By Jason Gage
ChiSport.com
QUOTE
Upon firing interim head coach Jim Boylan, Paxson indicated that he would search far and wide and take his sweet ass time until he met the right guy to lead the Bulls. For the past 7 weeks, Bulls GM John Paxson has held true to his word. Paxson has interviewed assistants around the league (Jeff Hornacek, Tyrone Corbin, Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, etc). He even had a couple flings, which turned into one night stands, with a couple coaches of the year (Mike D’Antoni and Avery Johnson).
Right after his failed relationship with Mike D’Antoni, karma actually blessed the Bulls when the #1 pick fell into there lap (somewhere, there is a lesson to be learned). With the top pick, the Bulls job started looking sexy (kind of like an average man/women stumbling there way into an inheritance). Avery “Gold Digger” Johnson was all of a sudden interested in more than just a fling with the Bulls, but Paxson saw through Johnson and preferred another man, Doug Collins.
Since the middle of last week, Collins has been the heir apparent to the Bulls coaching throne, a position he previously held in the late 80’s. Collins is known as a no nonsense type of coach. In fact, you could make a lot of comparisons between Collins and Skiles. They both are meticulous game-planners who put a strong emphasis on teaching and defense. Offensively they contrast, Skiles ran a semi up-tempo offense, albeit not an overly creative one, which was based around the drive and kick. In Skiles defense, such system was partially designed/built around the roster he was given (which included zero low post scorers). On the Flipside, Collins runs a very slow, boring, uninspiring offense. However, when mixed with a good defense, this offense can work extremely well at putting teams away late in games (as it keeps oppositions from getting in a rhythm), which is something the Bulls struggled with last season.
Clearly there are numerous reasons why the Bulls should officially make Collins the next head coach, but I’d like to throw one wrench, err name, into the equation, Flip Saunders. What the Bulls have lacked over the past few years is offensive innovation. Defensively this team is solid and with the proper assistants brought in this team shall remain one of the best defensive teams in the league. The quickest way to improvement is not bringing in another defensive stalwart (hard to improve what isn’t broke), it is to bring in an offensive genius.
D’Antoni could have been a great fit, but he was unwilling to bring in a defensive assistant in Phoenix (Thiddeau could have been coaching the Suns as opposed to the Celtics) and its been reported that D’Antoni was reluctant to put much attention on defense in Chicago. Flip Saunders was able to improve Detroit’s offense while still keeping there defense strong and I believe he can do the exact same thing in Chicago. In addition, while the Pistons failed to win an additional title under Saunders, they did see numerous young players develop into key contributors, including rookie Rodney Stuckey.
At the end of the day Collins may be a good option, but Saunders is the perfect option.
Right after his failed relationship with Mike D’Antoni, karma actually blessed the Bulls when the #1 pick fell into there lap (somewhere, there is a lesson to be learned). With the top pick, the Bulls job started looking sexy (kind of like an average man/women stumbling there way into an inheritance). Avery “Gold Digger” Johnson was all of a sudden interested in more than just a fling with the Bulls, but Paxson saw through Johnson and preferred another man, Doug Collins.
Since the middle of last week, Collins has been the heir apparent to the Bulls coaching throne, a position he previously held in the late 80’s. Collins is known as a no nonsense type of coach. In fact, you could make a lot of comparisons between Collins and Skiles. They both are meticulous game-planners who put a strong emphasis on teaching and defense. Offensively they contrast, Skiles ran a semi up-tempo offense, albeit not an overly creative one, which was based around the drive and kick. In Skiles defense, such system was partially designed/built around the roster he was given (which included zero low post scorers). On the Flipside, Collins runs a very slow, boring, uninspiring offense. However, when mixed with a good defense, this offense can work extremely well at putting teams away late in games (as it keeps oppositions from getting in a rhythm), which is something the Bulls struggled with last season.
Clearly there are numerous reasons why the Bulls should officially make Collins the next head coach, but I’d like to throw one wrench, err name, into the equation, Flip Saunders. What the Bulls have lacked over the past few years is offensive innovation. Defensively this team is solid and with the proper assistants brought in this team shall remain one of the best defensive teams in the league. The quickest way to improvement is not bringing in another defensive stalwart (hard to improve what isn’t broke), it is to bring in an offensive genius.
D’Antoni could have been a great fit, but he was unwilling to bring in a defensive assistant in Phoenix (Thiddeau could have been coaching the Suns as opposed to the Celtics) and its been reported that D’Antoni was reluctant to put much attention on defense in Chicago. Flip Saunders was able to improve Detroit’s offense while still keeping there defense strong and I believe he can do the exact same thing in Chicago. In addition, while the Pistons failed to win an additional title under Saunders, they did see numerous young players develop into key contributors, including rookie Rodney Stuckey.
At the end of the day Collins may be a good option, but Saunders is the perfect option.
