Yesterday's Daily Dime posted an article by a Bobcat's blogger talking about how they were gonna sneak into the playoffs and leave the Bulls out. I'll just say that I'm slightly less incredulous today than I was yesterday. Also note that KG is out for the Celtics tonight, and we don't really know Salmons' status.
If one of Salmons or Deng doesn't heal miraculously and return in top form, I don't think the bulls make the playoffs. Especially with Kirk, BG and Rose all banged up.
With all the injuries, I don't see how you can pin it on Vinny. I see improvement in Rose and Tyrus and Noah. Even BG is taking fewer bad shots and turning the ball over less lately. It seems to me like the team is coming together here at the end. I don't agree with playing BG 40 minutes a night, but Vinny is an offensive guy so I can understand why he does. I wouldn't fire Vinny until I had a deal worked out with a clearly better coach. And not Avery Johnson.
I think the Bulls have done remarkably well for having the top pick in the draft, a young nucleus, and a plethora of injuries. I know you guys are probably getting impatient, but as a Blazer fan, I can tell you that waiting makes it that much sweeter. Watching the Blazers finally climb back out of the muck has been very satisfying after watching them suck for... six years? You've got a real star in Rose, and some other very good talent. If you don't make the playoffs this year, I think you'll see a drastic improvement next year.
My view on Vinny is this: <b>Strengths</b> -Good rotations, put Hinrich into the role that he should have been. -Players seem to have roles. -Players developing on the offensive side. -Offense that allows individuals to use their talent, pushed the pace. This is all great stuff imo. Just doing that helps, but... <b>Weaknesses</b> -Doesn't appear to be a leader among men. -Few offensive plays. -Horrible at drawing up a player out of a timeout. -Sometimes lacks awareness of who is on the bench in crunch time. -Absolutely no real defensive sets, switch on picks, doesn't front the post, unprepared team on defense. That makes him about an average coach. The problem I have with Vinny is that he doesn't have us playing defense. Maybe you go all out for Thibodeau this summer to make him your defensive assistant...but I think we'd have to pay him more than Vinny to make it worth while leaving Boston...which I'm totally fine with. If we just had some effective defensive sets and guys were better prepared defensively, I think this is easily a 50 win team, especially with Rose's sophomore leap next year. I think this is why a guy like Avery Johnson, who has proven to be good on both sides of the ball, is the most logical choice for the Bulls coach. I just don't think Vinny's defense will be good enough for the Bulls to ever be a great team.
We were a near 50 win team not too long ago, led by Gordon, Hinrich, and Deng. (Nocioni really did stink in 06-07, and the Bulls improved when he went out with his plantar fascitis. Although he was solid in the Miami series). We've since added Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas has come along a bit too since then. We now have John Salmons and Brad Miller, with Nocioni out. That's why everyone's a little upset.
But the east has improved so much since 06'-07'. The Celtics are a power house, the Magic are vastly improved, and the Cavs are undeniably elite. Then you also have the Hawks, Philly, and Miami. We've seen the Pistons fall from grace, and the Raptors are a huge disappointment, but I think the answer to your problems is that the east is a much more difficult conference than it has been. It seems like the Bulls have been really up and down for the last five or six years. If you could just find a coach that could stick, it might settle things down.
We have the talent to be a 50 win team. For all of last season and up until about late January I think, when John Paxson burst into the locker room and yelled, "You guys are the worst team in the league." they played with no energy. And now, while they're a +.500 team ever since they started playing with energy again, they're still not very good because they don't play any defense. If this team was playing defense and with energy every game, this should easily be a 50 win game. We have like 15 games this season where we lost in the last minute or so. We've lost to way too many horrible teams. We can beat the Cavs, Magic, Celtics, etc...but we lose to the Thunder and Raptors. That was the difference between the 06-07 team and this one. That one played defense and with energy every night...and when you do those two things, you usually beat the shitty teams in the league, which the 06-07 team did. There's a crapload of talent on this team. They just need a good coach to tap it. The offense has been fine, but the defense has been pretty horrid on the perimeter (especially from D-Rose) and the interior defense, which is where strong defenses are built had been dreaded. They switch too much, don't front the post, and a weak in their interior man defense.
You have the talent, but a lot of your major contributors are still pretty young. Obviously Deng, Hinrich, Miller, and Salmons are not, but Salmons and Miller just got there. Plus, Hinrich and Deng have been injured a lot this season, no?
Vinnie's only the coach in name. Bickerstaff and Del Harris are seasoned veteran head coaches. You'd think they could get the players to play D if it were a priority. On the other hand, those guys aren't championship coaches.
Del Harris got a .500 Houston team to the finals in the mid-80's iirc. It was '81 back in the neolithic age of the nba.
Pretty good lineup that team had: Moses malone (25 yr old, 28 PPG/15RPG/2BPG), Calvin Murphy, Robert Reid, Rudy T, Mike Dunleavy Sr., Billy Paults (one of the better ABA C's in his day)...
If not Vinny should be fired for this season being an abomination, and Avery Johnson should quickly replace him.
