Getting Bickerstaff and especially Dell Harris have me feeling much better about the VDN hire. If VDN is the right guy, he has all the experiance he needs on hand to tap into. I'm ready to give Pax the benefit of the doubt here.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JayJohnstone @ Jul 3 2008, 09:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Getting Bickerstaff and especially Dell Harris have me feeling much better about the VDN hire. If VDN is the right guy, he has all the experiance he needs on hand to tap into. I'm ready to give Pax the benefit of the doubt here.</div> Why not make Bickerstaff or Dell Harris the head coach? Shouldn't the head coach be the guy that has the exp? (or at least some exp?) I dunno, I'm going to give VDN a shot, but its still a real head scratcher. Especially after a several month, comprehensive coaching search.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kukoc4ever @ Jul 3 2008, 10:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JayJohnstone @ Jul 3 2008, 09:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Getting Bickerstaff and especially Dell Harris have me feeling much better about the VDN hire. If VDN is the right guy, he has all the experiance he needs on hand to tap into. I'm ready to give Pax the benefit of the doubt here.</div> Why not make Bickerstaff or Dell Harris the head coach? Shouldn't the head coach be the guy that has the exp? I dunno, I'm going to give VDN a shot, but its still a real head scratcher. Especially after a several month, comprehensive coaching search. </div> Let's say we hired Dan Majerle as the head coach. At first we would be like WTF, but I guess with Del Harris and Bickerstaff he'd have some exp guys to rely on. Or if we hired Ed Nealy. or Will Perdue. list goes on and on and on....
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kukoc4ever @ Jul 3 2008, 11:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JayJohnstone @ Jul 3 2008, 09:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Getting Bickerstaff and especially Dell Harris have me feeling much better about the VDN hire. If VDN is the right guy, he has all the experiance he needs on hand to tap into. I'm ready to give Pax the benefit of the doubt here.</div> Why not make Bickerstaff or Dell Harris the head coach? Shouldn't the head coach be the guy that has the exp? I dunno, I'm going to give VDN a shot, but its still a real head scratcher. Especially after a several month, comprehensive coaching search. </div> Because both are screw ups as head coaches. Having either as a head coach over VDN would have been like post-Skiles era last season.
Vinnie brings something to the coaching position that others strive for - talent evaluation/GM skills. I wasn't a fly on the wall or anything, but my sense is that the Bulls were impressed with Vinnie's character and leadership qualities and believe he can lead the team as coach. As I've mentioned before, in baseball, they sometimes have these kinds of guys as manager and have bench coaches who do the nuts and bolts things a manager typically does. Nobody's seen Vinnie coach a game yet, so it's hard to make any leaps of judgment about his ability to do the job.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 3 2008, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Because both are screw ups as head coaches.</div> You and I also have never screwed up as NBA coaches.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kukoc4ever @ Jul 3 2008, 12:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 3 2008, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Because both are screw ups as head coaches.</div> You and I also have never screwed up as NBA coaches. </div> Neither of us has the NBA experience (playing and FO) that VDN has either. We aren't talking about Derrick Coleman, but a player that was a heady player and someone that had to study even we he was playing to gain advantages.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 3 2008, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Because both are screw ups as head coaches. Having either as a head coach over VDN would have been like post-Skiles era last season.</div> I think we're pretty much in agreement. I'm not ecstatic about VDN, there's really no way for any of us to be. But at least he's not a proven ****-up. We could have had Collins, whose shown himself time and again to be a lack-luster coach. It's one of the bizarre things about the NBA: I've never figured out why so many franchises take experienced coaches who've always been mediocre/bad, over giving fresh blood a chance. At least we can go into this season with the hope for the possibility that we may have one of the few good coaches in the league.
A head full of NBA knowledge does not a successful NBA HC make. You have to be able to connect with and motivate the players too.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denny Crane @ Jul 3 2008, 10:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wasn't a fly on the wall or anything, but my sense is that the Bulls were impressed with Vinnie's character and leadership qualities and believe he can lead the team as coach.</div> I think Paxson liked VDN because VDN said Hey, I scouted and loved TT, Thabo and Noah, too. Great picks!!! Just wait until those guys are used right and break out. I think Reinsdorf liked VDN because VDN said Hey, JR, you are the man!! Way to stick it to Dan Tony that he doesn't emphasize D enough. Kerr and I told him that all the time, too. And did I tell you my system is a lot like the unselfish system for 70s Knicks. It weren't rocket science.
