Le Basketbawl

There are very few “Great Coaches” in the NBA and even the best of them have gone through tough times in their careers. However most NBA coaches fall along the lines of a Lawrence Frank the former coach of the New Jersey Nets. When they have talented players they win and when they have Crapolla as far as personnel on their roster they will not win. Bottom Frickin line is most NBA coaches are only as good as their Frickin lineups allow them to be.

We have already witnessed two firings in this short NBA season as Frank and Byron Scott from the New Orleans Hornets were shown the Frickin door. According to the “Chicago Tribune” there may be another coach whose time could be short with his present team.

Reports say the Chicago Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro may be feeling a lack of support from team management and ownership as the team has had a less than impressive start. Chicago after getting blown out by the Toronto Raptors at the United Center Saturday in a game they looked like Frickin zombies in now have a record of 7-11 and have lost their last two games as well as going 3-7 in their last 10.

After their game Saturday if the Bulls bench boss would have liked to have seen the team play with more effort and enthusiasm. He responded “In a perfect world, of course! But Jannero (Pargo) is out there limping. I have Lindsey (Hunter) in a bucket of ice trying to heal his foot. We have rookies trying to find their way. We don’t have the bodies. You’re going to have days like this. I love the challenge. I love the competition. It makes me sick to perform like that. But are you going to give up or go fight? I’m a fighter. I’m going to battle and do whatever I can to help. And the guys have to do the same.”

In New York Vinnie’s eyes the Frickin bottom line is this; Vinny Del Negro is no better or worse a coach than he was last year when he was the Frickin hottest thing in Chi-Town. But his team is not as good as they allowed a key component from last year’s squad to walk away in Free Agency. The player who led Chicago in scoring last season Ben Gordon is now in Detroit. That is the reason the Bulls play like Crapolla not Vinny Del Negro!

Now the 2008-2009 Chicago Bulls were not going to challenge any of the records of Jordan, Pippen and Grant but they had something going on in their back-court. And the only reason they discovered it was due to injuries! After Larry Hughes and Kirk Hinrich went down Chicago turned to Ben Gordon and he and rookie Derrick Rose created magic!

 Gordon whose career was on the rocks heading into the season had instant chemistry with the rookie. Pretty soon Hughes was traded to the Knicks and not long after that Chicago picked up John Salmons and Brad Miller from the Kings and made the Playoffs. The Bulls lost in the first round against the Boston Celtics but they took Boston to 7 games and Gordon was the leading scorer. It looked like the future was bright heading into the following season!

However the Bulls never had any intention of bringing back Gordon who would become an unrestricted Free Agent at the end of the season and signed a multi-year deal with the Detroit Pistons. Now why didn’t Chicago want their leading scorer from last season back ? According to Bulls Team Owner Jerry Reinsdorff  who talked to reporters last summer after he signed with Detroit the team had decided before last season even started that Gordon would not be back with the Bulls this year.

Reinsdorff told reporters “Actually, we made a decision a year ago not to commit long term to Ben. We tried, and he turned it down. Then, near the end, Gar Forman and John decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to make a long-term decision. We wanted to see what other options might develop. So we withdrew the offer we had on the table. Ben ultimately said he would take it, but it was too late. Now, fast forward to the end of the year, we have Salmons and we have a hell of a three-guard rotation with Hinrich and Derrick. Ben wasn’t going to get a whole lot of playing time. (It) was going to be diminished. So Ben really no longer fit. Ben’s a terrific player. But Ben needs minutes. He would not have been happy with the minutes he was going to get.”

That is why the Chicago Bulls are not as good as they were last year, they lost a key player who they have never been able to replace. But the Owner is not going to fire himself; or his employees on a deal that he gave the go-ahead on. So instead Del Negro finds himself unfairly in the cross-hairs.