Toronto L 78-110 (32 points) Cleveland L 87-101 (14 points doesn't tell the whole story) Utah L 86-105 (19 points) Portland L 98-122 (24 points) Denver L 93-112 (19 points) Lakers L 93-108 (15 points) Bulls are 27th in points scored at 90.4 PPG Bulls are 14th in points allowed at 97.8 PPG Bulls are 27th in points differential at -7.4 Last season, Bulls were: 8th in points scored at 102.2 PPG 21st in points allowed at 102.5 PPG 16th in points differential at -.3 Reinsdorf was interviewed in the offseason and if you believe him, we're better off without Gordon or making "mistakes" by going after talented players (at some risk). There was some hope that by playing better defense and the return of Luol Deng plus the season long health of Hinrich and having Salmons and Miller for the whole season, that we'd basically be roughly the same as last season. All that is at risk, and Reinsdorf is basically exposed for being the bad owner he actually is. The pattern in the past was to blame blowouts on the coach losing the players and then the firing of the coach. So surely the writing is on the wall for Vinnie. As has been pointed out, last season was really two seasons for us - pre trade and post trade. The post trade team was a 50 win (pace) type of team, and we took the defending champs to OT in several playoff games only to lose in 7 games; one of the most exciting 1st round playoff matches in years. The team was actually fun to watch. That would have been a good thing to build from. Sure, the Celtics didn't have Garnett, but we didn't have Deng or our rooks. Maybe, just maybe, we might still be a close match for them this season. Yet second game of the season, when we were fully healthy, we lost to the Celtics 118-90 (28 point blowout).
Blowout losses at home won't keep a coach around very long. Following the trend of other GMs taking the reins after they fire their coaches (McHale, Jeff Bower, Kiki) I wonder if Jerry Reinsdorf will coach the team after he fires Vinnie?
I prefer the idea of having Pax step in to coach the club (give him the isaiah treatment from NY). He put together this mess, let's see him coach these guys in his vision. I really would like to see Vinnie get the chance as GM.
Id like to see what Vinnie can do as GM too, the thought just intrigues the shit outta me. I wonder if he can put together something like what he did for phoenix.
VDN is an albatross heading into free agency. No matter what happens I consider all the scenarios, and not of them seem very good. VDN stays + Bulls stink = No coach going into free agency. The Bulls will face a strong pressure to hire a big name that attracts FAs, won’t they? VDN stays + Bulls make the playoffs = I don’t see how you can fire him. That almost seems like the best case scenario, because I think FAs want to come to a team that can offer stability and winning. At least offering the facade of stability and winning is the best the Bulls can hope for. Vinnie is fired + Bulls stink = Proof the team just stinks and evidence against a FA coming. Vinnie is fired + Bulls make playoffs = Maybe not so bad. We’re perceived as righting the ship, turning things around, and being on the rise.
One more scenario: FAs and players actually like Vinnie and want to play for him regardless. The expectation is that signing a top FA and adding to Deng/Rose/Noah makes the team a contender with Vinnie at the helm.
Coaches with a proven track record (of success): Avery Johnson Jeff Van Gundy Anyway, whether we think Pax or Reinsdorf or Gar or Gar Paxdorf is calling the shots, I think most folks would agree most of our problems are front office problems Which makes me pretty leery of firing the coach. Everyone who advocates firing the coach should remember that the last time the front office made a coaching decision, it hired Vinny. And the time before that, it was Boylan, who made Vinny look like fucking John Wooden. How about Rick Pitino? It’s pure speculation on my part, but he doesn’t seem as loved in Louisville as the casual outsider might think. I think U of L fans are a little miffed he hasn’t replicated his UK success. Especially since hiring a guy who coached at UK was a tough pill for some folks to swallow in any case. It’d be like the Bulls hiring Chuck Daly or Pat Riley. Also, he got some brad press when he cuckolded the team equipment manager whose wife then attempted to extort money from Pitino. So, yeah, it’s all speculation, but there are some reasons to imagine he might consider moving someone if the right situation arose. He’s respected as a good and high profile coach at Louisville, but he’s not accorded the unconditional love or blank check he had at UK because he hasn’t (yet?) delivered. I wouldn't want him as GM, but he was a good coach, and perhaps he learned his lessons from past mistakes. Of course, maybe not since he was out cuckolding his equipment manager.
You guys are ridiculous. Vinny wasn't the GM in Phoenix, he was player personnel director and asst gm, which means he kept the notes on all of the pending FA's and college kids. He didn't put that team together. And if you don't like how slow they play now, JVG isn't the answer. And Pitino didn't do shit in NY or Bos as a coach. I'm not sure there is a coach out there right now who could make this group look good though.
Still had a hand in the front office of the Suns and still had input into whats going on. And what do you think we should do then if there isnt a coach out here to can help us? Right now I think we might have to blow it up. Put everybody on the block except for Rose and see what we can get.
Vinnie is a joke...I can't believe some of you want him to be GM. Suns had all of their good players well b/f Vinnie was in the front office.
The guy who's running our team wasn't even a player personnel director and assistant GM, he was a TV/radio announcer. Being a player personnel director and assistant GM is training to be GM. If you're not going to hire someone who's been a GM, then an assistant GM is a pretty good candidate. IMO, we should have offered PJax the coach+GM role way back when, and fired Krause. Or we should have promoted BJ Armstrong when Krause left. Vinnie's the best we can do within the organization.
I hope Vinnie stays on for the rest of the season. If you really think Vinnie is the reason this team is playing the way it is, ask yourself, how much more optimistic would you be if we replaced him with someone else right now? Shifting one of our assistants into his position wouldn't change that we don't have one player who can create his own shot on offense, we're missing half our rotation from last year's post-trade team, and Noah is on an island upfront. I don't think Vinnie's a world beater, but firing him now would be reactionary, create a greater perception of the team's instability and probably not have a noticeable effect on the court given our options to replace him and this teams problems.
I agree 100%. I see a lot of potential for things getting worse if Vinnie is fired. I'm not a fan of his, but this team is shit under good circs. Add a couple injuries and unless you expect Vinnie to start healing folks, it's somewhat out of his hands. That being said, this team looks poorly organized, unfocused, and generally like it's laying down. I know, not just think that Scott Skiles was a good coach, but it was curtains for him when that happened. Of course, the team still looked like garbage after he was fired. Maybe given time he would have turned it around.
