jerry Reinsdorf didn't bring you anything. His teams winning had little to do with anything he did as an owner. He nickel-and-dimed his basketball team since he took control and prematurely ended a dynasty because of a tight pocketbook (didn't want to pay Phil Jackson) and arrogance (is on record as saying he looked forward to building a dynasty without Michael Jordan). The Sox winning the world series had little to do with how much Reinsdorf spent on the team. After the World Series, they tried spending money for a couple years with poor results. Jerry would have no more, which led to Kenny Williams having to trade Jon Garland for a shortstop in his 'walk' year. It will also lead to the premature departure of Joe Crede. This year is working out well so far, but that's got more to do with a few gambles by Kenny Williams paying off (Carlos Quentin, Jon Danks, Gavin Floyd) than anything Jerry Reinsdorf has done. Jerry Reinsdorf is about one thing - making money. If it's at the cost of a winning product, so be it.

What's so ironic is that Reinsdorf has always prided himself in being a 'hands off' owner who lets his GM's do their jobs. Unfortunately, that only seems to apply to his baseball team. He's as meddling as anyone when it comes to basketball. The results of his ownership of the Bulls speak for themselves since 1998.

[Lakeview Brave]

Well maybe the Bulls will draft Theron Wilson with the 1st pick this year and be on thier way to another 6 championships!

[TRIMAN]

Jerry Reinsdorf didn't bring you anything. His teams winning had little to do with anything he did as an owner. He nickel-and-dimed his basketball team since he took control and prematurely ended a dynasty because of a tight pocketbook (didn't want to pay Phil Jackson) and arrogance (is on record as saying he looked forward to building a dynasty without Michael Jordan). The Sox winning the world series had little to do with how much Reinsdorf spent on the team. After the World Series, they tried spending money for a couple years with poor results. Jerry would have no more, which led to Kenny Williams having to trade Jon Garland for a shortstop in his 'walk' year. It will also lead to the premature departure of Joe Crede. This year is working out well so far, but that's got more to do with a few gambles by Kenny Williams paying off (Carlos Quentin, Jon Danks, Gavin Floyd) than anything Jerry Reinsdorf has done. Jerry Reinsdorf is about one thing - making money. If it's at the cost of a winning product, so be it.

What's so ironic is that Reinsdorf has always prided himself in being a 'hands off' owner who lets his GM's do their jobs. Unfortunately, that only seems to apply to his baseball team. He's as meddling as anyone when it comes to basketball. The results of his ownership of the Bulls speak for themselves since 1998.

I think you are being extremely harsh.

So he didn't bring anything to the Bulls, but he meddles in his basketball team?

Overall, Pax has done a good job of turning around a Bulls team that was a GIANT mess. Terrible draft picks and trades along with stupid player moves (J. Williams). They got better every year, but regressed this year. Give him a pass. He's been right far more often than he's been wrong.

And find another current owned with seven championships in two sports. Hate him all you want, but he wins.

[BradleyBrave]

I am not joking when I say that Jim Les would have been a better hire. I would rather hire a guy who played in the NBA for 7 years, and has been a head coach at the college level for 6 years. I'd want to hire him even more knowing that he runs an NBA-style offense that fits the Bulls' personnel to a tee (guard-oriented in which athletic big men can thrive). I'm sorry, I am not drinking any Kool-Aid when I say that Jim Les is much more qualified to coach the Bulls than Vinny Del Negro. That tells you how weak of a hire this was by Jerry Reinsdorf.

[Lakeview Brave]

I think you are being extremely harsh.

So he didn't bring anything to the Bulls, but he meddles in his basketball team?

Overall, Pax has done a good job of turning around a Bulls team that was a GIANT mess. Terrible draft picks and trades along with stupid player moves (J. Williams). They got better every year, but regressed this year. Give him a pass. He's been right far more often than he's been wrong.

And find another current owned with seven championships in two sports. Hate him all you want, but he wins.

MJ brought 6 of those championships and the Bulls got extreamly lucky to draft the best player of all time, they could have just as easily got Sam Bowie. Since 98 this team has been a disaster and that falls on ownership and GM.

[MacabreMob]

I am not joking when I say that Jim Les would have been a better hire. I would rather hire a guy who played in the NBA for 7 years, and has been a head coach at the college level for 6 years. I'd want to hire him even more knowing that he runs an NBA-style offense that fits the Bulls' personnel to a tee (guard-oriented in which athletic big men can thrive). I'm sorry, I am not drinking any Kool-Aid when I say that Jim Les is much more qualified to coach the Bulls than Vinny Del Negro. That tells you how weak of a hire this was by Jerry Reinsdorf.

