<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Bulls GM John Paxson said he likely will decide by Wednesday whether to hire former Bull Mike Brown to work with the team's young big men in a player-development role. As big ideas go, it's one 7-foot rookie center Aaron Gray would embrace. ''Sometimes when you're 7-foot, it's hard to listen to 5-10 guys tell you how to go up against other 7-footers,'' said Gray, who talked with Brown after practice Saturday. ''He gave me a lot of insight on his career, how he spent a lot of time [in the NBA] and overseas. Just having him around and his experiences, especially for me when I'm so young in my career, having as many people around like that is a positive."</div> Chicago Sun Times
He's been hired! Er...wait. I think Sloth pulled a fast one on me with that link, actually. http://www.dabullz.com/?p=3 It's a valid link, but I'm not so(/at all) sure the page is credible. In any case, we'll know by tomorrow...
What makes him a good big man coach? Certainly it's not from the handful of years he got his ass kicked in practices (and in games, too) by real NBA big men...
Here's a link to a slightly more mainstream source: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>There's an old adage in the NBA that you can't teach height, but that will be Mike Brown's mission when he joins the Bulls' coaching staff this week. Before the game Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the United Center, the Bulls announced that Brown -- a 6-10 center/power forward who spent two of his 11 NBA seasons with the Bulls -- has been hired as an assistant and will join the team this weekend in Sacramento, Calif. Better than NBA's worst The Bulls had been going with three assistants (Ron Adams, Pete Myers and Mike Wilhelm) since Jim Boylan was promoted to interim coach after Scott Skiles was fired last month. ''Mike's main responsibilities will be to assist Pete Myers in the continued development of our young big guys,'' Boylan said. ''Pete's done a great job with them; they've made a lot of strides.'' General manager John Paxson had been considering hiring a coach to work primarily with rookies Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray and second-year player Tyrus Thomas for weeks. ''This is something that John and I talked about way back when, when I was interviewing for the job,'' Boylan said. ''He was thinking about adding someone, and I agreed that we needed to add another quality person to the staff. We said, 'Let's just let things settle for a bit, and then we'll look into it.' ''I've known Mike for quite a while, and John's known Mike. He's had a career in the NBA, coached in the [National Basketball Development League], and I'm sure he's going to do a great job.''</div> I can't remember much about him as a player. About as nondescript a guy you can imagine who still eeked out a long career. Not saying that as a bad thing, he must have learned something along the way. Whether he can teach it or not, I have no clue.
Some information on Mike Brown: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'># Was an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Slam during the 2001-2002 season. The Las Vegas Slam are an ABA team. Reggie Theus was the head coach. Brown was in charge of instilling fundamentals in the young players in his time here. # Was an assistant coach to Kent Davison for the NBDL’s Roanoke Dazzle for the 2002-2003 season and the 2003-2004 season. They made the NBDL playoffs in the 2002-2003 season. In his time in Roanoke, he acquired a record of 46-50 (.479). # Head coach of the Fayettville Patriots. Led the Patriots to a 17-31 (.354) record in the 2004-2005 season. In the 2005-2006 season, he led the Patriots to a record of 16-32 (.333). # After the 2005-2006 season, both teams that Brown coached at received the kiss of death and were removed from the NBDL. Although, with a name like Dazzle, it should come to no surprise that D-League basketball failed in Roanoke. # Helped coach the Detroit Pistons’ summer league team in 2006. # Was brought in by the Memphis Grizzlies for their 2006 training camp to tutor the young players. # As a player, he was known for having professional smarts and being a blue collar worker. # He is the second leading scorer (1,916 pts) and rebounder (1,116 rebs) in George Washington University history. Joe Hallup, who graduated in 1956 is George Washington’s leading scorer (2,226 pts) and rebounder (2,030 rebs). # Won the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year award in 1983. Was a member of the Atlantic 10 first team in all of his seasons. More at the link</div> http://www.dabullz.com/2008/01/30/tidbits-on-mike-brown/