The $2M paycheck (right?) makes VDN more attractive, though hiring BIckerstaff and Harris seem like pricey bench coaches. The "give the fans hope" factor is that VDN comes to us from Phoenix, where his guys did well.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JayJohnstone @ Jul 4 2008, 12:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denny Crane @ Jul 3 2008, 10:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wasn't a fly on the wall or anything, but my sense is that the Bulls were impressed with Vinnie's character and leadership qualities and believe he can lead the team as coach.</div> I think Paxson liked VDN because VDN said Hey, I scouted and loved TT, Thabo and Noah, too. Great picks!!! Just wait until those guys are used right and break out. I think Reinsdorf liked VDN because VDN said Hey, JR, you are the man!! Way to stick it to Dan Tony that he doesn't emphasize D enough. Kerr and I told him that all the time, too. And did I tell you my system is a lot like the unselfish system for 70s Knicks. It weren't rocket science. </div> I dunno, I kind of think that VDN's sales pitch to Reinsdorf went something like this: Hey Jerry! I'd love to coach your team! So much so, that I'll be the lowest paid head coach in the league! And don't worry about a long contract, I know how tough it is to stick in this league, I want your job so much that I'll sign on for two years, and give you guys a team option for the third!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rosenthall @ Jul 4 2008, 03:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Hey Jerry! I'd love to coach your team! So much so, that I'll be the lowest paid head coach in the league! And don't worry about a long contract, I know how tough it is to stick in this league, I want your job so much that I'll sign on for two years, and give you guys a team option for the third!</div> I'm sure that was a key part of the pitch, too.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (_GB @ Jul 4 2008, 03:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>A head full of NBA knowledge does not a successful NBA HC make. You have to be able to connect with and motivate the players too.</div> Forget your login?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JayJohnstone @ Jul 4 2008, 12:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denny Crane @ Jul 3 2008, 10:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wasn't a fly on the wall or anything, but my sense is that the Bulls were impressed with Vinnie's character and leadership qualities and believe he can lead the team as coach.</div> I think Paxson liked VDN because VDN said Hey, I scouted and loved TT, Thabo and Noah, too. Great picks!!! Just wait until those guys are used right and break out. I think Reinsdorf liked VDN because VDN said Hey, JR, you are the man!! Way to stick it to Dan Tony that he doesn't emphasize D enough. Kerr and I told him that all the time, too. And did I tell you my system is a lot like the unselfish system for 70s Knicks. It weren't rocket science. </div> Yeah. He came off in his interviews as kind of a schmoozer. Anyone else get read this article with Eddie Johnson talking about VDN? http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketball/...-bull11.article <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>''It's tough for any coach to come into a championship city,'' Johnson said Tuesday on WSCR-AM (670). ''When you talk about Chicago, L.A., New York, you're talking about fans and media that are used to winning. Any time a choice comes in that wasn't what they were thinking about or just came out of the blue, it's very difficult to fathom.'' Del Negro, who is not expected to name his coaching staff today, likely will hire a former head coach as his lead assistant. But Johnson downplayed Del Negro's lack of coaching experience. ''When you play in the NBA and have experience, sometimes people take that for naught,'' Johnson said. ''That's not fair. Because I played 17 years, and if somebody tells me I don't know anything about coaching ... well, really? ''If you pay attention to detail, if you're really forthright in gaining knowledge from coaches, all those things can help you. That's what Vinny's going to have to rely on. It's going to be a difficult process. Not only will he have to battle the fact of being a new coach ... but also people's opinions. People are really going to have the flashlight on him. ''I know he's a very good communicator. He can definitely sell himself.'' Del Negro will be grilled today on the style he think best fits the Bulls. Johnson doesn't think the Suns' run-and-gun system is necessarily it, no matter Del Negro's experience in Phoenix. ''You have to have the players to run a style,'' Johnson said. ''Right now, with the Bulls' roster, no way can they play the way the Suns play. I like Kirk Hinrich, but he's not that kind of guard. He's not the type of player who's going to keep his dribble in the paint. He's not going to find people in traffic. He's not going to push it 95 percent of the time, like Steve Nash does. It's not in his game. ''If you draft Derrick Rose, you might have that opportunity. Then again, you have to be patient with a young player who still has to develop a jump shot. So you don't know if that system will work. Looking at the Bulls team of the last few years, it's been very difficult to figure out what system is the best fit for them. Luol Deng and Ben Gordon are very good jump-shooters coming off screens, and I imagine Vinny running sets to keep the ball in his best players' hands.''</div> If he can coach like he can talk we'll be in great shape.
^^^ I thought he kinda slammed Hinrich there a bit. Sugar coated words about not keeping his dribble in the paint (actually, he does that better than anything else), not finding people in traffic, &c. In fact, he kinda dissed much of the roster. Not out and out saying it, but the gist is "maybe Gordon and Deng could fit into a Phoenix style system" (but nobody else).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denny Crane @ Jul 5 2008, 03:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>^^^ I thought he kinda slammed Hinrich there a bit. Sugar coated words about not keeping his dribble in the paint (actually, he does that better than anything else), not finding people in traffic, &c. In fact, he kinda dissed much of the roster. Not out and out saying it, but the gist is "maybe Gordon and Deng could fit into a Phoenix style system" (but nobody else).</div> That's Eddie Johnson doing the talking there, not VDN. But yeah, I agree. I thought Johnson's comments on VDN himself fit into that category too. He said Vinnie needs to pay attention to detail and it's a difficult process to gain experience. Then he said that Vinnie "can definitely sell himself". Other things being equal, I'd have preferred a different choice of words there.
Deng and Gordon would be great in Phx system IMO. Like he says, Deng and Gordon are great coming off screens. And Gordon is a great shooter anyway; so a wide open system with lots of running should feed into that and get him more open looks than a slower, half court approach. This also benefits Noah and Thomas, who have speed and athleticism advantages at their respective positions... also gives them easier looks.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Vintage @ Jul 5 2008, 08:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Deng and Gordon would be great in Phx system IMO. Like he says, Deng and Gordon are great coming off screens. And Gordon is a great shooter anyway; so a wide open system with lots of running should feed into that and get him more open looks than a slower, half court approach. This also benefits Noah and Thomas, who have speed and athleticism advantages at their respective positions... also gives them easier looks.</div> Potentially Thabo as well. I don't dislike what Gooden brings to the table either. 1/2- Rose, Gordon 2/3- Thabo 3- Deng 4/5- Noah, Gooden, Thomas That's the guys I'm pretty happy going into the year with, and I think that's the majority of a fairly good lineup (eventually, obviously too young now). That also leaves a lot of other guys here I could live without: - Hinrich - Nocioni - Hughes Shopping list: 1. Shorter contracts than Hinrich and Noc 2. An upgrade to Gooden/Thomas. 3. An upgrade at SG.