Ouch. That sounds like you are not only slamming the Bulls and Reinsdorf, but Jim Les as well.

But keep me outta this. I know nothing about Del Negro, Reinsdorf, the Bulls, and the NBA.

(just want to note - you did say: "Jerry Reinsdorf is about one thing - making money. If it's at the cost of a winning product, so be it." To me, IMO, that completely fits the NBA.)

[TRIMAN]

MJ brought 6 of those championships and the Bulls got extreamly lucky to draft the best player of all time, they could have just as easily got Sam Bowie. Since 98 this team has been a disaster and that falls on ownership and GM.

They had to assemble a team around MJ, particularly acquiring #33. A lot of being a good GM is getting a little lucky. I'm not going to argue that Krause was a good GM though. He did keep MJ happy (overall), however, until the end.

Many analysts picked them to win the east in the pre-season. They were improving well and looked to take a large leap forward-instead of what actually happened this year.

Jim Less would not be a good hire for an NBA team (at least right now). Did you notice how there were ZERO college coaches interviewing for NBA coaching positions? Very few have success.

[BradleyBrave]

I think you are being extremely harsh.

So he didn't bring anything to the Bulls, but he meddles in his basketball team?

Overall, Pax has done a good job of turning around a Bulls team that was a GIANT mess. Terrible draft picks and trades along with stupid player moves (J. Williams). They got better every year, but regressed this year. Give him a pass. He's been right far more often than he's been wrong.

And find another current owned with seven championships in two sports. Hate him all you want, but he wins.

Paxson more right more than wrong? I beg to differ.

-Pax got the Scott Skiles hire right, as he took an undersized, undertalented team and got them to defend and play probably better than the sum of their parts. However, JPax wronged that right by firing him prematurely.

-Pax got the trade of Tyson Chandler wrong. Chandler is better than any post player the Bulls have had since he was traded.

-The picks of Gordon and Deng could have been 'right' if they'd have turned into all-stars or been traded for an all-star (something the Bulls haven't had since 1998 ). Instead they're undersized, unathletic, and unprofessional (as evidenced by their admitted quitting on coach Jim Boylan this year).

-Pax couldn't pull the trigger with these undersized, unathletic players when Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, and Kobe Bryant were available. All 3 are playing in the NBA Finals right now.

-Pax passed on LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy (NBA All-Star) for Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefalosha.

-Pax got it wrong when he signed Ben Wallace to a maximum contract in one of the worst free agent signings in Chicago sports history.

Now, Reinsdorf had documented involvement in the Ben Wallace signing, the non-trades for Garnett, Gasol, and Bryant (its documented that Reinsdorf vetoed the trade for Gasol because he didn't want to go over the luxury tax threshold), the Mike D'Antoni fiasco, and Doug Collins fiasco. The Bulls are on record of saying that they were drafting Sam Bowie if he wasn't picked by Portland. If you want to give Reinsdorf credit for Rod Thorn's draft pick of Michael Jordan, fine. However, if Reinsdorf was committed to winning and not turning a profit, the Bulls wouldn't have been the laughing stock of the NBA for the better part of the last 10 years, which further validates that the current GM of the Bobcats had a lot more to do with 6 Bulls titles than the current owner of the team. He's old, he's arrogant, and he's continuing to make Chicago's NBA team a league-wide joke. The last decade's results speak for themselves.

[BradleyBrave]

Ouch. That sounds like you are not only slamming the Bulls and Reinsdorf, but Jim Les as well.

But keep me outta this. I know nothing about Del Negro, Reinsdorf, the Bulls, and the NBA.

(just want to note - you did say: "Jerry Reinsdorf is about one thing - making money. If it's at the cost of a winning product, so be it." To me, IMO, that completely fits the NBA.)

Well, it wasn't meant to be slam on JL but it was hard to articulate without it sounding like a slam. Simply put, an NBA team in one of the league's 3 largest markets shouldn't be relegated to hiring a guy with no coaching experience. If they were going to go the cheap rookie coach route, there were more qualified candidates with Chicago ties just a few hours south.

[Chico]

BradleyBrave, it's obvious you dislike Reinsdorf, but I believe the man who pays the salaries had a little bit to do with the Sox winnng the World Series. Myself, I don't care what he does with the Bulls, the Sox have won a World Series in my lifetime which I still can't believe they did.