"Windy City Turmoil?"

[BUfan14]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AlWfIeYq_biNJiTaHa_BdF85nYcB?slug=aw-paxsondelnegro041310

As the Bulls are facing Boston trying to make the playoffs, apparently John Paxson tried to start a fight with Vinny Del Negro the other day! It was over Noah going over his allotted minutes while recovering from injury.

It doesn't seem like in either incidence Noah went very far over his allowed minutes, and they are in a playoff race. I have stated my support of Del Negro before. This is a petty issue, because he barely went over his minutes, and you can't be exact.

Perhaps Pax is trying to appease a lot of Bulls fans and take the attention off himself by firing Del Negro before the big free agent filled offseason. Interesting it said Del Negro did not retaliate because he didn't want to give the Bulls grounds to get rid of him. Pehaps Pax was trying to provoke Vinny so he could fire him?? I mean you can't exactly fairly fire a coach who potentially made the playoffs twice, had a great series in the playoffs with a team that lacked a lot of talent the last 2 years, and had an unbelievable amount of injuries on top of it. He also developed Rose into an all-star, and has made Noah and Gibson a lot better. He has also made the combo of Kirk and DRose work very well as a backcourt without a true Shooting Guard.

If they investigate it like it says, I wonder what will happen to Pax. In my opinion Pax started out good as the GM with the first few drafts, but made major blunders ever since with Wallace, not keeping Aldridge, and not trading for Kobe to keep Deng.

Interesting for sure...

[BUfan14]

Now according to a different article I read, the second instance against New Jersey, Vinny thought he couldn't extend Noah to more minutes because of the rule even though they went to overtime, so he didn't and Pax was mad about this. How can you yell at him for playing him too much, then too little a few games later??

Vinny does not deserve everything he has taken no matter what your opinion of him, he seems like a good man. I hope if the Bulls do get rid of him he finds a good coaching job next year, he deserves it.

[lake Camelot]

I don't really think Vinny is a great coach. But I think he has done better than they could expect for someone with no experience. They haven't made big moves that bring players in so you'd expect to win. I think they will get rid of him. I think he deserves a season with some talent. I think Pax needs to go if they don't get a top 3 or 4 free agent.

[Bravesfan]

I don't really think Vinny is a great coach. But I think he has done better than they could expect for someone with no experience. They haven't made big moves that bring players in so you'd expect to win. I think they will get rid of him. I think he deserves a season with some talent. I think Pax needs to go if they don't get a top 3 or 4 free agent.

Well I'm going to defend Vinny for the following reasons:

1. He took the team to the playoffs for two years in a row, the second year after withstanding a 10 game losing streak due to paralyzing injuries to all of their great players!

2. While losing a few games to bad teams and blowing big leads during the first half of the season, Vinny has matured greatly as a coach, demonstrated by several great wins during their second western road trip of the season, coupled with their playoff push at the end.

3. The Bulls are taking Cleveland to the limit in their second game of the playoffs. While they fell just short again, imagine how well this team can do against lower seeded teams if they can finish higher in the standings.

4. Paxson acted like the biggest tool in the world the way he handled Vinny during the Noah issue. Plus he has kept Vinny hanging in the wind for the past year and a half! VERY unprofessional if I do say so myself! If anyone should be fired, it should be Paxson!

5. And maybe the most important point, Paxson should not have hired Del Negro if he didn't feel he had enough coaching experience in the first place!

I say let the guy coach here another year with a more experienced team, an additional quality free agent or two, and hopefully healthy players and see how well he can do. If they finish .500 again with a full complement of players, then they can launch him. But the utter lack of respect this guy has gotten should be reason enough to keep him around another year.

Considering Lebron has scored 40 points tonight, the fact that the Bulls kept the game in single digits up until the very end says loads about this team and how great they potentially may be next year. Let's hope the Bulls rethink things and give Vinny another shot.